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quote:Are you a former Federal employee? If I used to be an unpaid intern for a federal agency, how do I answer this? I've always said no, but I'm not sure if that's right.
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Mar 28, 2013 00:37
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Xandu posted:If I used to be an unpaid intern for a federal agency, how do I answer this? I've always said no, but I'm not sure if that's right.
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Mar 28, 2013 01:30
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I've just been made an offer, and I'm trying to figure out how to gracefully make a counteroffer. I've never had an experience quite like this, it feels like we've skipped past "negotiate the position" straight to "you're in". I got a call from HR that I'd been made a conditional offer pending background checks, and I'd be mailed all my paperwork for inprocessing. I actually had to ask what salary I was being offered, and was told the paperwork had a "Recommended salary" field and what it was. This is the literal first time compensation's come up in my many many interview with the organization, and I'm hesitant that number may not even be binding to them somehow. Do I need to call up the manager I've been interviewing with now, or do I do all this paperwork first? Is there generally some extra step after this I'm just not aware of? Do people generally even haggle when applying for government positions? I don't want to end up accidentally hired at a rate I'm not quite happy with.
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Apr 2, 2013 12:42
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Is it a GS schedule job, a salary band or one of those weird ones like Federal Reserve? GS sked jobs tend to be limited to the OPM guidelines for that job series. For example, you can't ask for a GS-9 if you don't have a Masters or specialized experience. Check the job announcement as it typically states exactly what is needed to get into each specific salary band. If you have what the announcement asks for and it's documented in your application and/or background, you can get in the higher grade.
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Apr 2, 2013 17:05
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I know the pay grade I'm coming in on, but web sites I was looking at talked about being able to discuss the step in that pay grade you start at. Their quote also definitely wasn't the bottom step, so it feels like they have some room to adjust as they see fit.
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Apr 2, 2013 18:10
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Necronomiconomist posted:I know the pay grade I'm coming in on, but web sites I was looking at talked about being able to discuss the step in that pay grade you start at. Their quote also definitely wasn't the bottom step, so it feels like they have some room to adjust as they see fit.
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Apr 3, 2013 00:59
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Necronomiconomist posted:I know the pay grade I'm coming in on, but web sites I was looking at talked about being able to discuss the step in that pay grade you start at. Their quote also definitely wasn't the bottom step, so it feels like they have some room to adjust as they see fit. Are you sure their quote wasn't step 1 with whatever appropriate locality pay included? That would make their offer appear higher than step 1 on the plain GS scale.
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Apr 3, 2013 01:25
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Nope, just got the application packet in the mail, step 6. USAJobs conveniently lists the locale-adjusted range for each position, so it's easy to eyeball the step. I can't believe they'd only hire people in at step 1, as while a Master's degree may be required for this tier (IS-2210-9), the salary would in no way be competitive at the bottom step. It's a 14k range from top to bottom of the pay grade. I decided to just accept it anyway, mainly because my current defense contracting job is getting its contract funding cut due to our proven ineptitude, and everyone in my building just got our two weeks' notice. Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Thanks for the help, though! Junji Eat More fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Apr 3, 2013 |
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Apr 3, 2013 01:35
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grover posted:Federal law requires 30 days notification prior to furlough; I was banking on avoiding that notification as long as possible. But according to counsel, documentation of the notification attempts showing that I was notified is adequate legal proof of notification, even if I claim I didn't see the letters or hear the voice mails, etc. The first thing you said is right, the second thing you said is wrong. The law is very clear on this point. You don't need to actually receive the notice -- they just need to show they made a reasonable effort. I got a cool letter from the Army Corp of Engineers saying that I was a "very strong" candidate for their GC honors program. How exciting! They aren't saying when they're interviewing, but at least I received some message from a federal job that I applied to. I should find out if I'm getting interviewed for my dream job in the next two weeks. Here's to hoping an externship with that agency is enough to get me in for an interview.
