The U.S. Department of State went "virtual" long before the coronavirus crisis. In the decade since the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) program was launched, nearly 9,000 college students have worked remotely for 50 federal agencies. Unprecedented interest in virtual work guarantees that this year will be a record-breaker, both in the number of projects submitted by federal employees and the number of students who apply in July via USAJOBS.gov.
VSFS eInterns work on unclassified projects for up to 10 hours per week during their academic year. Current projects include coding, copy editing, speech writing, and website design for agencies including the Department of State, USAID, NASA, the Smithsonian, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Intelligence Community, and the Indian Health Service. The program allows government offices to tap into the broad skillsets of U.S. citizen undergraduate and graduate students.
Agencies interested in utilizing this free service have until Wednesday, June 10, to encourage their employees to register as project mentors and to submit project descriptions on VSFS.state.gov
