|
With this sequester, noone is moving anywhere unfortunately. My job series in my agency usually transfers around 3 times during your career because some assignments are not the kind you want to do for an entire career. So now moves & promotions are on hold plus noone else is hiring. My original 6 years in DC is now turning into at least 9. 
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2013 03:46
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 06:26 |
|
|
I got started in my civil service too late, I can't even early out till I'm 60  Of course that's better then after the reforms where it's 35 years and the age of 65.
|
|
#
?
Apr 30, 2013 18:25
|
|
|
sbaldrick posted:I got started in my civil service too late, I can't even early out till I'm 60 You're telling me. I started two weeks ago, and apparently I get to be on FERS-RAE, which came with a nice two page note full of flowery language, that to me appeared to be explaining in a very long-winded way that it's the exact same annuity system, but I have to pay in four times as much! Ugh! (I mean really? Or am I missing something here?) Since we're on the topic of retirement anyways, does someone wanna explain the phased retirement option that just got signed into law? Is it you can choose to go part time for your last 5 years, and work 20 hours a week while collecting half your annuity?
|
|
#
?
May 1, 2013 02:02
|
|
|
DustingDuvet posted:I have been following this thread from the start. Government jobs always seemed interesting to me, especially the foreign service. I actually considered a career in the foreign service at one point. I see a lot of Goons in this thread asking about how to properly write and format their resume to apply for federal jobs. Leviathan Song posted: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. The most exciting moment for me was when I got to answer all "E" for a questionnaire with 100% certainty that I was telling the truth. But of course if I can do that, then that means hundreds of other people probably could, too. Alas. 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. Everyone college-age: start keeping track of all your stupid subleases and time living with your parents!
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 06:57
|
|
|
Justus posted:You're telling me. I started two weeks ago, and apparently I get to be on FERS-RAE, which came with a nice two page note full of flowery language, that to me appeared to be explaining in a very long-winded way that it's the exact same annuity system, but I have to pay in four times as much! Ugh! (I mean really? Or am I missing something here?) Although I'm not in FERS so...
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 16:25
|
|
|
Quarex posted:Everyone college-age: start keeping track of all your stupid subleases and time living with your parents! Amazon was invaluable for this - I just spent an hour digging through my order history and past shipping addresses to construct my entire residence history. I was surprised to find out the OPM background questionnaire is the exact same one I had to take to as a defense contractor - it even kept all my info from when I filled it out 4 years ago. Also amusing was how much they've relaxed the drug usage questions in the interim.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 20:19
|
|
|
How helpful is noncompetitive eligibility in securing a federal job? I just started my peace corps service so I still have another year to go before I have start planning for what is next. The noncompetitive eligibility only lasts one year so I want to make sure that I understand exactly what I need to do to take advantage of it. I will have an undergrad in History, Master of Arts in Teaching, one year inner city teaching experience, and peace corps on my resume. I will likely apply to whatever educational development/policy jobs I can find plus anything else that looks interesting and attainable.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 23:33
|
|
|
Hagel is supposed to be putting out new furlough guidance withing the next week. Crossing my fingers that he figured out how to tell army to gfy so navy, af and usmc won't have to furlough, too.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2013 23:38
|
|
|
Necronomiconomist, that is a brilliant way to put the Internet to work for you. Laxbro's post reminded me of this--I have seen questions specifically about the Peace Corps show up during my exhaustive look-at-every-federal-agency-jobs-page search, and I cannot help but wonder whether that means Peace Corps experience is specifically good or specifically bad when trying to work for these other agencies. Like, does the FBI not want someone to work for them if that person might have picked up a mysterious foreign spy friend at that village in Tanzania? Or do they want Peace Corps people because they know they can walk into an unfamiliar environment and figure out what to do? This is mostly irrelevant for me as I would not join the Peace Corps (though the Peace Corps Response program sounds sort of interesting) but it seems like it could be very relevant for the just-out-of-college/not-sure-about-college federal aspirants.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2013 07:23
|
|
|
Former Peace Corps are not allowed to work for in intelligence for ~5 years after completion of service. This is because many developing countries still view Peace Corps volunteers as spies(which they're not!) and they want to discourage that. Peace Corps volunteers do qualify for non competitive status for awhile (2 years?) after they return though, so they can find other Federal jobs probably. Former intelligence agency staff are permanently banned from Peace Corps IIRC.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2013 14:23
|
|
|
