Help Center

How to create and post an opportunity or internship

Who can post an opportunity or internship?

Any federal employee can post an opportunity or internship . Some federal contractors can post opportunities on behalf of their federal manager, but they can’t apply to or work on an opportunity.

Before you post an opportunity

  1. Ask your supervisor if it’s okay to post an opportunity—you need their approval.
  2. Read our tips for creating an opportunity and check out a few examples.
  3. Create a profile if you don’t already have one—you must have a profile to create and post an opportunity.

Create your opportunity

  1. Sign into Open Opportunities and click + Create opportunity.
  2. Select the target audience for the opportunity and click Continue—the default option is federal employees.
  3. Select a community if you want to post to a specific community. Skip this step if you’re not posting to a community. A community is a group of Open Opportunity users who may belong to different agencies, but share a common goal or interest.
  4. Fill out the required information and as much of the optional information as you can—the more information you give about the opportunity, the better chance you’ll get the right applicant(s). Read our tips for creating an opportunity.
  5. Review the list of skills and select at least one and up to five skills to add to your opportunity.
  6. Click Preview to review the opportunity—make sure it has enough detail and there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
  7. Click Submit when you’re ready to post the opportunity. Or, click Save for later if you’re not ready to post—we’ll save it as a draft in your profile.
  8. The administrators will review your opportunity after your click Submit. They’ll send you an email when it’s approved and goes live. Or, email you if you need to make changes.
Download a GuideDownload a guide

Get participants

Step 1 - Advertise your opportunity

  • Use our email template and the Share link to let people know about your opportunity.

Step 2 - Review applicants

  • You’ll get an email every time someone applies to your opportunity.
  • Click on an applicant’s name to review their profile.
  • Call or email the applicant to learn more about their skill set, interests or to get a better idea if they’re the right person for the work.

Step 3 - Assign participants

  • Are they a fit? Click + to assign participant(s)—once done, click Next Step.
  • We’ll send an automatic email to participants telling them they’re assigned.

Your opportunity is now In Progress. Turn the applicant toggle back on if you want more participants.

Contact participants

  1. Email assigned participants to get them started on their tasks.
  2. We’ll email the applicants you didn’t select.
  3. Keep in touch with participants to track status.

Wrapping up

Is your opportunity done?

  1. Click Task complete, if your participants have completed their tasks.
  2. Click Complete opportunity, when all of the work is done—this will close out your opportunity and participants will get credit for the work.

Once your opportunity is complete, we’ll update your profile with your achievement. Don’t forget to thank your participants for a job well done.

Need more time?

Edit your opportunity to change due dates, tasks and more.

Need to cancel?

You can cancel your opportunity at any time.

Learn how to advertise your opportunity.

Before you post an internship

  1. Ask your supervisor if it’s okay to post an internship—you need their approval.
  2. Create a profile if you don’t already have one—you must have a profile to create and post an opportunity.

Create your internship

  1. Sign into Open Opportunities and click + Create opportunity.
  2. Select Student as the target audience and click Continue.
  3. Select a community if you want to post to a specific community. Skip this step if you’re not posting to a community. A community is a group of Open Opportunity users who may belong to different agencies, but share a common goal or interest.
  4. Fill out the required information and as much of the optional information as you can—the more information you give about the internship, the better chance you’ll get the right applicant(s).
  5. Review the list of skills and select at least one and up to five skills to add to your internship.
  6. Click Preview to review the internship opportunity—make sure it has enough detail and there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
  7. Click Submit when you’re ready to post the internship.
  8. The administrators will review your internship after your click Submit. They’ll send you an email when it’s approved and goes live. Or, email you if you need to make changes.

Get participants

Step 1 - Advertise your internship

  • Use the Share link to let people know about your internship.

Step 2 - Review applicants

  • Click on an applicant’s name to review their profile.
  • Contact the applicant to learn more about their skill set and interests or to get a better idea if they’re the right person for the work.

Step 3 - Assign participants

  • Are they a fit? Select the applicant(s) and click Complete applicant selection.
  • We’ll email all applicants telling them whether they have been selected.

Your internship is now In Progress.

Contact participants

  1. Email assigned participants to get them started on their tasks.
  2. We’ll email the applicants you didn’t select.
  3. Keep in touch with participants to track status.

Wrapping up

Is your internship done?

  1. Click Tasks complete, if your participants have completed their tasks.
  2. Click Mark internship complete, when all of the work is done—this will close out your internship and participants will get credit for the work.

Once your internship is complete, we’ll update your profile with your achievement. Don’t forget to thank your participants for a job well done.

Need more time?

Edit your opportunity to change due dates, tasks and more.

Need to cancel?

You can cancel your opportunity at any time.