Today, the majority of these programs, or at least the ones run by the Office of Personnel Management, are compensated, though there are some “volunteer” programs out there, like this one at the International Development Finance Corporation.

Since internship pay is regulated on an agency-by-agency basis, due to there not being a law mandating a specific level of compensation, some internships can be unpaid, some pay minimum wage and some pay the equivalent of full-time salaries.

So the only easy answer to “how much will I be paid as an intern for the government?” is: it depends.

“It depends on your level of experience and expertise and the position you’re hired into, and the work that you’re expected to do,” said Michael Mahoney, who manages the hiring policy office at OPM.

Some 60,000 paid internships were given out within the federal government in 2010, however, according to the White House’s proposed fiscal year 2022 budget, that number has dropped to just 4,000.

In response to that drastic cut, initiatives like the Pay Our Interns push to include interns in the federal budget have been urging the federal government to institutionalize and standardize paid intern opportunities. OPM, also at the request of lawmakers, has reviewed its flagship program called Pathways and put out proposed reforms last week.

The proposed changes to Pathways offer easier access to the program for people without degrees and make the process of converting an internship into a permanent position more flexible.

The Pathways Program is one popular route to finding a federal internship. Another is browsing USAJobs, the main website listing available federal internships, to find programs with salaries as much as $50,000 to $60,000 a year — more than some full-time jobs.

Many internship salaries, however, do not exceed the U.S. median income.

So because pay for federal interns can vary, check the job description, which should list compensation level, Mahoney advised.

Some federal internships, like internships at OPM, operate on the General Schedule scale.

“The internships at OPM administers, like the Pathways Program, their interns are paid in the same manner as other federal employees, such as myself,” said Mahoney. “Which is to say that for every position, there’s a grade level based on one’s level of education and experience and there’s a scale that comes with that — a pay range — which is sometimes adjusted for locality pay.”

The GS is generally how most federal employees are paid.

The less experience an applicant has when applying, the lower on the scale said applicant will be placed and vice versa. For interns, there is no one grade an applicant is automatically assigned, however, interns who have not earned a degree yet may get hired on the lower end, around levels two, three, four or five, according to Mahoney.

“Because oftentimes [interns] qualify just on the basis of a college degree or the fact that they’re in school getting a degree, they don’t have a lot of experience,” Mahoney said. “So, they’re going to make it on the lower end. But that isn’t always the case.”

Not every agency necessarily conforms to the GS as a default method of payment, however.

“Sometimes agencies do have their own pay scales in law,” Mahoney said. “But, generally speaking, we defer to the General Schedule, and in our rules we say ‘or equivalent’ to accommodate those agencies that might have something a little bit different.”

“Unpaid federal internships, they’re still valuable experiences,” said Brian Rowe, director of experiential education at American University’s career center. “I think there’s a lot of flexibility with volunteer internships. I see our students engaging in those experiences. I mean, they’re good experiences. They do give federal experience and give exposure to the federal work culture and to agencies and their missions. So yes, they’re there. They’re a part of the internship landscape.”

Some feel that valuable experience that unpaid internships can provide is not always a compelling enough reason to take one.

“I wish they were paid,” said Elizabeth Schill, assistant director for professional development at the Georgetown Cawley Career Education Center. “I think schools like Georgetown or American are unique in that a lot of students are already here in D.C. during the year. But it does prevent a lot of students who otherwise can’t afford to do an internship from doing these fantastic internships.

“I think unpaid internships just exclude a whole lot of students. And it becomes an area where the students who are in more elite classes have that it’s kind of that self perpetuating cycle where students who already have access to a lot of these programs and opportunities by virtue of their background, continue to do so,” she said.

While applicants should not expect that housing is provided during a federal internship, as it often is not, certain agencies, like the National Park Services, do provide it when sending you to a National Park, however, this does not necessarily mean that the pay is a liveable salary.

“It wasn’t possible for me to take up another job during the internship [because] I was working full time,” said Kira Carney, a former intern for the National Park Service. “Housing was provided, so that was helpful. Food and meal planning, and all of that was not provided. In general, it was not as well paying as it should have been, particularly in regard to how much it costs to travel there. Across the board, interns need to be paid significantly more for the incredible amount of work that they’re doing for organizations.”