Thanks for that information--that certainly makes sense for the intelligence -> Peace Corps direction if true, because if a single person somehow found out that the person building wells used to work for the CIA or something, then yeah, that would not go well. But I suppose it makes less sense to me why working for the Peace Corps first would be as bad ... or maybe they only care if you would be on an international assignment? I guess I just envision most of the people at these agencies just having desk jobs in Washington, haha. Moving on! People who actually have government jobs, this is for you: according to this document http://www.gpo.gov/pdfs/careers/apply/of0510.pdf you MUST list your high school on your application documents. Is this true? I have been omitting my high school since the first job I applied to post-undergraduate, but of course I realize the government DOES love information. Clearly I could pretend that is why I have not heard anything yet, because I am missing this vital piece of information. I talked to my wife about this and she made fun of me for not just listing my high school and moving on instead of discussing it with the Internet
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2013 21:05
|
|
|
Quarex posted:Thanks for that information--that certainly makes sense for the intelligence -> Peace Corps direction if true, because if a single person somehow found out that the person building wells used to work for the CIA or something, then yeah, that would not go well. But I suppose it makes less sense to me why working for the Peace Corps first would be as bad ... or maybe they only care if you would be on an international assignment? I guess I just envision most of the people at these agencies just having desk jobs in Washington, haha. I was also unsure when I was applying and just included it in my résumé. I've omitted it for every Fed job I've applied to since I got in, though.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2013 21:44
|
|
|
Quarex posted:Thanks for that information--that certainly makes sense for the intelligence -> Peace Corps direction if true, because if a single person somehow found out that the person building wells used to work for the CIA or something, then yeah, that would not go well. But I suppose it makes less sense to me why working for the Peace Corps first would be as bad ... or maybe they only care if you would be on an international assignment? I guess I just envision most of the people at these agencies just having desk jobs in Washington, haha. It's for the Peace Corps benefit. When they're operating in say, Central African Republic or the Congo, it helps to ensure that your Peace Corps volunteers won't be harassed as suspected intelligence operatives. -e- I'm sure there are counter-intelligence reasons why too, but still.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2013 21:59
|
|
|
Anyone here with the FDA? I'm a poultry grader with USDA and I'm trying to find potential career paths. It looks like Consumer Safety Officer is what I'd aim for, but I'm not sure that my current job would qualify me for it. I like the idea of visiting and auditing plants / investigating consumer complaints, but I have no experience "gathering and performing standard analyses of scientific data."
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2013 19:51
|
|
|
What are the differences if any between naclc and secret clearance? This is all terribly confusing to me.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 03:45
|
|
|
FlyWhiteBoy posted:What are the differences if any between naclc and secret clearance? This is all terribly confusing to me. A NACLC is the investigation they use to grant secret clearances. It'll be good for 10 years.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 04:17
|
|
|
First exciting job-openings-news I have seen since I started this process: 88(!) Immigration Service Officer jobs available per job announcement CIS-PJN-881815-NBC. Two locations but you can only pick one: Overland Park, Kansas, and ... Lowtax's Own Lee's Summit, Missouri. I would have picked Missouri even without the hilarious these-forums overlap, but you know. Clearly this is a sign for all we immigration-job-seeking-Goons. At least I think I saw a few of you here and there throughout the pages. Not sure how many of you are doctoral students like me, though. (I was even able to legitimately put "E" for all the questions ... except the last one that was like "you have used federal guidelines to adjudicate immigration admittance decisions." All right, no, I cannot bluff my way out of that one, better say I just learned about it in school) Oh and Diplomaticus posted:It's for the Peace Corps benefit. When they're operating in say, Central African Republic or the Congo, it helps to ensure that your Peace Corps volunteers won't be harassed as suspected intelligence operatives. Otten posted:I was also unsure when I was applying and just included it in my résumé. I've omitted it for every Fed job I've applied to since I got in, though. 
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 10:39
|
|
|
Hop on the ISO jobs, kids. USCIS is not only a good place in its own right, but since we're self-funded we're sequester-proof.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 14:52
|
|
|
Quarex posted:First exciting job-openings-news I have seen since I started this process: 88(!) Immigration Service Officer jobs available per job announcement CIS-PJN-881815-NBC. 88 is a lot! Lee's Summit is a great office too, I've visited and liked it. Also heard good things about working there. I actually have an automatic USAjobs search set up that includes that office, but for 13s. If they are hiring a bunch of ISOs, that's a good sign they'll need some so I'm excited.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 15:12
|
|
|
Beerdeer posted:Hop on the ISO jobs, kids. USCIS is not only a good place in its own right, but since we're self-funded we're sequester-proof. Wait -- you guys have been completely exempted from sequestration? How did that happen -- did OMB deem you guys exempt because of some sequestration exception? Or do you have a revolving fund or some other device that frees you from the normal appropriation process?
