Getting a job with Uncle Sam

Would you like to apply for a job with the biggest employer in the country? One that increases hiring every single year? And, no we’re not talking about Wal-Mart.

1) Get the stats

The government employs 1.93 million people. This figure includes full, part-time and seasonal employees (not postal workers). Over the last few years, the increases in government hiring have been astonishing.

Total number permanent new hires:

2004 – 78,732
2005 – 87,498
2006 – 91,552
2007 – 99,335
2008 – 91,702 *

*Figure is for first half of 2008
*Source: Office of Personnel Management

Any job you can find in the private sector you can find in federal service. The government hires chemists, biologists, doctors, nurses and even art appraisers.  And, of course, there are the usual office managers, personal assistants and engineers.

2) Off-beat jobs

Now, you may never heard of the following titles, but they are real jobs: Bowling equipment repair, aircraft attendant, lamplighters, charwomen and sextons. If you are interested in checking out the jobs, go to www.usajobs.gov. On the site, you can search for job openings by job title and even by location. Only 12 percent of federal jobs are actually in Washington, so no matter where you live you have a shot at these jobs.

For more about jobs and issues affecting your wallet, tune into Your Bottom Line every Saturday at 9:30 am Eastern Time on CNN.