Many companies in the DC area use these firms for their talent. They do help esp. with resumes and connections. They get referrred jobs and have existing contracts to fill. The intro into govt will be you main strength, to get to your objective, for whatever service field you want.

I am more familiar with the DOD side of them but they serve all areas of govt, DHS, HHS etc... http://www.xinterview.com/washingtondc-headhunters.php

Lucas Group has a good rep from the folks I have met.

Thanks! I'll take a look at these companies. Do you have to pay for the service or do they recoup their fees from the companies who hire them?

The majority of reputable "headhunters" (oxymoron) do not charge you anything. They are paid by the hiring company. If one wants money up front I would not use them.

Resume services etc... normally are fee based.

USA Jobs is the official government site with online resume's. It is a tricky system though. You probably would want some help there. I would search for government resume services, should be a ton in DC / NOVA area.

Good Hunting.

We moved 6 weeks ago to Asheville, NC, an area that we were advised has poor job opportunities, but does support small businesses.
We rent our house out in England which just about covers our rent here (we have a nicer place here though). We arrived with no where to live (only a holiday let for a month, no jobs, no family here, never lived in US etc) However within a month we found the place to live, my husband has work - he works in property refurbishments and everyone we spoke to he mentioned this and this led to offers of work! They love our accents and I guess this helps in a weird way. I have met with a business Mentor from SCORE and national org. and they are also providing us with tons of free advice about establishing my husband's business. I eventually want my own separate business.
My 65 year old mum who moved over with us, even found herself a Saturday job in a local store (she has retail experience). I am having a baby soon, so I have been busy sorting that side of things out.
We got our kids in to school within 2 weeks.
The biggest inconvenience is getting the hard copy of the driving license to be able to transfer a vehicle in to our names (it may be a NC law only)? Also proving where we live, once we found long term rental the tenancy agreement solved that one!
Bank accounts were easy, went in with ID, and set them up.
Husband's Social Security no. arrived in 2 weeks.
So far so good! Not sure if we feel settled exactly but we are enjoying life so far.

Sounds brilliant Glad to know it's all going well

I found work almost immediately . two days of temping and my third day was sent to the Hospital where I have now worked for 5 happy years.

I really hope I can say the same ! Then again, you went pre-recession. I'm moving over in 3 weeks and hope I can find something soon. Where abouts do you live ?

I live in Boston, Massachusetts. You have to keep an open mind here and grab onto every opportunity you can, no matter how humble it may seem. Wishing you the best of luck and welcome.

I'm still looking, but I'm only 6 weeks into being back in DC. I will say though that I'm very pessimistic in general and have already been thinking about going back to the UK

How long have you been looking for work in total ?

I just want to get on my feet the first few months and settle in, then I want to look at jobs in my chosen career. I just feel like I'll need time to settle into it all when I reach. It's a big big change

I was looking intermittently late last summer once I knew we were moving and again through January and early February but I've really only being focusing on it fully for the last 6 weeks or so.

It's exactly 1 month since my arrival and I have enjoyed the challenges of settling in, everyone I meet is curious about my background and has been welcoming. The great weather also helps!

The job search on the other hand is really frustrating - it's impossible to get contact details for hiring managers and HR people don't have the technical knowledge to recognise my skills. I was expecting it would be difficult as the recession really stripped back my industry (transportation design / engineering) both in the UK and US, and an ex-colleague who moved to Nevada took 6 months to tie down an industry job. Met some US contacts with my UK employer and they want my skills, but just don't have a big enough volume of projects to take a new hire. If you work in IT however, this is definitely the place to be.

When ever you are not getting good job you can go for freelance work. bid projects and work on that.

I think I recall your original post; remind me of your skill-set again?