At a time when the state’s unemployment rate is at 9.2 percent and the nation is seeing joblessness reach a 26-year high, the stability of the job market may have some UW graduates feeling a bit uncertain about finding employment beyond a drive-up window.

As one solution for students, the UW Career Center has been awarded a Call to Serve grant this year that has served as the impetus to get the Career Center pushing hard to get students jobs within the federal government, an industry that, due to a trend in retirement right now, is currently seeing a surplus in positions available.

“The federal government is experiencing an exodus of baby boomers from federal service,” said Barry Wall, assistant director of career services at the Evans School of Public Affairs. “A third of federal employees will be eligible for retirement within five years.”

The Evans School has partnered with the Career Center to create an initiative called “UW Making the Difference: Careers in Federal Government.”

One of the main outreach tools produced by the partnership is a federal jobs blog for students, created this summer by Patrick Chidsey, senior career counselor at the UW Career Center.

“People can share a resource, post entries about opportunities and events coming up and share their thoughts and experiences related to federal internships and employment,” Chidsey said. “I want to make the federal job-search process easier and more transparent to students.”

The Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit, non-partisan organization, offers up the $3,000 Call to Serve grant to provide information and services to students about federal employment and bridge the gap between campus and federal agencies.

“I can say it’s not a big amount, just enough to help pay for some room rentals, flyers, etc. We will allocate the funds to help run and publicize federal-related events on campus,” said Heather Krasna, director of career services. “We may also use some of the funds to help build some of the online presence for the campaign. For instance, we are hoping to capture some video content of federal events so that students can access them without being there in person.”

Wall said nearly 80 schools had applied for the federal grant back in fall of 2008. In January 2009, five of those schools received the funds. Along with the UW, Macalester College, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were recipients of the award.

Along with the monetary award, recipients will get an on-site Federal Advisor Training and Strategy session, to help advisers set students up with federal positions.

The opportunities for students include informational sessions, jobs that students can apply to before graduation and a Presidential Management Fellowship that comes with the chance of loan repayment, benefits and a salary of up to $69,000.

Another resource the grant provides is funds to assemble a group of student ambassadors. All will have had prior federal internship or employment experience and have been brought together to promote careers within the federal government and link students to a large number of federal agencies.

Michael Benezra, a junior at the UW, will be one of the ambassadors. He has had two internships with the federal government; his last was working closely with Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., in Washington D.C. Dicks is a UW graduate and played on the offensive line for the football team.

“Anything you’re good at, anything you are interested in, the government provides opportunities for you,” Benezra said.

Benezra did research for the Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee, of which Rep. Dicks is the chairman, that is responsible for allocating funds to all forest projects in the country.

Benezra said that, in the past, the UW has had a hard time bridging the gap between students and their federal government and now that is not the case.

“I think the reason that this ambassadorship team was assembled is so the university can help [students] get internships,” Benezra said. “This is going to very beneficial for all students who are looking to work for the government.”

Reach reporter Adam Magnoni at news@dailyuw.com.