The average cost of living in Washington, D.C., is 53% higher than the national average. Some estimates say that an intern should budget between $115 and $170 per week for general expenses in D.C. outside of rent.

“I think the standard was $15 an hour,” said Katie Gray, a former intern for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. “I can’t remember if I went up the GS, like up a grade, when I was there the second year, but if so, it was a very small amount, like only ten or fifteen cents more the second year. So, is it livable? Probably not.”

Aside from how much they’ll be paid, interns may also be wondering whether they’re likely to get hired after their internship.

Again, the answer: it depends.

“We do run a merit system, but as long as your background, your educational experience and/or your work experience [are good], I mean, there’s generally two ways to qualify for federal jobs: education, experience or a combination of both,” Mahoney said.

Each internship posting will specify if there are opportunities to move into a permanent position.

“First and foremost, conversion is always at the discretion of the hiring manager or the agency that’s employing them,” Mahoney said. “And sometimes there are realities in which the agency wants to but can’t convert people [like] budget constraints.”

Under the current regulations, interns can convert to other agencies if they accrue so many hours. When in doubt, ask your internship coordinator, Mahoney said, and be prepared to be flexible.

While the Big Apple was first to keep the party going, it might not have been the first to party; New York was not the first state to throw a parade. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island beat New York to the festivities, but due to lack of continuation over the years, these are not considered the first Labor Day parades.

New York wasn’t even the first state to sign Labor Day into legislation, a title which Oregon proudly claimed when it made Labor Day an official holiday in 1887. During that same year, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York state all passed similar laws. Over the following decade, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Nebraska joined in.

Americans today embrace Labor Day as a last hurrah of summer, though the origins and the meaning of the holiday are less well-known, and not without controversy.

Starting in 1884, the labor movement called for strikes and protests on May 1 to push for an eight-hour workday. In 1889, International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, was created by socialists and trade unions in Europe as a commemoration of the general strike for an eight-hour work day on May 1, 1886, in Chicago that led to a deadly riot that left at least 11 dead and dozens injured.

“Why would a militant labor event in America affect the rest of the world when America was trying to avoid it?” said Scott Molloy, a former professor at the Labor Research Center at the University of Rhode Island. “Well, they did it because these were martyrs. These were people who gave their life to a larger issue. And that is the eight-hour day, better treatment, better wages, and so forth and so on.”

Labor Day not May Day

May Day, which recognizes the work of labored workers through a celebration of dancing, singing and the crowning of a “May Queen” to bring in the new season, is celebrated in more than 60 countries on May 1, though not in the U.S.

“The rest of the world, especially the industrialized world, celebrated May Day,” said Molloy, in an interview with Federal Times. “In Europe, the working class was much better organized and organized earlier than in the United States, they were also very militant, and they would often combine their labor experience and desires with radical and revolutionary movements.

“So that’s how it got seared into the American mind that May Day, a European holiday, was a dangerous thing,” he said. “In the popular mind, particularly among politicians, who didn’t want any part of that stuff, they avoided the use of May Day, and created Labor Day, as kind of an alternative, a more civilized way to get attention and make achievements [because] they didn’t want to be stamped with the Red Scare from another continent.”

U.S. President Grover Cleveland had misgivings about the Socialist origins of Worker’s Day and the pagan origins of May Day and therefore officially signed legislation on June 28, 1894 to make Labor Day a federal holiday celebrated the first Monday in September, 1894 — marking the end of individual state celebrations and the beginning of nationwide recognition.

But Cleveland did not do this out of support for the Labor Union, he did it out of fear of voters, according to Molloy.

Cleveland “was no friend of labor, per se. He was against what they call protectionism,” Molloy said. “And that had to do with tariffs and taxes on imported goods, usually from England. And what would happen is that these manufactured items would come get to America at a cheaper price, and we could produce them. And so a lot of the labor unions would embrace the idea of a tariff to keep foreign made goods out … So in an attempt to maybe get some of those votes back, he signed the law, establishing Labor Day on a federal basis. But in reality, I think 35 or 37 states had already passed legislation to celebrate Labor Day, so in many ways, Cleveland was the last guy in line, and he really didn’t do much.”

