Due to the Trump Administration’s federal hiring freeze, layoffs and changes to federal funding, students like Meadow Moses, a fourth-year natural resources major with an interest in pursuing a career in federal government, have been hitting unavoidable roadblocks.

Moses has been applying for jobs such as a park ranger and in fire management.

“I spent about six-ish months applying for jobs for most of them to be frozen or to hear no communications back,” Moses said.

“A lot of the dream jobs that I had post-grad probably won’t be here for the next few years,” Moses said.

The hiring freeze, signed on Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump, paused the hiring of federal citizen employees for all vacant positions within the executive branch for 90 days.

Additionally, recent mass federal layoffs across the government from the Trump administration have led to thousands of new federal employees still in their probationary periods across the country losing their jobs in various agencies.

“I know a lot of my friends have lost their jobs completely that were already hired in, unfortunately, within the College of Forestry,” Moses said.

“Now everyone is kind of scrambling for a job, which really stinks. Especially post-grad, we were all supposed to be relatively secure within these positions.”

According to Moses, amid the federal hiring freeze, she is optimistic that she might be able to secure a job before graduation but notes that anxiety is still in the air.

“Everyone’s kind of really worried about these next few months and whether they will be able to get a job after graduation because of these freezes,” Moses said.

According to Shalynn Pack, the internship coordinator and senior instructor for the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, she has heard from many students in her department who have been affected by the federal hiring freeze and recent federal layoffs.

“Students have lost jobs, lost job offers, and now have far fewer job prospects than in a normal year,” Pack said.

“I’ve been working with a few students for over six months to navigate the application and hiring process for competitive federal positions, and one day they tell me that they have a job offer, and the next day they hear that the offer has been rescinded and the position canceled,” Pack said.

According to Pack, the loss of federal positions has made an already competitive federal job market even more challenging to break into.

“These seasonal positions are often how our students start their careers. It was already difficult to get a federal job, and now it’s become entirely unviable, for the time being,” Pack said.

With the uncertainty about the future of federal hiring positions, Katie Harvey, the assistant director of career development, encourages students to pivot their plans, look for new job and internship opportunities, and seek out support with campus resources.

“In the Career Development Center, we are working with students to ensure they know about alternative options and pathways,” Harvey said.

“For students who have lost a job or internship due to the hiring freeze, allow yourself space to grieve, but act too,” Harvey said. “Go to career fairs, go to our Getting a Dam Job workshops, and build a network of support; your faculty, academic advisor, and particularly your college career advisor, are here to help you navigate this experience, and we will do our best to help you find alternative resources.”

She also suggests that students attend career fairs, use the career center’s online resources, check Handshake for job opportunities and upcoming career-focused events and make one-on-one appointments with career assistants in the Career Development Center.

Both Pack and Harvey noted that while jobs in the federal government are currently up in the air, jobs in state and local government are active and provide opportunities for students starting their careers.

Pack emphasizes that students should not give up hope.

“While we are in unprecedented times in many ways, hiring freezes are common – they have happened before and will happen again. It’s one of the facts of federal employment, that political swings and administrations can affect your job,” Pack said. “We will get through this together!”