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A View From the Overlook: “How Do You Get A Permanent Job With The NPS?”

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A ranger's job, and how to get one, have both changed quite a bit since these ranger's posed for a photo at Mt. Rainier in the 1930s. NPS photo.

'œHow Do You Get A Permanent Job With The NPS?'

This is a frequently asked question, neighbors! If the National Parks are 'œAmerica'™s Best Idea,' then it logically follows that the agency that services the National Parks, that is, The National Park Service, is the best damn bureaucracy in the world, and (therefore) NPS rangers, including myself, are the best damn bureaucrats in the world. (There is a flaw in logic in there somewhere, but you get the drift.)

Everyone enjoys basking in the reflected glory of an elite organization; this is one of the many reasons for the popularity of both the National Park Service and the U.S. Marine Corps. (Admittedly, the Marine Corps is easier to get into.)

Another reason for NPS employment popularity is Positive Feedback: People actually like you and like what you'™re doing. Many of the federal agencies are regulatory, which means you have an established Enemies List, people that hate you automatically, even before you arrive at work at eight in the morning. Not so in the case of the NPS (except for Tea Party fanatics!)

Consider the Internal Revenue Service. Have you ever wondered why the IRS does not have a 'œJunior IRS Agent' program similar to the Park Service'™s Junior Ranger Program, in which aspiring juvenile IRS agents could conduct mock audits of the neighbors? No? I thought not. The same is true of the CIA.

A third reason for NPS job popularity is the physical setting.'œVignettes of Primeval America, at the point of European contact: Towering trees! Thundering waterfalls! Limitless vistas!"

No doubt about it, friends, the NPS is a feel-good agency that many people would like to join, and they are not easily dissuaded.

Recall the last cocktail party you attended. After the host has introduced you as a retired or active member of the NPS, you will be asked two questions: (A) 'œWhat is your favorite bear story? (Pretty difficult if you were at Statue of Liberty), and (B) "How can my (son, daughter, grandchild) get a job with the NPS?'

Now the answer to question B is complicated, ambiguous and fluid.

You might like to hedge, particularly if you are feeling a tad malicious.

'œDo you want your child to be happy?' you might solemnly inquire.

The answer will, of course, be 'œYes! Yes!' (America being the first country to be founded on the 'œPursuit of Happiness" as a goal.)

'œThen,' you reply, 'œYour child should get a job as a Federal Prison Guard.'

Your questioner will be appalled.

No, you have not taken leave of your senses due to Sequestration Frustration; you are merely alluding to a famous yearly study by The Partnership for Public Service in which they ranked the various federal agencies as 'œThe Best Places to Work.'

Now the NPS has never done particularly well in this survey, landing somewhere in the low middle. One notable year, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was found to be a happier place to work than the NPS.Why is this the case?

Actually, it is an unfair comparison. You see, there is a difference in expectations.

A person who applies for a job as a prison guard has rather low expectation of approval by the clientele he serves. Most federal prisons are located in rural, low rent areas with few permanent jobs. Our prison guard candidate will be looking for a favorable retirement and medical package rather than Spiritual Fulfillment. In addition, he/she will be pleasantly surprised that they were not murdered the first day on the job. Every day after that is an improvement.

The NPS seasonal acolyte, on the other hand, has high expectations. If only he/she can enter the Nirvana of permanent employment in 'œThe best job in the world,' our Newbie expects 30 years of blissful contentment. What they fail to realize is that the National Parks are not administered by 'œtowering trees or thundering waterfalls,' or even by a John Muir clone, but by rather fallible and ordinary human beings. There will be difficulties and frustrations.

When approached by young men or women desiring a career in the National Park Service, Roger Siglin, former Chief Ranger of Yellowstone and Superintendent of Gates of Arctic National Park, would ask, 'œWhat is your second choice for a lifetime career?' They rarely had one. One should have a back-up plan, unless one is wearing a suicide vest.

'œYes, I know that!' our acolyte exclaims irritably. 'œI understand that the NPS has some serious personnel management problems, but I am different! Once I become permanent, I will reform the organization from top to bottom (WASO is clearly shaking in its boots!), BUT FIRST I NEED TO GET A PERMANENT JOB WITH THE NPS!'

Thereupon hangs many a frustration, neighbors! There are many rumors abounding that 'œOne must know someone' before the Holy Grail of a permanent position can be grasped, or that certain jobs are 'œwired' for certain individuals or certain minority groups.

