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Short of knowing someone who works in the department or agency or program in question, almost certainly not. Especially a military job... someone will rotate in and do it for a year to manage a program, then they're out and off to something else.
I would try Googling for unique elements in the PD and see if maybe I could turn anything up.
Try to find a LinkedIn profile of someone who works in the office you're trying to get to. If you're lucky enough to find one, you'll have to see if you can figure out their email address. This isn't likely to benefit you though, because I don't think most hiring managers would leave a trail of communication with an applicant. The system is supposed to be "fair" and even if they aren't technically telling you anything that would give you an advantage, nobody will want the communication to be perceived that way. A lot of the HR folks in those announcements will respond to inquiries. That's your best bet.
As a Fed who has been a selecting official I don' think I've ever seen a posting that lists contact information for the SO. They do often list an HR contact person. Typicall the process goes like this.
1. You submit your application and HR reviews there.
2. HR groups them into Best qualified, qualified, not qualified, or some version of that.
3. All resumes in the "Best Qualified" category are sent tot he selecting official who will then conduct interviews.
4. the selecting official then submits their choices in order to HR.
5. HR then contacts you with an offer if you are the top choice. If you are not selected you will usually never hear anything.
Basically, the only time you can/will speak tot he selecting official is during the interview process.
I wonder if I could apply to jobs nation wide in order to get interviews and be able to network that way in order to get jobs in my desired area. I know that hire managers can do a "by name" hire as I have a friend in the DOD but his roll is extremely different from the jobs I am going for but he did have the inside scoop that hiring officials have that flexibility if they know you.
Is your friend a veterans? Veterans don't have to apply for announcements and can get hired in the "give me your resume" similar to the private sector. If you are not a veteran, your chance of getting a federal job as an outside hire is slim....but don't give up. Apply to unpopular locations. You might have to put in time before you can move where you want. If you are applying to big cities/desirable locations, you are severely limiting your options.
If you personally know the hiring person and can get "best qualified" you are in. I'm sure you can imagine how they get BQed. Degrees, jobs, time on job etc... can all be verified, but actual experience, skills, projects worked on etc.. can't be verified at the resume level. Everyone "embellishes" their resume in order to be 100% qualified.
At the higher up levels, GS13 and absolutely 14,15. The job notice is tailored to the exact resume of the person they want to hire. That person BQs and they are hired with no interview at all. What happens if their pick doesn't BQ? They pull the job, no hire, start it all over and just keep repeating until their pick BQs.
The whole FED hiring process is one big game.
Add in veteran preference and it is one big cluster.
What happens if their pick doesn't BQ? They pull the job, no hire, start it all over and just keep repeating until their pick BQs.
I've had this happen at the lower level. Whenever I BQ and they announcement gets cancelled shortly after I'm like, "Guess Johnny didn't make the list!"
One more thing OP, and this may be a long shot but here's another thing you can try. Go back to school so you can qualify as a recent grad. I think certificate programs count but I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't waste thousands of dollars at a shot to get into the feds, but it may be worth it if you want it bad enough. If certificate programs qualify, find something that you're interested in and can parlay into a job in another sector. You don't want to do this solely to get into the feds because it will be a gamble. I think a lot of hiring mangers like recent grads because they're young and a "clean slate" so if you're older it might not work for you. Some agencies do hiring fairs. Most people are like, "What's the point?" because they don't do on-the-spot hiring. But this gets you face time with the hiring official. They will tell you about the job and how you can apply. If it's a recent grad announcement and they see your resume, boom! "Oh yeah, I met Annie at the hiring fair and would love to have her on our team." That's the point of the job fairs.
One more thing OP, and this may be a long shot but here's another thing you can try. Go back to school so you can qualify as a recent grad. I think certificate programs count but I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't waste thousands of dollars at a shot to get into the feds, but it may be worth it if you want it bad enough. If certificate programs qualify, find something that you're interested in and can parlay into a job in another sector. You don't want to do this solely to get into the feds because it will be a gamble. I think a lot of hiring mangers like recent grads because they're young and a "clean slate" so if you're older it might not work for you. Some agencies do hiring fairs. Most people are like, "What's the point?" because they don't do on-the-spot hiring. But this gets you face time with the hiring official. They will tell you about the job and how you can apply. If it's a recent grad announcement and they see your resume, boom! "Oh yeah, I met Annie at the hiring fair and would love to have her on our team." That's the point of the job fairs.
Lots of entry level jobs that only require a degree are picked up by veterans with preference who picked up online degrees.
It is getting so bad, even the veterans are complaining now on how they can't get hired.
It is so ironic, because it wasn't that long ago when nobody even wanted to work for the FEDS.
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