McGuire vs Maguire

Although the date of the first Labor Day is easy to pinpoint, there’s some debate over who the official founder of Labor Day was, but Peter J. McGuire and Matthew Maguire have been deemed the two men who stick out in history.

There are records from 1882 showing McGuire, the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, said that there should be a day set aside for a “general holiday for the laboring classes” that should be “celebrated by a street parade, which would publicly show the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.”

The New Jersey Historical Society believes that Maguire’s leadership of several strikes in the 1870s, with the intent of gaining recognition for manufacturing workers, should be credited with the foundership. They also found that while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union, Maguire proposed the holiday in 1882.

No matter which McGuire-Maguire founded it, the right to celebrate the work of American citizens throughout history was a long fight in the making.

More than 140 years since the first Labor Day, Americans still celebrate the holiday with parades, barbecues and last-minute beach trips before the start of fall. And many recognize it as the informal end of summer.

Labor Day is recognized by 97% of employers by giving at least some of their employees the day off. However, this does not mean that everyone gets the day off.

In a survey conducted by Bloomberg BNA, 15% of organizations will have security, public safety workers or technical personnel working on Labor Day, 13% of organizations will have professional employees working, 11% will have managers working and 10% will have service, maintenance staff, sales and customer service working.

Federal employees will have Monday, Sept. 4, 2023, off of work and government offices will be closed.

The next federal holiday is Columbus Day.

Applicants applying to a government internship might feel inclined to copy and paste the same resume that has been submitted to other positions outside the federal government. But there are some key differences and tips to know when submitting a resume to Uncle Sam.

For one, while private sector hiring managers prefer resumes that do not exceed one page, federal job applications do not adhere to this standard. Government jobs actually prefer multiple-page long resumes that list experience, education, job titles and descriptions, salaries, employment dates for timeline comparisons, successes made during previous employment and how an applicants skills and abilities apply to the job description, according to USAJobs.

USAJobs, the premiere job board for agencies looking to hire, offers a template that helps create a uniform, succinct resume tailored to government work. That’s a good place to start, but experts interviewed by Federal Times offered additional tips to help applicants submit the best resume and cover letter possible, prepare for an interview and complete an application properly.

Before an applicant can even get to the stage of applying, one must find the internship itself. Sadly, there is no exhaustive list of every available federal internship. However, USAJobs and the Pathways Program are both popular options that list many federal internship opportunities across agencies.

Pathways recently proposed changes to expand its eligibility and provide internship opportunities for individuals without a college degree.

Strict deadlines

After finding job listings that look promising, note the deadlines of the position as many federal positions have strict deadlines and due to the lengthy application process and security clearances, can come up sooner than expected. This means starting the process early and noting all deadlines before even beginning to fill out forms.

“Work on it early, especially if you are a university student,” said Brian Rowe, director of experiential education at American University’s career center. “Start to plan a path of exploration because internships can be exploratory. You don’t have to start an internship the very first minute you get to college, but start the process of evaluating what you’d like to explore, what you’d like to do and see how it fits into a path … Sometimes you have to get the ball rolling really quickly because of security clearances.”

Many federal internships use technology to sift out applications that do not satisfy their requirements, so make sure when applying to federal internships, buzzwords from the job listing are sprinkled throughout the resume.

“Try to use as many of the keywords that are in the job description in your resume,” said Kira Carney, a former National Park Services intern. “I’m pretty sure this internship had an electronic scanner that your resume is processed first electronically and weeded out, for federal jobs that’s definitely true. So using keywords is a great way to bolster and tie your resume as much as you can to the position.”

For agencies that do use an automated application process to sort through resume’s, the machine is not the only one doing the work. Applications that correctly fit the job application will be sent on to a human representative who will give them a more in-depth review.

So, when building a resume for a federal internship, focus on keeping the font neutral and readable and make sure the formatting is not confusing. Don’t try to be fancy, but highlight qualifications and let the work speak for itself.

Many federal internships are not expecting every applicant to have lots of previous employment, so experience like volunteer work, relevant in-depth projects, topical academic work and research are all relevant.