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Apr 3, 2013 02:21
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Necronomiconomist posted:Nope, just got the application packet in the mail, step 6. USAJobs conveniently lists the locale-adjusted range for each position, so it's easy to eyeball the step. Omerta posted:The first thing you said is right, the second thing you said is wrong. The law is very clear on this point. You don't need to actually receive the notice -- they just need to show they made a reasonable effort.  grover fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Apr 3, 2013 |
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Apr 3, 2013 02:29
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Also, Paul Ryan's budget. This is just me talking, but with all the proposed cuts under sequestration and the GOP budget, I wish they'd include cuts to all the Congressinally mandated reporting and controls.
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Apr 3, 2013 02:47
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Necronomiconomist posted:Nope, just got the application packet in the mail, step 6. USAJobs conveniently lists the locale-adjusted range for each position, so it's easy to eyeball the step. Have you already accepted? Because you should absolutely negotiate. Whatever the top salary listed on the job announcement is what they're capable of giving you. When I got my job they offered step 1, I told them over the phone that was totally unacceptable and they said something about maybe being able to give me a step or two and asked what I wanted. I said I needed step 10, but was very interested in the job, so they should make me their best offer and I would run the numbers and see if it would work. I also gave them a current pay stub showing I currently made over step 10 money and let them know of various qualifications that deserved extra money. A week letter I got my official offer letter giving me step 10. Other people who negotiated got a step or two, a girl with very similar qualifications didn't negotiate and has been furious about the extra $12,000 per year I get for doing the same job. As soon as she heard about my step 10 she harassed HR up and down for about a month trying to get it put in after the fact, but they acted liked they'd never even heard of someone being hired above step 1. Also, if anyone is really desperate for a federal job, or just really wants to look at dicks all day (or for the ladies, vaginas!), we're hiring drug testing clerks! https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/340894300 The one really crazy thing about this job, is that I'm pretty sure it gets law enforcement retirement, which could be a big plus for anyone trying to get into federal law enforcement and worried about getting too old to apply. Job is in DC, closes Friday.
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Apr 3, 2013 04:46
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Kase Im Licht posted:Have you already accepted? Because you should absolutely negotiate. Whatever the top salary listed on the job announcement is what they're capable of giving you.
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Apr 3, 2013 12:32
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grover posted:Of course, with the rapid GS-7-9-11 plan, they'd still end up at GS-11 step 1 in 18 months, same as before, but between that and paying off student loads (at $6k/year) in exchange for a 3-year retention agreement, it helped considerably. Then the economy tanked, and everything went back to GS-7 step 1 and gently caress you, be happy you got an offer at all. I start my computer engineer position in a couple of weeks (GS-7 step 1 with a 7-9-11-12 plan over three years). This is my second job out of college, but I still have about $18k in student loan debt. I don't suppose there's any chance they'll still help me with that. $6k a year towards it would be really cool! I'm not even sure how I could bring it up though, and I'm guessing I probably shouldn't. I'm excited about being a Fed. I think it'll be a good change of pace for me. Every single job I've ever had as an adult (with the exception of a few years I worked for Radio Shack as a music student) were for companies smaller than 10 people. And while working for tiny operations has benefits, it doesn't have BENEFITS, if you know what I mean, and at 33 years old I am so over that! I think it'll also be a good change of pace from my first engineering job, where I was the only electrical engineer and did all the firmware design, circuit layout, simulation, prototyping, etc. etc. for new product R&D all by myself with no help from anyone, and OH GOD IF YOU DON'T GET THAT poo poo FIGURED OUT LIKE YESTERDAY THEN THIS COMPANY IS hosed AND IT'S YOUR FAULT  . I'm hoping that this will be a bit less stressful!
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Apr 3, 2013 17:36
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Any tips for applying to federal jobs? I've always been told the process was different than most private employers. Also, in 2011 I believe I applied for almost every job I qualified for (I'm a safety specialist by trade) and never heard anything back from anyone.
