And Elon Musk’s The so-called Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has brought an axe to the federal workforce, and the group itself is hiring.
Doge Services in the United States (formerly the US Digital Services (USDS)) have been interviewing potential candidates in recent weeks and months, even offering salaries at the highest end of the government’s compensation range. Wired spoke with a part of the interview process through Doge.
According to the respondents, the Governor’s recruitment process appears to have five stages, all of which are quickly executed within two to three weeks. The first step in the process is to conduct a brief 15-minute screening call with the recruiter and then perform a technical assessment, which the applicant has three days to complete. If applicants pass this screening, they will be asked to attend two different technical interviews with Doge staff. The fifth and final interview was a placement interview where applicants would further understand what jobs they would assign if employed.
“I think it’s fair to call it a dream job,” the respondent said of USD in the form of Trump’s administration. Respondents said they were “impressed” during an interview with Mina Hsiang in December 2023 Decoder podcast. She described the department since its inception by former President Barack Obama in 2014, bringing a small group of technicians together to improve technical services across the federal government. They said respondents applied for a job at USDS in previous years and reapplyed for Hsiang’s interview “is an inspiration for reapplying.”
Respondents met several federal workers who had been fired, part of Mendouge’s invasion of federal agencies, and although it was “a priority in the mind,” they said they were still “excited to be interviewed.”
During the initial 15-minute call, the recruiter outlined some possible projects that Doge could do. Respondents said that this included “utilizing AI to improve health care for veterans,” “simplifying federal aid applications for Americans suffering from natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes,” and “improving free applications for federal student aid (FAFSA) and expanding American funding assistance for higher education.”
These details about the project also list the phone calls in an email received on the phone, inviting them to talk to the recruiter. Respondents who applied to USD multiple times before and shortly after the new Trump administration said they were unsure how or why their application caught the attention of the new Doge service. “Maybe they’re just looking for an encoder,” they said.
The respondents said seeing USD is called “our road service”, making them “want barf” because “it represents a hole in the organization I appreciate. I don’t know how to do this because I applied for a lark painted and hate what Doge is doing. But I was ready to learn what they wanted and explore their impact.”
