Thanks Ian, good point. I shared a draft of this post with Aaron Gertler before I posted it; he should be able to help confirm I am not up to anything nefarious. I’m happy to answer questions in an AMA, too, though I’ll maintain my anonymity. I was originally going to publish under my own name (which is my other user name on the forum) but was advised not to, basically for the reason that anything you publish can end up scrutinized as part of the appointment process and better safe than sorry. I do have the intention of matchmaking as outlined in the post. As to my ability to follow through, I don’t want to overstate my position here—I’m not myself a member of the transition team or anything, though I do have former colleagues/acquaintances etc who are. All I can do at this point is pass on promising resumes to folks I know if it seems fruitful, and reach out to others who answer the survey who are in a position to do the same. Hope that helps!
Echoing Ian’s comment, I’d appreciate if you could share more information about your background. I understand that you want to remain anonymous but maybe you could share how you’re connected to folks on the transition team, potentially how influential you expect your recommendations to be, if there are any departments you have more or less influence in, etc. so folks can judge whether they want to expose all of this info to you.
Sure, I’m happy to share a bit more about myself, and I will also clarify how I intended the google doc to work.
I’m a career civil servant in DC, I work at a cabinet-level agency where I’ve been for approximately 10 years. I am not a member of the transition team (see response to Ian, above). My connections to the incoming administration are through current and former colleagues, friends, and various folks I know here in DC who I’d classify mostly as “weak ties.”[1]
My goal for the google doc is for it to function as a means of networking for folks within the EA community interested working in the exec branch and in the new administration. There are many similar networking efforts underway both formal and informal; I mention a few formal ones in the post (e.g., American Constitution Society, LGBT Victory, etc).
On the backend, all I would plan to do is to connect folks who are either (1) in a position to recommend or place appointments in a given area or agency and/or (2) seeking an appointment in a given area or agency. For certain agencies I may be in a position to make such a recommendation but certainly I don’t want to give the impression that I am the head of Presidential Personnel Office or anything like that!
I don’t view the information asked for in the google doc as particularly sensitive (it’s basically just a resume drop) but if there’s anything in your resume you aren’t comfortable sharing, then you probably should not use the doc. (Or if there’s a way you’d be more comfortable sharing this information please let me know!)
I vouch for this user! I know their real name, and my interactions with them lead me to believe that they really do want to help people find positions in government.
Thanks Ian, good point. I shared a draft of this post with Aaron Gertler before I posted it; he should be able to help confirm I am not up to anything nefarious. I’m happy to answer questions in an AMA, too, though I’ll maintain my anonymity. I was originally going to publish under my own name (which is my other user name on the forum) but was advised not to, basically for the reason that anything you publish can end up scrutinized as part of the appointment process and better safe than sorry. I do have the intention of matchmaking as outlined in the post. As to my ability to follow through, I don’t want to overstate my position here—I’m not myself a member of the transition team or anything, though I do have former colleagues/acquaintances etc who are. All I can do at this point is pass on promising resumes to folks I know if it seems fruitful, and reach out to others who answer the survey who are in a position to do the same. Hope that helps!
Echoing Ian’s comment, I’d appreciate if you could share more information about your background. I understand that you want to remain anonymous but maybe you could share how you’re connected to folks on the transition team, potentially how influential you expect your recommendations to be, if there are any departments you have more or less influence in, etc. so folks can judge whether they want to expose all of this info to you.
Sure, I’m happy to share a bit more about myself, and I will also clarify how I intended the google doc to work.
I’m a career civil servant in DC, I work at a cabinet-level agency where I’ve been for approximately 10 years. I am not a member of the transition team (see response to Ian, above). My connections to the incoming administration are through current and former colleagues, friends, and various folks I know here in DC who I’d classify mostly as “weak ties.”[1]
My goal for the google doc is for it to function as a means of networking for folks within the EA community interested working in the exec branch and in the new administration. There are many similar networking efforts underway both formal and informal; I mention a few formal ones in the post (e.g., American Constitution Society, LGBT Victory, etc).
On the backend, all I would plan to do is to connect folks who are either (1) in a position to recommend or place appointments in a given area or agency and/or (2) seeking an appointment in a given area or agency. For certain agencies I may be in a position to make such a recommendation but certainly I don’t want to give the impression that I am the head of Presidential Personnel Office or anything like that!
I don’t view the information asked for in the google doc as particularly sensitive (it’s basically just a resume drop) but if there’s anything in your resume you aren’t comfortable sharing, then you probably should not use the doc. (Or if there’s a way you’d be more comfortable sharing this information please let me know!)
[1] See https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1059601101264003; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1303070117300495
Thanks, if Aaron’s willing to chime in here and vouch for you then I’ll consider my concerns moot. :)
I vouch for this user! I know their real name, and my interactions with them lead me to believe that they really do want to help people find positions in government.