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Apr 5, 2013 14:07
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Haggins posted:Any tips for applying to federal jobs? I've always been told the process was different than most private employers. Patience.
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Apr 5, 2013 16:14
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problematique posted:Patience. After applying for a federal position, the first thing you should do is forget that you ever applied for it.
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Apr 6, 2013 07:09
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Haggins posted:Any tips for applying to federal jobs? I've always been told the process was different than most private employers. I applied for over 600 jobs before getting one that I didn't think I was even qualified for. APPLY FOR EVERY loving THING YOU SEE!
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Apr 6, 2013 13:39
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So do people get Federal jobs without connections? I'm tired of having to network like a maniac to get a second look at my resume...if I don't know someone at the federal agency I'm applying to, am I shafted?
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Apr 9, 2013 16:32
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Radio Talmudist posted:So do people get Federal jobs without connections? I'm tired of having to network like a maniac to get a second look at my resume...if I don't know someone at the federal agency I'm applying to, am I shafted? I only applied for one federal job. But, Foreign Service is a bit different then GS.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:27
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I only applied for one GS job and I had zero connections. We were in a hiring swell at the time, though.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:33
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I applied to hundreds of jobs and came in on a certificate for multiple hires. I think there were about 30 new hires in my first position during orientation. I used that as a stepping stone into a better job.
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Apr 9, 2013 17:35
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Radio Talmudist posted:So do people get Federal jobs without connections? I'm tired of having to network like a maniac to get a second look at my resume...if I don't know someone at the federal agency I'm applying to, am I shafted? I drat sure didn't have any connections when I got hired by TSA 9 months after I graduated high school. That was back in '06 when the TSA was in the midst of a massive hiring surge.
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Apr 10, 2013 02:49
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I had zero connections to my current job when I was hired. I was just another faceless candidate applying through USAJobs. And, like 11b1p, I applied to hundreds of jobs, and the only response I got was for a job I had written off as being beyond my qualifications. When HR contacted me to start the hiring process, they told me I was being brought on as a GS5. I knew I qualified as GS7, so I made drat sure they knew it too, and I asked why I hadn't been hired as one. Turns out the HR person just wasn't paying attention (shocker), but that mistake would've cost me big time, and, to my knowledge, would have been irreversible after the hiring process had finished.
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Apr 11, 2013 00:19
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GreenCard78 posted:Does anyone know how they view applicants with only one LoR (heaven forbid)? razz posted:I feel like I just applied for five thousand jobs. And position-cancellation e-mail for like 10 of them, "sorry, you are lame" e-mail from about as many, and of course nothing at all from the majority. But that is what I have come to expect. Oh, so, I do have a question. Not that I know if anyone can speak to this. Do my two master's degrees and majority-completed/ongoing Ph.D. actually help me, or is the government just like every other employer in that they will say "oh, nice 12 years in college, but not-so-nice repeated months of unemployment; NEXT!" ... Edit for clarity: Obviously I see that education qualifies you for higher pay grades in many cases, I am just curious as to whether realistically it is as helpful as it initially appears. For the record, my master's degrees are in criminal justice and political science; my research for the former was on identity document/surveillance policy, and the latter has continued that research and mixed in feminist theory (obviously strongly valued by the federal government) and USA immigration policy (perhaps slightly more valued). But, you know. All of this does nothing to change the fact that whenever I fill out a position questionnaire I end up having no choice but to say "uhh, no, I have never done this" to multiple questions every time. Why, no; given that I have never worked for the government, I have indeed never presented my findings to the supervisory staff of a federal agency. Obviously this means I am only really cut out for entry-level jobs, and I do apply for all of those, but ... dang, have you read those questionnaires? I could have probably qualified for those jobs at 18. Where are the inbetween jobs?!? Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 11:10 on Apr 17, 2013 |
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Apr 17, 2013 11:02
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Quarex posted:But, you know. All of this does nothing to change the fact that whenever I fill out a position questionnaire I end up having no choice but to say "uhh, no, I have never done this" to multiple questions every time. Why, no; given that I have never worked for the government, I have indeed never presented my findings to the supervisory staff of a federal agency. Obviously this means I am only really cut out for entry-level jobs, and I do apply for all of those, but ... dang, have you read those questionnaires? I could have probably qualified for those jobs at 18. Where are the inbetween jobs?!? When answering those questionaires it is very important that you don't pick the most accurate answer but the best answer that you can reasonably defend. Those questions are usually written by HR people with little to no knowledge of the position. You shouldn't lie but you should also assume that the person writing the questions has no idea what they are talking about and a poor grasp of English. Anytime that the question says "and" assume that they meant "or". Always assume that the questions include the caveat "or experience with nearly identical duties outside the federal government". A good example is that I am applying for promotion positions and questions often ask about government specific leadership/organization/diversity experience. It is perfectly acceptabale to assume that my equivalent experience with non-profits outside of work counts even if the exact wording of the question implies that only leadership positions within federal service count.