How to stand out

“To stand out, you want to take that job description and apply it [to your resume] because federal job descriptions are very clear,” Rowe said. “They aren’t ambiguous. Look at what it is saying. What is it asking for? What are the action verbs? What are the tasks? What are the skills that are required? And reflect that back in context for your experiences.”

An excellent cover letter also speaks volumes, Rowe acknowledged. The cover letter lets the hiring manager know why they should hire an applicant over anyone else. Use the opportunity a cover letter presents to tell a story.

“It’s a short way to give a narrative and focus on the skills and experience that the internship is looking for,” Rowe said. “Sometimes people describe their resume as the “what,” like what are my skills, what is my knowledge, what’s my training – academic or otherwise – and the cover letter can be a little more of the “why,” what’s my motivation, why am I applying for this, why am I really motivated to come in and do a great job?”

It’s also good to specify the federal agency’s name in the cover letter and mention something about it to show interest.

“I found it fascinating when applicants could mention the agency and the mission,” said Carol Wilkerson, former Press Director at the Small Business Administration and a former recruiter for the Peace Corps. “Those who mention the agency or the mission or something that was recent in the news relating to the internship position they are vying for, that helped me put that applicant at the top and that person got additional points pertaining to the interview level.”

It’s also important to keep in mind who the audience is. While it may not be apparent who exactly is reviewing each resume, knowing what hiring managers are looking for is important. On top of the job description, employers are looking for demonstrated commitment.

“When I’m sifting through those resumes, I would always look at their scholarly achievements, where they are in their career goals or what they have done community service-wise and any volunteer activities that can show me that that person is committed and dedicated to this particular assignment,” Wilkerson said. “I do look at that timeline to see if this person is going to stay on the course with us.”

While waiting in the interim to hear back on whether an application will move forward to the interview phase, a follow-up email with a thank you note is a good step to boost an application’s chances of getting noticed.

“I actually reached out to the contact for the [internship] I ended up getting, just to follow up on my application,” Carney said. “And she actually told me that I was one of very few who followed up, so that’s why I got an interview because there were over 100 [applicants] and they started with people who took the initiative to follow up.”

Once an applicant has been selected for an interview, it is important to prepare for the interview. Do mock interviews, think of ways to answer popular questions, like the star method, research the agency’s missions and look for advice from trusted sources who might have experience in similar realms.

“I had jobs in high school and the beginning of college, but those were all server jobs, kind of your basic restaurant jobs,” said Katie Gray, a former intern at the Federal Bureau of Investigations. “They weren’t super serious, so this was my first real job interview so I talked to my parents for advice. I talked to a family friend who had been in the military for several years and had knew what to expect from government interviews. And then I made a list of some questions I was expecting and prepared some answers.”

Pathways, which includes three internship programs for students and recent graduates to train for federal employment, would expand to applicants who may not have attended college but nonetheless picked up skills via apprenticeships or other hands-on learning, such as the Peace Corps.

“In the years since the creation of the Pathways Programs, employment trends in other sectors have shifted to better recognize the value of and utilize skills-based hiring over reliance on degrees,” according to the proposed rule.

Pathways was established via executive order in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama. Since then, the number of paid federal internships has fallen by 90%, said Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who has proposed legislation to reform these programs.

The need for young employees in government, meanwhile, has only grown as the workforce has aged into retirement. It has been a priority of several administrations to ensure college graduates and early-career workers are attracted to public service to counteract attrition and bring moden skills.

“Early career programs are a critical pathway into public service,” said OPM Director Kiran Ahuja in a statement. “Updating the Pathways Programs will allow the federal government to better compete with other sectors for talent and ensure the paths to public service are clear and fair. Whether you’re entering the workforce for the first time or changing professions, the federal government offers opportunities in every sector and every industry.”

In order to be eligible for permanent federal employment through the Pathways Program, an individual must complete one of the three paths: the Internship Program, the Recent Graduates Program or the Presidential Management Fellows Program. The suggested changes to the Pathways Program will alter these paths with three goals in mind to help improve the Pathways Program and convert internships into permanent positions.

