Given the market, federal jobs are particularly desirable for new attorneys. If you can manage to get into a federal agency you will be guaranteed job stability, great benefits, potential for advancement, and total federal student loan forgiveness after only 10 years of civil service. Many agencies also offer student loan repayment assistance. The problem is that acquiring one of these jobs can be downright impossible unless you have inside connections or have veteran's status. In addition, www.usajobs.gov can be a job application black hole unless you are familiar with the unique formatting and keyword loading requirements.
I have gone through the www.usajobs.gov application process several times and have only applied for jobs which I had strong qualifications for. However, each time I was told that I was not eligible for an interview because veteran applicants had applied and their veteran status enables them to be qualified at 110% (non-veterans can only earn up to 100% if they have all desired qualifications).
That said, I know of a handful of people who were not veterans and have earned interviews through this online application process. The trick to getting through federal resume screening personnel appears to be twofold - incorporating as many keywords from the job posting as possible into your resume AND going into much more detail about your qualifications than you would in a civilian resume.
Although most federal jobs are posted on www.usajobs.gov not all of them are. Many jobs are also posted on the websites of specific federal agencies. In addition, many positions in the federal government that are not posted on www.usajobs.gov are actually contractor roles. This means that recruiting/contracting firms will pitch specific candidates to the agency and then bid against each other. The agency will often then hire the best value for the money candidate. Many of these contracting firms rarely advertise for candidates but instead get them through word of mouth in the community (this appears to be especially true of contracting firms in D.C.). Thus, if you are interested in working with one of these contracting firms your best shot is networking with people who you know in the industry and asking them how they would recommend that you get into the agency you are interested in.
Caveat: Although working as a contractor will not award you the same benefits and loan forgiveness that a permanent position with the federal government will these positions can become permanent. In addition, you will have the chance to network within the agency and learn about new roles before they become advertised.
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