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Apr 17, 2013 17:27
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Leviathan Song posted:It is perfectly acceptabale to assume that my equivalent experience with non-profits outside of work counts even if the exact wording of the question implies that only leadership positions within federal service count. The openings do have a point that the way the USG does things is pretty different from the NGO/non-profit world.
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Apr 17, 2013 21:13
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Quick, post your furlough days. Up to seven for me on my notice. Right now, we're being told zero.
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Apr 18, 2013 03:17
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Currently six. We've been told it might go to 7. Some people have furlough days in the middle of the week. I don't get that. If you're going to furlough me, you're furloughing me on a Friday or Monday. Glad my boss isn't into being a dick for no reason.
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Apr 18, 2013 06:15
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7, we received our 30 day notice letter last week. First is May 24th and the rest fall on other Fridays and Mondays, and as far as I know, we all have to take the same days.
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Apr 18, 2013 11:30
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0 right now - no notices either.
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Apr 18, 2013 13:18
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I'm good so far, but we have weird funding.
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Apr 18, 2013 17:32
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No notices here yet; we were told to expect 14 days of furlough starting end of June, but there are some indications that could be reduced to 7 or 0.
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Apr 19, 2013 02:34
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grover posted:No notices here yet; we were told to expect 14 days of furlough starting end of June... Same for me.
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Apr 23, 2013 04:21
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Leviathan Song posted:When answering those questionaires it is very important that you don't pick the most accurate answer but the best answer that you can reasonably defend. Those questions are usually written by HR people with little to no knowledge of the position. You shouldn't lie but you should also assume that the person writing the questions has no idea what they are talking about and a poor grasp of English. Let me ask a very specific question and see if I am understanding you correctly--if the question asks, as this one does, if I have experience "reviewing policies and precedents to make recommendations for PSE program improvements," am I supposed to just pretend that "PSE" means whatever I want it to mean? Of course I have reviewed policies and precedents to make recommendations for program improvements--but I have no drat idea what the PSE is (I mean, it tells me it is Practical Skills Exam, but I obviously have never heard of it before today), and there are like six questions about it, ensuring I will be ignored for this job posting for answering "no experience" instead of "yeah actually, I did these sorts of things a lot, for multiple jobs ... just never regarding the Practical Skills Exam." Related: There seems to be an agreement that the best way to get hired by the government is to send in your résumé for every single job posting and answer "E" to every single question. Does anyone know which qualifications do not just get routinely ignored this way? For example, early on in my application process I got my application rejected for applying to a national-guard-only position. All right, fair enough; clearly they take that kind of qualification seriously. But how far does that go? I know you are supposed to fudge--but when it says you need 24 credit hours in math-type courses and 3 credit hours in calculus, and you have, say, 12, and no calculus--where is the fudge, my friends? Where is the fudge? Another question, should I really just fill out an SF-86 despite having absolutely no reason to do so? I saw some advice (from uhhh who is this, EVIL SPONGEBOB in 2011!) about just keeping an updated one on my profile--is this only if you already had clearance? I started keeping track of all the places I had lived after finishing college just because it was hilarious to me that I had moved 15 times in 7 years; who knew this information was actually going to be relevant someday? Sidebar: The funniest job I have seen from the thousands I have looked at in the last few months has to be the $8.50/hour lifeguard position in Italy. Let me just hop on a plane right now for that. One last random question. I applied for an NSF internship that required (among a dozen other various documents) five letters of recommendation, a "survey questionnaire" for a survey not mentioned or available in the application, and both academic and non-academic transcripts (what are non-academic transcripts?). I have to ask: is it possible that whoever set up the job description just accidentally clicked "require every possible document?"
