I'm a federal employee. The entire hiring process can be excruciatingly painful and slow - however stay patient and persistent. Eventually it will pay off. Apply for as many as you can - even if it isn't your "dream job". The trick is getting your foot in the door. Once you are in it is a little bit easier to move around into other jobs. Heck the job I'm in now, when they called me for an interview I didn't even remember applying for it because it had been so long in the past when the position was announced.
