Letter to the editor

This is regarding the government's current hiring practice of information technology personnel.

I'm currently employed as a federal employee. I have more than four years of solid programming experience. I have applied for several positions requiring my skills.

The positions I have applied for have been with agencies having multiple positions to fill. My question is this: How can these agencies say they have trouble finding skilled IT workers when after at least six months, a resume reflecting strong programming skills gets no reply, no notice of ranking or even a thanks-but-no-thanks letter?

Here are the issues that trouble me most:

A: Is the applicant expected to accept that the position applied for is not going to be filled for a year or two?

B: Does being a current government employee taint my viability as an IT candidate?

C: Why do human resources personnel seem to do their best to not keep the applicant informed of his or her status in a current so-called hiring or recruitment effort? What good is it if your contact person has no idea of when the position will be filled or when applicants will be scored?

D: I've used the online resume service and applaud the effort of those that created it, But if the hiring process at the agency or the Office of Personnel Management remains a huge black hole, then the online resume builder is useless.

I ask, where is the real problem with finding skilled IT workers? Has anyone else encountered these findings? Is outsourcing the answer rather than hiring an applicant already on the government payroll?

My current career objective is to keep my IT skills in the government. If that's not what the government wants, then I wish they would inform me.

Name withheld by request