Book lists key govt. science posts

| 2 min read

Job seekers hoping to land a position in President-elect Barack Obama's administration would be wise to pick up a copy of the US government's Plum Book, which lists some key science positions to be filled as Obama linkurl:takes over;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55167/ from outgoing President, linkurl:George W. Bush.;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/54983/ Speculation has already started to linkurl:swirl;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55173/ around who Obama will pick to head The Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration. The Plum Book, officially titled __The United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions__, is 209 pages filled with job announcements for virtually every government agency from the linkurl:Department of Homeland Security;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/53195/ to the Japan-United States Friendship Commission. Here are some of the science agencies seeking replacements for exiting Bush-appointees: The Office of Science and Technology Policy has 13 available posts from director to policy assistant - commanding starting annual salaries of $172,200 and $39,795, respectively. The Department of Health and Human Services has numerous positions opening up from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration to the linkurl:National Institutes of Health;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55179/ and the Office of Global Health Affairs (Being Health Attaché in Paris while making $114,468 a year sounds pretty sweet!). linkurl:The Environmental Protection Agency;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/27334/ has probably the greatest geographical spread in available spots, with its regional offices stretching from Boston to San Francisco and several cities between. The National Science Foundation lists a slew of vacancies with seven falling under the Directorate for Biological Sciences. The Plum Book, which sells for $38 at a government bookstore in Washington, DC, lists salaries and current officeholders for the noncompetitive appointments, but its forward reads, "The duties of many such positions may involve advocacy of Administration policies and programs and the incumbents usually have a close and confidential working relationship with the agency head or other key officials." Translation: If you're not politically connected, don't even think about it. Approximately one third of the jobs in the book are direct presidential appointments, according to linkurl:__The Washington Post__.;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/12/AR2008111203303.html?wpisrc=newsletter Still, just for giggles, you can browse the Plum Book to see if there's a Cherry Position waiting for you in the Obama administration by clicking linkurl:here.;http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/2008/

Book lists key govt. science posts

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