'œOutsiders,' those brave, noble souls who are not part of the 'œConspiracy,' are condemned to wander forevermore in the Twilight Zone of seasonal employment or working for free as a volunteer. Since the NPS is one of the more gossipy agencies of the Federal Government, rumors abound. Some of them are true.

It is true there is malfeasance and corruption in the obtaining of government jobs, but less so than in the rip-roaring, wide-open period after the Civil War known as the Gilded Age, when everything seemed for sale, even if seller didn'™t own it. Federal jobs were just some of the merchandise available. People worked for political parties and voted for candidates not because they were interested in Good Government and Progress, but because they wanted the postmaster'™s job in their town or the lighthouse tender'™s job, or wanted to be the lucky chap that handed out land to railroads.

This was called Patronage, and constituted a venality tax on just about everyone as the wheels of government ground slower and slower. The various presidents of the Gilded Age may not have been personally corrupt, but many of their appointees certainly were, and the country was shot through with graft from top to bottom.

How were we to get out of the Civil Service corruption trap that even today bedevils most of the poverty stricken countries of the Third World?

'œIf in doubt, ask a ranger!" So, I asked Ranger Todd Arrington of James Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, Ohio to clear things up for us. You see, in addition to being in charge of the tallest tree and tallest mountain in America, the National Park Service is in charge of American history. If you are interested in the history of the light bulb, you contact Thomas Edison National Historic Site; if you are interested in Civil Service corruption, you contact James Garfield National Historic Site. It seems that President Garfield died for our sins.

Here is what Ranger Todd had to say:

'œ'¦Civil Service Reform was something that was awaiting James A. Garfield when he became President in 1881. Garfield was inclined to agree that some reform to the civil service system was necessary to get rid of patronage and replace it with a merit-based system in which only qualified candidates who passed exams could receive appointments to federal positions. However, Garfield became much more adamant about this need after his election to the presidency, when he was almost immediately bombarded by letters and visits from people seeking jobs. Very few of these individuals had any real qualifications for the positions they sought and to which they felt entitled simply because they were Republicans or knew someone who knew a Congressman, etc.

Alternate Text
President James Garfield supported major changes in hiring practices for federal jobs in the 1880s. Library of Congress photo.

This continued after Garfield'™s inauguration when he unhappily spent hours each day receiving job seekers. One of those who tried to convince Garfield to appoint him to a position (American Consul to Paris) was Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally unbalanced stalwart Republican who had given a meandering, unimportant speech promoting Garfield in New York and wanted to be rewarded for it.

Guiteau didn'™t get the job, and he soon grew concerned about Garfield'™s intention to replace the patronage system with a merit system, as the new president engaged in a very public battle with New York'™s Senator Roscoe Conkling over who would be appointed to the most prestigious and lucrative patronage job in the country: Collector of the Port of New York.

Charles Guiteau eventually decided the best way to handle this was to murder President Garfield so that Vice President Chester A. Arthur, a New Yorker and Conkling acolyte, would be elevated to the presidency.

Guiteau shot Garfield on July 2, 1881; the wounded President lingered until September 19.Vice President Arthur then became the new president and, to his credit, immediately distanced himself from Conkling. It was President Arthur who signed the Pendleton Act on January 16, 1883. That law reformed the Civil Service, as Garfield had desired, by instituting exams and qualification requirements for those seeking federal jobs. This was the beginning of the end for the patronage system.'

Thank you, Dr. Arrington. You will note that Todd said that it was the beginning of the end, not the end of patronage.

Do we still have Patronage? Sure do, neighbors! Even in the National Park Service? Yup! These are called Schedule C jobs and are awarded to deserving, helpful people by the political party that won the last election. This is sort of a sanitized, 'œLiving History' patronage relic of the Gilded Age, as the Schedule C jobs are relatively few in number and mainly deal with policy. (Nothing secret, neighbors! The Schedule C jobs are listed in a handy little book produced by the US Government Printing Office. It is called 'œThe Plum Book' because, among other things, it has a purple plum colored cover. (Who says the Federal government has no sense of humor?)

But what of our original question: lacking patronage, how DO you get a permanent job with the National Park Service?

Again, James Garfield National Historical Site was most helpful. According to Ranger Arrington:

'œJobs with the federal government, both permanent and temporary, as well as paid internships, are advertised on USA JOBS.  You may search by the type of job you are interested in and the agency. National Park Service jobs are found under the Department of Interior. Be sure to read the announcement very carefully to determine what documents you will need to submit. On-line submittal of your application is preferred.'

