Q1 – Will I be handed a job from a government agency or will I need to apply for one?
A1: No, you will not be handed a job. You need to apply for one. That said, the success of the program relies on placing its students in government jobs, so it is part of the program to participate on and organize specific job fairs and other opportunities connect SFS awardees with government agencies. From the student awardee’s perspective, getting a job means not having to pay back the scholarship. From GMU NSF SFS EAGLE program’s perspective, each an every student that fails to meet the job requirement substantially decreases our chances of being renewed as a partner institution. From the government’s perspective, SFS awardees are seen as top notch, technically strong, and extremely motivated resources so there is a natural drive for participating in such network / job faire opportunities.
In practical terms, being in the program means you have considerably higher chances of being hired by government agencies than regular students, both because you get to attend invitation-only events and because the government agencies actively seek to hire SFS awardees. Of course, being a highly proactive student and keeping a healthy academic performance are factors that increase your options.
The summer internship is a good opportunity for students to receive return offers. It is important for students to actively apply for summer internships in or after the first year in the program.
Q2 – Can I choose a job based on proximity to my location or will I have to relocate?
A2: You can choose whatever job/location that fits your interests
Q3 – If I am offered a job in another state or far away, do I have to accept it?
A3: You get to pick the job offer. In general, most agencies hire locally since there are other SFS participating institutions in different parts of the country.
Q4 – I know there is a time constraint (18 months) between graduation and getting a government job, what happens if I cannot get a job after this time limit?
A4: It is VERY unlikely that a successful SFS awardee (i.e. someone who kept his/her grades good enough to graduate in the program) will not get a government job within the time-frame. This is especially true to our program’s awardees since our team is extremely motivated to have our graduates finding a job soon and we are located at the heart of the US government. Exceptional situations (e.g. health issues, etc) would be treated on an ad hoc manner, including the request for an extension of the time constraint.