Anyone know how government job selection works?

Although the process differs among states, localities, th efederal government, the usual process is as follows: 1) You find a job you like and fill out the application 2) When the job posting closes, all the applications are looked at and the applicants are found either qualified or not qualified. (If the position is an "open" position meaning they have or anticipate having more than one position, your application will be qualified soon after you submit it) 3) The HR department gathers the applications that are deemed qualified and sent to a panel which reviews the applications and deems them highly, medium or low qualified. 4) A "certification" list is sent forward to the hiring official - this certification list may contain around 10 of the most highly qualified people (the numbers will vary based on who is hiring). 5) The hiring official calls on these people for interviews and then hires the one he/she is most qualified. It is possible that even though you are eligible, there may be any number of people more qualified than you are which is why you haven't heard. Alternately, there may be only the one position and they are waiting until the position closes (this is unusual since most posting close relatively quickly (within a few weeks) so the office can get somebody into the position). If there are multiple positions, you may still hear.