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Earlier this month, during the annual celebration of Public Service Recognition Week, the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, which is dedicated to promoting the value of working for the federal government, released a survey of college students' attitudes toward Uncle Sam as an employer.

The study found that 42 percent of 3,000 students surveyed at six universities were "extremely" or "very" interested in federal service, almost as many as those who said they had a strong interest in the corporate sector (49 percent) and more than those who expressed keen interest in nonprofit work (40 percent).

Still, agencies aren't doing a good enough job of letting students know about career opportunities in government, said Partnership's president, Max Stier. He urged them to highlight the practical value of federal work, including the relatively generous benefits.

"The JFK message of 'ask not' is not good enough for this generation," Stier said. "What you really need is something that offers up the opportunity for doing good, but also doing well."

I hope this turns out not to be true, and my sense is it's not. The young people in the office where I work put many of the baby boomers and Generation Xers to shame with their commitment to volunteer service. It's an expected part of their lives and careers.

The defining moments for students coming out of college today are events such as Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. It's hard to believe they can't be bothered to take jobs serving their fellow citizens unless they are offered some extra financial incentive.

Many of today's college graduates come from families that have lived out the American dream. Their parents are more successful than their grandparents, who were better off than the generation that came before them.

These young people are smart, talented and energetic, but many of them have come to believe that it will be difficult to exceed what their parents have accomplished financially. They are reacting by defining success as how much good they do rather than how well off they are.

To be fair, Stier wasn't saying pay and benefits are the only attractive elements of federal service. Making sure young people know that federal jobs offer the opportunity to do interesting work and make a difference also is critical, the organization's report noted. But those things fall under the "ask not" category - and remain the government's best selling points.

That's because federal agencies can't win the compensation competition. Private sector salaries always are going to be higher, and government's nice health and retirement benefits aren't the kinds of things that entice the average college graduate to a first job.

But the inherent appeal of public service is dampened by two serious problems. The first is highlighted in the organization's research. When asked about reasons not to work at federal agencies, "too much bureaucracy" was the most common reply, by 53 percent of students.

This is a generation that simply has not seen government at its best. The response to Sept. 11 was a huge overhaul of the federal bureaucratic apparatus, and Katrina showed the limits of what that effort has accomplished thus far.

The second factor is that, despite years of reform efforts, the federal hiring process remains generally lengthy and byzantine. Whether you blame it on sheer inefficiency or factors such as merit system requirements and veterans preference, government on the whole simply is not competitive with other sectors of the economy when it comes to evaluating talent and making job offers in a timely fashion.

Prodded by groups such as the Partnership for Public Service, the government has stepped up its efforts to extol the virtues of federal service. This spring, the Office of Personnel Management unveiled a series of TV advertisements highlighting real federal employees and the fascinating work they do.

But federal agencies simply can't expect students to wait around to launch their careers because of the appeal of rewarding work in the service of their country. Young people have serious questions about how well government is serving the public. They want proof that agencies can get things done, and they aren't willing to wait around for their chance to help.

COMMENTS

• It is not only recent college graduates who are interested in working for the federal government but end up taking jobs in the private sector. I took early retirement last year from my SES job -- I was unhappy with my then-current position and undertook a serious job search. I had 10 interviews with the government. In most cases, even six months after the interviews, I have never received any feedback about the positions. I had no offers, even though all positions were in my specific career field. I also had five serious interviews with private sector companies, had three job offers and accepted the best of the three -- at a 40 percent increase in compensation. The hiring process in the government is broken, and with all the hand-wringing about the coming retirement wave, no one is doing anything seriously to fix the process. Not that I'm surprised, but I just wanted to my experience to the discussion. GovExec.com reader Posted May 31, 2006 2:34 PM
• I also don't doubt the willingness and drive of young people to do good work, just as I don't doubt that same willingness and drive in current public servants. Didn't we all start our government careers, however we came to take those jobs, with shining eyes and high hopes. But reality happens. We marry and find it really does take money to raise a family, we become so enmeshed in government red tape that it is difficult to make even the small changes for the good but constantly get senseless mandates stuffed down our collective throats by some political appointee trying to make a name for him/her self. But we still strive to do our best because we support the troops because if we don't then who? If we don't get it right, soldiers die. How do we then motivate the young? Simplify the hiring process, provide meaningful work but everyone should understand that there will always be the mundane that must also be done, offer praise when warranted, counsel when necessary, cut the red tape so that it is possible to make a difference, and pay a competitive wage so that the needs of a growing family can be accommodated. And lastly, the American people and certainly our president and Congress, must see public service as worthy and essential. GovExec.com reader Posted May 22, 2006 6:27 PM
• An educated citizenry is as vital a part of our society's infrastructure as highways and electronic connectivity I totally agree with the above statement; however, this does not mean that everyone in the society needs a college education. Attending college is a process for most to achieve a higher paying job in the future than otherwise would be the case. Therefore, college attendance is an investment in the individual’s future income. If the investment is too high (as demonstrated by the inability to repay student loans) then the person should not go to college. The taxpayer should not be burdened with payment of individuals’ student loans! Loans are there to help and not be taken advantage of as is the case today. The government should not forgive student loans. If you paid for your education as some of us did, you should not be penalized by others getting a handout from the government from the money we pay in taxes (or the outrageous debt amassed to avoid taxes today). This stuff is driving this country into third world status and should be stopped before it is too late. By that time it will not matter if you have a college education of not -- you probably will want to become an immigrant to China or India because that is where the growth is and will be for the next century. Deduct the government excessive spending and you will see the United States is in decline, not advancing as other countries are! Taxpayer Posted May 23, 2006 7:24 AM