COMMITTEE POSTS FEDERAL JOBS GUIDE ON NET.

Byline: P.J. Huffstutter Daily News Staff Writer

For the first time, the political insider's guide to landing federal government jobs is available on the Internet.

The Plum Book, otherwise known as the ``United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions,'' catalogs more than 8,000 executive and staff positions.

Backed by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, the book is released every four years in the weeks following a presidential election. Most of the employment opportunities are based in Washington, D.C. Some spots, however, are available elsewhere.

``It's usually a really hot seller,'' said George Nesterczuk, the staff director for the Government Reform subcommittee that handled publishing the book. ``Last time, with (President) Clinton elected in 1992, people were scrambling to get a copy.''

The Plum Book was first released in 1960, after the election of President John F. Kennedy. Since then, job hopefuls traditionally have rushed to the Government Printing Office, slapped down $21 and picked up the hefty, 265-page book.

Billed as a ``road map to bureaucratic opportunities,'' this year's edition includes lists of political appointees who stepped into civil service jobs during the Clinton administration. The committee opted to post the information on its Web site - http://www1.house.gov/reform/plum.htm - as a means to reach a larger audience.

``There are always a lot of inquiries, both here and out of town,'' Nesterczuk said. ``It's also a very costly book to print. We saw this as a way to save money and still get the information out.''

According to the Office of Personnel Management, which compiled the data for the book, a print run of 10,000 copies costs about $100,000 to produce.

The OPM has also put up a version of the same information on its Web site (http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/). Dubbed the FederaLIST, it lists the names of the nearly 150 political appointees who have shifted into civil service jobs since Oct. 1, 1984.

The House committee decided not to include this older information because ``it's politicizing the civil service, and we're just not that interested in the past,'' Nesterczuk said.

The OPM posted the data to allow researchers the opportunity to track historical and employment trends during different presidential administrations, said spokesman Bruce Milhans.

For example, the current book shows a drop of nearly 1,000 senior executive jobs when compared to four years ago. Milhans explained the loss as a result of government downsizing.

``We just went on line at the end of September, and we were excited to see what the technology could do,'' Milhans said.

The paper version of the Plum Book can be ordered by calling the Government Printing Office at [phone].