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Apr 26, 2013 02:29
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http://blogs.federaltimes.com/federal-cartoon-fedtape/2013/04/23/fed-tape-april-22/ I had a good laugh.
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Apr 26, 2013 18:34
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Quarex posted:That is super-helpful, thanks a lot! I did not expect the very next post to actually be related to my question. U-S-A! In this specific instance, I probably wouldn't put E on that one if you don't understand the terminology. Some better examples would probably be: If the questionaire stated "Experience advising federal employees on the usage of government TSP plan" If you don't know what TSP means then you shouldn't answer E. If instead, you are aware that TSP is the thrift savings plan, the government version of a 401K, and in your last job you gave people advice on setting up 401K plans then answer E like a 401K is a TSP. If the question stated "Experience repairing TH-1H aircraft" and you only had experience with repairing Boeing 747s you'd be lying to put down E. But, if you had experience repairing the civilian Bell Huey II and understood why that is equivalent, you could reasonably put down E. Ultimately, the more high answers you put down the more likely you are to have your resume read by an actual person. On the other hand, if you can't easily explain your answer to these questions there's no chance that you would pass a resume review and interview. If you could not easily explain why you have experience in these areas to an interviewer you're just wasting everyone's time. Due to the multiple choice format people will often answer these questions far too literally. You should treat it like an actual interview, answering in a way that puts your best face forward.
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Apr 26, 2013 19:28
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Quarex posted:Another question, should I really just fill out an SF-86 despite having absolutely no reason to do so? I saw some advice (from uhhh who is this, EVIL SPONGEBOB in 2011!) about just keeping an updated one on my profile--is this only if you already had clearance? I started keeping track of all the places I had lived after finishing college just because it was hilarious to me that I had moved 15 times in 7 years; who knew this information was actually going to be relevant someday? Yeah, I still tell people this. The hardest part (once you figure out all those addresses) is then finding someone who can verify your residence. My agency is nuts and requires all addresses since birth for applicants. Then, it's a normal 5 year update once you're hired. Thanks for the shout out. On the other side, I have about 10 years to retirement (22 total down in July). I don't know if I can do another decade. Selling out and just doing a deferred retirement at 57 is looking better and better.  Edit: Clarified timeframes. Evil SpongeBob fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 07:45
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Yeah, I still tell people this. The hardest part (once you figure out all those addresses) is then finding someone who can verify your residence. My agency is nuts and requires all addresses since birth for applicants. Then, it's a normal 5 year update once you're hired. Thanks for the shout out. I just filled out an SF-86 for my 5-year reinvestigation, and I only had to put someone to verify my residence for addresses within the last three years. It made it way easier! Can you move around in your agency if you don't think you can make it 10 more years? I have a tentative burnout plan in place where I think I am going to try and get a lower-stress job in a smaller city in my last 5-10 years of fed employment. It would mean going down a GS level, but it wouldn't be too bad for the tradeoff I am thinking.
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Apr 29, 2013 04:34
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I can early out at 50, and that will have ~25-26 years in. After my three year assignment in Western Europe, I'll have 8 years in, and other 3 year assingment and I'm almost halfway there. At least hopping jobs every 1-3 years breaks up the mundane.
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Apr 29, 2013 13:33
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