Now is there any other way? (Aside from that of Charles Guiteau).

Well, yes, neighbors, at least for the protection ranger (law enforcement) there is something known as the Pro Ranger Program.

You see, the NPS, along with the rest of the Department of Interior, has a 'œDiversity' problem. That is, the Department of Interior is the 'œWhitest' of all the Federal Departments. (It is also regarded by some as the most corrupt, but any cause-and-effect correlation could be interpreted as racist.)

Anyway, how to solve the Diversity problem? Rather than trying to recruit graduates, it was decided to seek colleges with large minority populations and set up a program to steer undergraduates to a guaranteed career in NPS law enforcement.

Undoubtedly, there will be (or are) more colleges, but the ones that show up on Google are Temple University in Philadelphia and the very enterprising San Antonio College, a two-year community college in San Antonio, Texas.

According to the Temple blurb: 'œUpon graduation from Temple University and successfully completing the Pro Ranger Philadelphia Program, participants are placed in a permanent career tenured law enforcement park ranger position with the National Park Service.'

San Antonio College says, 'œRather than recruit or find the next generation of NPS law enforcement rangers, the Pro Ranger Program is a proactive approach to creating them.'

So, neighbors, I guess where your child goes depends on whether he likes Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches or Mexican food!

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Comments

Perp seasonal--I am glad that my push to make the "face" of the NPS look like that of America represents, for you, the low regard senion managers have for high class visitor services. Are whites the only ones who can provide that? Are seasonals with 4 or 5 years of experience the only ones who can do that? Are no minorities capable of doing what you say you did? That is not my experience as some of the best employees I have had were first year seasonals who were excited about their jobs and didn't spend endless hours bitching about their working conditions.

I have a great deal of respect for your seasonal service. It sounds long and complete. Unfortunately, you are competing for positions at the same time the Federal government is trying to provide jobs for veterans and those who have not had an equal chance for employment. But keep at it. It took me 11 years as a seasonal.

Rick


Here's an interesting idea from a former senior manager:

I think it is high time to re-consider the whole "seasonal hiring" program. As some have indicated, it's too easy to ignore or exploit them, and current law does not really allow them to be perceived as an easily accessed recruitment pool, even when there are vacancies. Instead, with a few exceptions (such as folks with prior law enforcement experience and teachers who serve as senior interpreters) I would scrap the whole seasonal program and replace it with "interns" (e.g. such as SCA Resource Assistants) signed up under the Public Land Corps Act authority. In most cases they can be, and often already are, the same people NPS has hired historically - college students or recent graduates with degrees in relevant fields, or veterans of conservation corps work crews with good hand skills. But, unlike seasonals, PLCA interns can access non-competivie hiring authority into federal service, and come in at about half the price of a seasonal, so the Service can either save money or hire twice as many.

Rick


Rick, your last comment was a total mischaracterization of what I wrote. I never said only white people can do something so stop being ridiculous. But putting that aside how would you have liked it if after those 11 seasons you like to remind us of that you were passed over for a permanent job in favor of someone who'd just gotten out of school, and had never worked in a park before other than those few weeks in the summer that the "Pro" Rangers do? I know that if I had my car swept into a river by a mudslide I'd rather have the guy with 11 seasons behind him coming for me than the girl who had to have her hand held all through the process of getting a commission and who never really had it in their heart to be a ranger in the first place but got talked into it at their community college.

And if you've got people complaining about working conditions after being there long enough to really know what it is like, why not work to rectify those conditions rather than cut the experienced person loose to bring in the naive person who isn't entirely hip to the situation?


Ok so I just p**s everyone off.

For Rick, perpetual never said only white males could do the job. What he said is (in my words) discrimination is discrimination and it shouldn't be done against anyone, not blacks, not women, not Indians NOR white males. Equal opportunity, not equal outcome.

For perpetual, if you (or anyone else) are willing to work under the provisions of a temporary contract and the NPS can get the work done using a temp rather than a much more costly full time employee then I say great. As Zebulon points out, if there are so many people seeking NPS jobs, the deal can't be that bad. However, I am in full agreement with you that if a permanent position is being filled then prior experience and presumably positive performance should bear far more weight than race, sex or national origin. In fact the latter should bear no weight at all.


ecbuck, I agree with what you write except for one thing. Whether using temporary employees to do what is permanent work is a good or bad right or wrong doesn’t matter. It is illegal and following the law is not optional. The NPS should be better than latching onto a legal interpretation just because it gives them results they happen to prefer. The NPS should have more honor than to try to find intricate little ways to evade the law. We should be better than that and comply with the sprit as well as the letter of the law.

