Do you value public service?
Are you interested in government and politics?
Would you enjoy working at the post office or helping people plan new communities?
Would you like to work overseas?
Would you be interested in joining the military?

If you answered yes to two or more of these questions, perhaps you would be a good candidate for a career in government and public administration. You might enjoy a career as a(n):

• IRS agent
• Foreign service officer
• Regional planner
• Bank examiner
• Cryptologist
• Intelligence agent
• Soldier or sailor
• Legislator

Cluster Definition

Jobs in the government and public administration career cluster involve planning, managing, and providing government legislative and administrative and regulatory services and related general purpose government services at the federal, state, and local levels.

Career Pathways in Government and Public Administration

A career pathway is an area of concentration within a career cluster. Each pathway contains a group of careers requiring similar academic and technical skills as well as similar industry certifications or postsecondary education. The government and public administration career cluster has six pathways: planning, revenue and taxation, governance, regulation, national security, and foreign service.

Planning
This pathway involves drawing up guidelines for how land in a particular area should be used. Jobs in planning include urban planner, zoning board member, federal aid coordinator, county services director, and census clerk.

Revenue and Taxation
This pathway covers the workers who collect revenue for federal, state, and local governments, including tax examiners, IRS agents, auditors, and assessors.

Governance
This pathway encompasses all the workers involved in the process of governing, either at the local, state, or federal level, including legislators, legislative aides, city managers, policy analysts, and policy researchers.

Regulation
This pathway involves enforcing compliance with the laws and rules made by the government. Occupations include bank examiner, labor law investigator, election supervisor, health inspector, customs agent, child support officer, and border inspector.

National Security
The national security pathway includes more than 2 million workers involved in protecting the security of the United States, including air defense officers, counterintelligence agents, CIA agents, soldiers, sailors, and airmen; cryptologists, and special forces agents.

Foreign Service
The foreign service is a corps of professionals who represent the United States abroad. Jobs include consul, attaché, ambassador, and foreign service officer.

Click here for a visual representation of the government and public administration career cluster.

Print and Internet Resources

These Print and Internet Resources offer references for career cluster exploration, including trade, professional, and business associations, government departments and agencies, labor unions, and cluster-specific career Web sites.

Government and Public Administration Print and Internet Resources

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