The first goal is to expand applicant eligibility for the Recent Graduates program to allow individuals without degrees, but with the necessary qualifications, to apply — a philosophy the Biden administration has been building on, called “skills-based” hiring. In lieu of a college degree, qualifications could include completion of a qualifying career or technical education through Americorps, Job Corps or registered apprenticeships. Many of these government programs already background checked these applicants, which can then assist federal agencies in then bringing them on more efficiently.

The second goal is to supply agencies with more time to convert interns into permanent employees. Agencies have 120 days to do so, but the proposed regulations lengthen that time to 180 days to allow more employment opportunities for agencies and applicants.

“Though we are extending the timeline to assist agencies and interns in securing conversion, we continue to urge agencies to move promptly to complete conversion upon the Intern’s completion of the degree or qualifying career or technical education program and program requirements,” the proposed rule says. “Lengthy delays in conversion can pose a financial hardship on the intern and lead to them seeking employment elsewhere.”

Securing eligibility

In particular, the Internship program portion of Pathways requires interns to work 640 hours to secure eligibility for a permanent job in the federal civil service.

A waiver can be filed to demote this number down to 320 hours, however the new regulations’ third and final goal is to make up to 320 hours of the required 640 applicable from time completed at the registered apprenticeship programs and Job Corps.

“The Pathways Programs are an effective tool to recruit young talent into the federal workforce and develop the next generation of public servants,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Expanding this program to include graduates from Job Corps and Registered Apprenticeship Programs advances the President’s commitment to a federal government that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve and enables agencies to reach a broader pool of talent – because equity and excellence go hand-in-hand.”

And for the President Management Fellows program within Pathways, OPM is also proposing agency coordinators to permit part-time schedules to accommodate individuals who are caregivers or have some kind of medical need.

These proposed regulations also help advance the Workforce Priority of the President’s Management Agenda. Biden said in his 2023 budget he expects agencies to have hired 35,000 interns this fiscal year.

“The Pathways Programs has been a very welcoming experience” said Dwane Larkin, an intern-trainee at the Railroad Retirement Board, in a statement provided by OPM. “My plan is to transition to a full-time role at the end of my program. I love my job environment, and it is extremely challenging, pushing me to be a better version of myself daily. I would advise anyone interested in federal service to apply through the Pathways Program. It’s worth the effort, and the training is priceless.”

Doreen Greenwald, the national executive vice president since January 2022, ran unopposed and will replace Tony Reardon, 59, who is retiring.

“I know firsthand the challenges NTEU members face every day, the benefit of NTEU in the workplace and the fight it will take to ensure our union remains strong and our members are treated with the dignity and respect they have earned and deserve,” Greenwald, 57, said in statement.

She’s taking over the position at a time when NTEU is seeking to influence several issues including teleworking in an environment that is adjusting to in-person work again, protecting jobs from legislation that would make it easier to fire federal employees and helping members navigate a potential government shutdown.

Greenwald previously worked as a frontline federal employee with the IRS in Wisconsin, where she spent 21 years as a revenue officer. In 1985, she joined NTEU, and over time became president of her local chapter, a position she held for 14 years.

Once Greenwald decided to retire from the IRS, she moved to Washington, D.C., in January 2020 as a special assistant to NTEU’s national president. In this position, she led the union’s COVID-19 response team and represented the union on behalf of different federal agencies.

Anand Muni, 44, is taking over Greenwald’s previous position and will be her second-in-command. Muni worked as a customs and border protection officer for the Department of Homeland Security, but delegates to NTEU’s 59th National Convention in Detroit promoted him to the union’s second highest office.

“As civil servants, we take a solemn oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution’ and for me, patriotism and support for the union movement are two sides of the same coin,” said Muni, who has been a NTEU member since 2009 and in his third term as president of Chapter 165, which is based in the Oakland-San Francisco area.

Greenwald and Muni will be sworn into office on Aug. 10 and remain in these positions for four years.

“Anand and I share a vision for NTEU that recognizes our members in all 34 agencies and will ensure they have formidable representation in the workplace, in the courts, at the bargaining table and on Capitol Hill,” Greenwald said. “All of their voices will be heard.”