"Agencies are prohibited from using temporary employees to avoid the costs of employee benifits or ceilings on permanent employment levels." -P. 324 Federal Employees Almanac.

Why does it take the FOP to speak out on this? Where is the ANPR? Where is the Coalition of NPS retires on this issue? Oh that’s right they are thoroughly co-opted by the powers that be and care little or nothing for those outside Regional offices and Park HQs.


Howdy Y'all, Retired NPS veteran of 37 years, military veteran, and a member of the multicultural tapestry of the American folk, JT here. Thanks folks for allowing me to witness a great discussion. These are the kind of discussions our beloved NPS, and our beloved USA should have, should have occurred decades ago on a broarder scale. Unfortunately folks do not have the courage to spaek their TRUE mine. I appreciate PS (Perpetual Seasonal-voice for all seasonals-NOT, and for some selecting officials) for sharing her/his thoughts (probably a white male). Well, PS and others, I sense that some of you would desire we go back to the good ol' days of hiring, whether it is FSEE, Coop. Ed., clerk typist, seasonal, and such. There are others who favor or seem interested in seasonal (still available), STEP and SCEP (no longer available), Pro Ranger, Pathways (developed to better consider hiring vets) and such. Stay tuned for the DOI Corps Program. Take all of these hiring authorities, if effectively used, could work to recruit, hire, and retain some top tier employees from our American Multicultural Tapestry to fill positions in all career fields. If any of us really care about our beloved NPS, we will agree that the NPS must become relevant to many more potential users and supporters. We all see what is going on currently that demonstrate how impairing and resource degrading businesses supercede resource protection mandates. Folks with money are buying our legislators and presidents. When we raise a nation of citizens who do not give a "crap" about protecting "Mother Earth" or people. We get what is happening now: environmental injustice, climate change, mining and drilling near NPS sites, just to name some. I support Jarvis and others who believe the NPS must do a better job of hiring folks of color. Some say we must hire the best qualified (certs given to selecting officials provide this). How many of us have been hired, and did not hit the ground running? Maybe if the NPS will improve and enhance the Employee Development Program, we may discover the staffs will be better equipped to perform. Also, take in consideration those of you who have witnessed poor performers. Could the experience exodus (transfers to other agencies, and retirements) contribute to some of the performance issues? Do you think poor training or lack of training cause some of the performance issues? Do we have babies raising babies? PS is speaking the same rhetoric and smoke screen I have heard for decades, "...no one has been excluded from employment because of minority status in a couple of generations. In fact, for the few minorities who wanted a career in the NPS, I think is probable that its been an aid to their careers. It is just a matter of cultural differences that tend to take them down a different path." PSeasonal, I am unsure of where or how you collected your information and you consider as fact. I must say your research is incomplete and flawed. There may be some folk of color (some white folks) who may fit your "cultural differences" comment but the cause of this leads this discussion to a discussion about the larger more complex topic, "Injustice." We'll save most of that for another time for when we seek solutions, if anyone is interested. Believe me, I have had this chat with Jon and other directors. These discussions continue today. I have witnessed, and I know some of you have witnessed racist selecting officials sabatage the hiring process by selecting individuals with obvious flaws, and then state, I told you those people would not perform well, while allowing folks that look like them to screw up and wave it off as no big deal. I have also witnessed decent selecting officials attempt to overlook veterans to reach a friend or acquaintances. I believe the NPS can improve the diversity of culture issues and improve all employees performances by developing a "succession program" that include clear performance competencies, OJT assignments, mentors, and such (...there exist such a plan sitting on shelves collecting dust). Fortune 500 companies have such programs. Even the military has schools to develop staffs. The NPS spends less that 2% of total funds on employee development while 500 companies and the military spend over 5%.

Check the DOI and NPS demographics' numbers. It has not changed much for decades and even when the numbers increase in some categories, the white male and female still reign supreme (over their % of the US population). This demonstrates we still have a long way to go to make our beloved NPS more relevant. Sooo, when white males say they can not promote to higher positions of responsibility and pay because the NPS is hiring minorities. BULL! White males have been competing with other white males and females. I have said to those who share the "speak," maybe check yourself and search your role for why you did not get the promotion?


It is illegal and following the law is not optional.

Agreed. The law should be changed.


JT - I wish I could follow your ramble. Could you clarify. Do you believe minority status should trump experience or competency in hiring?

A simple yes or no will suffice.


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