Actually, past work now means everything in most federal government competitions. The interview questions have been overhauled. Where there used to be "How WOULD you handle situation X" it's been changed to "How DID you handle situation X". And they will call around to see if you told the truth about the situation. At my department, CS-4 (Computing Scientists level 4) competitions are now all based on track record. And every competition I have ever competed in or helped run has had reference checks. Now, did it help me that I am good at interviews? Absolutely. But that got me ahead in private industry as well.
|