Getting a Fed job takes forever. And a Fed job that is not critical or high priority, yet requires a TS clearance or background check takes forever and a day.
Only if you are fast-tracked due to a skill set that is rare and in precious need will you see expeditiousness. Due to the layers upon layers of bureaucracy each position must be signed off, interviews must be given, weight must be assigned to vets, ethnicity, handicap, and sex, and suitable time must be allotted for present employees to apply. Finally, when all other requirements are met, attention must be paid to where you are in the fiscal year. Many hirings don't occur until the new fiscal calendar, and even sometimes that doesn't help if a budget stalemate is in effect.
However, once you are safely esconced in your Fed job and past the probation period, you are imbedded like a tick in a dog's a$$ for all intents and purposes. It takes nigh to a Congressional hearing to fire or eliminate a Federal employee.
Just as anecdotal evidence of what I'm saying, as a kid I used to lifeguard on military bases. We'd have to apply in November for a job that opened in late May-- and we wouldn't officially know we had the job until early May. And this, of course, was only through the base's OTWO (Onbase Temporary Work Office), the redheaded ******* child to real Federal employment.
Good luck, Nexa. I hope you have other work lined up while you wait.
Totem