Employment strategy - be patient, or apply early? Should a person start applying for careers prior to completing education?

Please note what you said. You are finishing your undergrad but they want a masters... i'm thinking they want a masters. Have you considered internships (paid or otherwise)?

What's getting lost in this discussion is the notion of "responsiveness" to an announcement. If you don't have the pedigree, you're nonresponsive. They are looking to fill now, not 1 1/2 years from now. If you're early, you want to be no more than 6 months early with an available date in your resume. Then you're hoping the candidates they have are crap and maybe they'll lower the bar. I was a hiring manager on the Fed side for years and the HR staff weeds out the nonresponsive stuff before it hits anyone's desk who might care. Larger local governments do that as well. I disagree with the early and often comment. Managers that get repetitively hit with nonresponsive stuff with the same name attached are more likely to get annoyed and label that person as clueless. Not good.

I would still try to develop some sort of work History connect with Your career goals to supplement the education and make You more marketable than a person that has only the degree. In hte long run You resume may get more attention than someone that hasn't added the work credentials.

I suggest reviewing the county websites and city websites in your area for entry level positions. Local government work is competitive and can sometimes take a long period of time to get hired on. I understand that director positions require a minimum amount of experience working in government and administration before being hired as the manager of an organization. Entry level positions can include administrative assistant, director's assistant, and so forth. Additionally, some county governments offer a citizen's academy that provides an overview of county operations for eight or twelve weeks, which can be helpful for networking and meeting the people that would hire you in the event that you made it to that point in the process. Hiring new people can depend on their budget.

I have come across many service people and veterans from all different backgrounds in the training I have completed. Civilians in government love to channel veterans into law enforcement careers. Law enforcement training is helpful because it gives you a background in one aspect of the government. The chain of command in the law enforcement is very similar to the military. The chain of command in law enforcement is decentralized.

The important thing is to get into the pipeline. Once you are in the pipeline and are interviewing, then explain to your potential employer your situation.

I hope this helps!

Apply to every single job that tickles your fancy. No matter the requirements, if you meet them, what have you. You never know what could happen so be aggressive out there. It's a dog eat dog world and you have to jostle for position. Good luck!

Start your Search and decide what field you want to go into before you graduate...

To add to the description (I ran out of space) I have been in Civil Affairs for 9 years, with an emphasis on Support to Civil Administration, I have a year left on my undergraduate degree in International Politics, then will have an additional year for my Master's. The jobs that I plan to apply for are city jobs working as a Director of Economic Development. The question arises, because doing the market research, I have found several perfectly suited careers in the field, all of which want approx. a Masters and 5-7 years experience. Do I throw darts in the wind and apply for these jobs as they open, even without the requirements, or do I continue to wait until I have the Masters completed?