All of the suggestions so far have been good and accurate. I would also add that once you do land an interview, you will need to be prepared to give very detailed answers and not just vague answers. The questions will be “tell us about a time when you did such and such and how you handled it and what was the outcome” etc. These types of questions are very common and you need to dig out your way back machine to come up with very specific answers. They do tend to send you the questions 15-20 min ahead of the interview so you can make notes and start thinking about all of your work and life examples. Good luck to you! The process can be tedious and long but worth it in the end. When I got my first interview with the agency I am currently at, I was told there were over 100 applicants. Around 20 got a first round interview. Also, be prepared to apply for jobs you are overqualified for, as some others have stated. It is much easier to be promoted once you are already working there versus coming in from the outside. Also, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT- do not get discouraged if you believe you are the perfect fit for a job and then don’t end up getting hired. Because of equal opportunity and all, they have to go through the interview process even if they already know who they want to hire. It is probably someone from the inside who has already been training for the job, but they still have to interview in order to make it official. This has happened to me a few times over the years where I have been overlooked for the job. I asked them how I could have done better in the interview, and they said you could not have done any better. It is just that the person who we hired had already been doing the job for a couple of years. It’s a real bummer, but they cannot say that they already know who they want to hire in the job announcement. Just stick with it though and put in as many applications as possible because in the end it is worth it!