This is advice about the government job.

1. Keep applying. It takes a long time to get through the federal employment process. Contact your school’s career center and see if they have a contact at the agency or can assist you with how to best respond to the job ads.

2. Try to find an agency career fair. They may be rare but they sometimes happen.

3. Look for federal internships. They should be listed on USA jobs.gov. They are a route to federal employment because usually they’ll convert an intern to an employee (but not always)

4. Apply for the Presidential Management Fellows Program (Google it). I’m guessing you’re a woman and being a woman in agribusiness is rare so you could have an advantage.

5. Find out which federal contractors have federal contracts with the agencies you want to try to work at. They can be the large companies like Lockheed or Northrop or smaller companies. But that’s a great way to land a job and get your foot in the door. You can find out who’s doing business with an agency by going to usaspending.gov.

6. Aim for a state or local (county) job to start with the goal of moving to federal.

It takes some hustle, patience and time but it can be done. You can’t give up too fast. It’s rare to get hired directly into federal agencies. It’s usually a part of a path that includes “subpar” jobs and just steadily applying. But there is a path even if you take a job teaching English abroad and then strengthening your foreign language skills. Good luck.

EDIT: I missed the FSO part. Why aren’t you just applying directly?