Additional specifications and requirements

¶ … job descriptions and research. Specifically it will discuss two U.S. web sites and a specific job on those sites. The job chosen is a Public Affairs Specialist, located in a Department of Labor (DOL) office in San Francisco, California.

The pay range for this job, which can be a GS 12 or GS 13 pay level, is "GS-12 $79,781 - $103,710 per annum and GS-13 $94,871 - $123,335 per annum. Salaries include applicable locality pay" ("Public Affairs Specialist). The published duties of the job include this job description. "The mission of the regional office is to provide the Department with a comprehensive regional public affairs program designed to enhance program effectiveness and inform the public of the Department's policies, programs and activities, primarily through interaction with the media" ("Public Affairs Specialist"). It also notes that the job will fill in for the Regional Director of Public Affairs if they are gone. The person has to be a U.S. citizen, they may travel frequently, they have to be fluent in English and Spanish, and they may have a background check done on them. Typically, the public affairs specialist will create PR materials like press releases, deal with the public, and keep the public informed on department activities. They may have to work against tight deadlines, and they may have to deal with department emergencies and disaster information, as well.

The outlook for this job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is good, with more than average growth predicted. They average it at about an 18% growth rate up to 2016. However, they say that there is heavy competition for entry-level jobs in the field. Pay rates vary widely. The national average pay for Public Affairs Specialists is $47,350, but the lowest paid only earn about $28,000 a year ("Public Relations Specialists"). Clearly, this specific government position is paid far higher than the national average. The highest wages ($96,990 per year) are paid in the District of Columbia, followed by Nevada, California, Idaho, and New York. The lowest paying states are Mississippi ($38.930) and West Virginia ($38,880) ("Public Relations Specialists").

These positions are considered part of the media, and people in them need to be creative, flexible, and they have to be able to communicate effectively. There is college training available for public relations, and there are national organizations that can help further the careers of public relations specialists. The DOL site is quite specific, since it is recruiting for a specific job and location inside the DOL operation. The BLS site is much more helpful, even though it is harder to navigate, because it offers specifics about the type of job, what the job entails, and what it pays throughout the nation. The DOL site is much more formal, too, although both sites show they are government sites by their language and appearance. The job description for the DOL job is not as helpful as it could be, and it would be better if they used some of the language and description of the BLS site, because it really is not as clear what the job entails at the DOL site. I would certainly use the DOL site to look for job openings, but if I was looking for specific job information, I would go to the BLS site first and research the careers I was most interested in, and I would certainly use it if I was an employer creating a new job or updating salaries. Their data is much more complete and helpful. I chose Australia as the country to compare, and while I was able to find job information very similar to the BLS site, finding salaries was difficult. The Labor department Job Place offered very similar information, but salaries were nowhere to be found, and they were not located at the Statistics department, either. All in all, I find the U.S. sites to be much more comprehensive and helpful, and the Australian site hard to navigate and much harder to get real information.