Telework schedules are negotiated in government employment contracts and shouldn’t be altered without negotiations, according to the National Treasury Employees Union. The American Federation of Government Employees said the administration should consider the benefits of hybrid work before making changes.

“NTEU has negotiated contracts and agreements allowing eligible employees to continue on a part-time telework schedule after the end of the maximum telework status used during the pandemic,” NTEU National President Tony Reardon said in a statement to Federal Times. “Thousands of frontline federal employees successfully performed on telework schedules for many years before the pandemic because agencies have long agreed that flexible scheduling is a viable option that does not hinder performance or services to citizens and creates work-life balance, reduces commuting costs and helps recruit and retain employees.”

“These contracts, bargained collectively at the agencies where we represent frontline employees, remain in effect,” he said. “Any changes to those agreements would have to be negotiated with NTEU.”

Biden has directed Cabinet officials to “aggressively execute” plans to reinstate in-person work for federal workers this fall, more than three years after the administration maximized telework policies amid the COVID pandemic. Axios first reported the stepped-up callback Friday, citing a memo from White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients.

Biden pledged in his State of the Union address that “the vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person,” and the adminisration has followed followed by slowly transitioning to more in-person work. In April, instructions for agencies to end maximum telework and create plans to bring people back to the office were sent out by the Office of Management and Budget.

Ending maximum telework, which was employed during the pandemic to keep people healthy, resulted in some federal departments such as the U.S. Department of Education, decreasing telework for employees. Still, some agencies worked with unions to secure telework contracts.

Collective bargaining

AFGE, which represents federal workers across 900 local unions around the U.S., said hybrid work environments should be the goal the U.S. is aiming for.

“Whether working remotely or in-person, the 750,000 federal and DC government employees represented by AFGE have shown up every day to serve the American people during the COVID-19 pandemic,” AFGE National President Everett Kelley said in a statement. “Now that the federal public health emergency around COVID-19 is over, agencies should take advantage of the collective bargaining process and labor-management partnerships to design hybrid working arrangements that allow both for meaningful in-person as well as remote and telework options.”

Kelley said a hybrid work environment allows for a solid balance between workers’ unions and agencies and benefit the whole workforce as a result.

“Working in partnership with workers’ unions will help agencies balance competing interests and achieve a workable, long-term solution that builds strong culture, achieves our shared mission, and protects the productivity gains and benefits to recruitment and retention realized through expanding remote and telework options beyond pre-pandemic levels,” he said.

Republicans and some Democrats are stepping up pressure on administration to limit remote work. Lawmakers have introduced legislation to force federal employees to return to pre-pandemic levels of telework. That bill, the SHOW UP Act, has yet to pass the U.S. Senate, but agencies have already taken it upon themselves to call employees back to offices more frequently this summer. So far, telework is still being offered, just in a more limited capacity than it has been in the last two years.

A report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that out of the 24 federal agencies, 17 of them estimated that they used 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings capacity.

“As we look towards the fall, and with the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, your agencies will be implementing increases in the amount of in-person work for your team,” Zients said in the memo, according to Axios. “This is a priority of the President – and I am looking to each of you to aggressively execute this shift in September and October.”

The White House did not respond to request to comment.

The possible foreign military sale would see Germany receive up to 969 AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related equipment, according to a July 19 news release by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which notified Congress of the department’s approval.

The potential deal also includes AIM-120 training missiles, a telemetry kit, spare parts and transportation support, among “other related elements of logistical and program support.”

The agency said the possible sale will bolster the security of the NATO ally and promote political and economic stability in Europe. The release also noted the deal would improve Germany’s ability to face existing threats by ensuring the country has modern, capable air-to-air munitions.

The announcement comes amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, a neighbor of several NATO members, and days after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated the alliance’s support for Kyiv.

Germany already operates AMRAAM weapons, the release read, and this possible sale “will further advance the already high level of German Air Force interoperability with U.S. joint forces and other regional and NATO forces.”

The missiles and defense business segment of RTX in Tucson, Arizona, will serve as the principal contractor.

The deal is not expected to adversely impact U.S. military readiness, according to the release.

If Congress does not reject the potential sale, it then goes into negotiations, during which dollar figures and quantities of equipment can change.