It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

AREA STUDIES EXPERTS NEED NOT APPLY. An interesting post on H-ASIA about the travails of an individual areas studies expert (Ph.D. and MBA) about the difficulties if not the near impossibility of finding an entry-level job in the U.S. government.

The federal civil service procedures, on-line resume construction, emphasis on hiring internally over externally, veteran preferences, and valorizing work over education all create large impediments for folks with graduate degrees who wish to work for the government. The Department of State, in not permitting area scholars to serve as such, in combination with its entry pay levels, provides serious disincentives to employment to young area scholars, as well.

Clearly, if the federal government wants area scholars who are broadly trained in the history, society, and language of a country, then it should make hiring such scholars reasonably possible.

In visiting those civil servants working with China related issues, there is a strong interest in hiring area scholars. GS 9 positions are entry level. They would welcome someone who needs a bit of training in how the government works, but who brings expertise in the area. It's hiring procedures that make access to government work especially difficult.

I don't know whether this case is representative or not but if it is, I find it a bit disturbing. Newly minted Ph.Ds (or Ph.Ds of any kind for that matter) do not have a monopoly on knowledge; far from it. But if hiring preferences and procedures are completely freezing such candidates from potential jobs, it would seem to rob the government of a valuable source of knowledge and insight.