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 16:07
|
|
|
McCoy Pauley posted:Wait -- you guys have been completely exempted from sequestration? How did that happen -- did OMB deem you guys exempt because of some sequestration exception? Or do you have a revolving fund or some other device that frees you from the normal appropriation process? All funding for USCIS comes from fees from filings. All of it. That means not only is our budget non-appropriations, but we can sneer at the smug "my taxes pay your salary" types. We may not be COMPLETELY unaffected, but it looks like we don't have a lot to worry about.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 16:11
|
|
|
Beerdeer posted:All funding for USCIS comes from fees from filings. All of it. That means not only is our budget non-appropriations, but we can sneer at the smug "my taxes pay your salary" types. But are you outside of the appropriations process (ie, you just spend few collections directly, as opposed to being appropriated spending authority against whcihc fees are counted as offsetting collections)? I ask because I know that some agencies who collect user fees (and are funded in whole or in part by them) ARE having those user fees subject to sequestration (e.g., user fees that drug companies pay the FDA to have their drugs reviewed were deemed sequestrable by OMB). Which is completely preposterous, since reducing a fee collecting agency's access to user fees obviously does nothing to reduce the deficit, since those fee collections don't count against the deficit in the first place. It's probably not a big piece of the overall sequestration madness, but it bothers me disproportionately because of how little sense it makes, and given how it harms fee collecting agencies without benefitting anyone. Anyway, that's great for USCIS if you managed to avoid that.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 16:32
|
|
|
ixo posted:Anyone here with the FDA? I'm a poultry grader with USDA and I'm trying to find potential career paths. It looks like Consumer Safety Officer is what I'd aim for, but I'm not sure that my current job would qualify me for it. I like the idea of visiting and auditing plants / investigating consumer complaints, but I have no experience "gathering and performing standard analyses of scientific data." Have you looked into becoming a Consumer Safety Inspector or an Enforcement Investigations Analysis Officer within the USDA? A CSI is the position that is usually promoted to EIAO. An EIAO is pretty similar to a CSO. You could PM me or there should be a CSI or vet at your chicken plant you could talk about career stuff with. Keep an eye out for CSO positions at NOAA. They do fish plants.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 16:48
|
|
|
McCoy Pauley posted:But are you outside of the appropriations process (ie, you just spend few collections directly, as opposed to being appropriated spending authority against whcihc fees are counted as offsetting collections)? I wish I had more specific info for you now. Popular opinion suggests that while USCIS isn't going to be hit directly (appropriations makes up like 1% of our funding) things like processing times will go up because of less personnel at ICE and CBP and the like.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 19:45
|
|
|
Beerdeer posted:I wish I had more specific info for you now. Popular opinion suggests that while USCIS isn't going to be hit directly (appropriations makes up like 1% of our funding) things like processing times will go up because of less personnel at ICE and CBP and the like. Well, if there's anything one can be certain about concerning sequestration, it's that there's plenty of uncertainty. I'm mostly familiar with the FDA example I cited from having read an article in the NY Times where drug companies were like "what the hell, why are you sequestering our drug fees? That's not taxpayer funds?" Which is a pretty valid question. I haven't dug through OMB's big March 1st report that actually set out the particulars of the cuts, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were other instances in there where fully fee funded accounts were being subject to sequestration cuts, even though it's completely farcical to count cuts to user fees (which don't count for the deficit) as cuts to deficit spending. I just hope this poo poo gets resolved before October 1st so these shenanigans don't persist into the next fiscal year. I'll stop my fiscal policy whining now. It's still pretty awesome to work for the government.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2013 20:30
|
|
|
I just started as a term employee at the OP branch. They're in the process of adding an annex, and all told OP and LS are in the process of doubling in size. But I can't find that announcement on USAjobs...
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2013 03:07
|
|
|
I've literally never posted in this thread before, but just wanted to tell everyone thanks for providing tons of useful information about federal employment. Last week I accepted a position with the National Park Service and received my packet o' paperwork today! I start June 2nd. Total time from putting the application to receiving offer was about 3 months, which seems fairly average to slightly quicker. Out of 64 applications I put in they were the first ones to bite. I truly feel for anyone who doesn't have veteran's points trying to get hired. Even with my points it was definitely still a long hard slog.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2013 04:48
|
|
|
Beerdeer posted:I wish I had more specific info for you now. Popular opinion suggests that while USCIS isn't going to be hit directly (appropriations makes up like 1% of our funding) things like processing times will go up because of less personnel at ICE and CBP and the like. If its being done like the PTO the argument is that source of funds is irrelevant - you get a top line cut and all fees in excess of (your now shrunken) budget are supposed to kick back to the general fund. PTO fussed about it, though - not sure if that interpretation stuck.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2013 06:55
|
|
|
Please anyone let me know if I am getting too annoying, I have a great desire to not be "the new person to the thread who acts like every thing he learns is also news to everyone else." That said, I have not seen much discussion of occupational series codes outside of the occasional mention, and this seems sort of relevant. For me and me alone, perhaps? I have no idea how anyone gets a handle on exactly what job codes to be looking for without sorting through thousands of job postings and slowly getting a sense for what the job descriptions actually mean. I mean, yes, "0101, Social Sciences Series" is pretty straightforward. I figured I should look at it, and I was right. But then series 0930 is listed as "Hearings and Appeals Series." Well, that sounds incredibly not at all interesting to me whatsoever. But, of course, that is the series where I just excitedly applied to the be an Asylum Officer. Oh, right--"appeals" has many meanings beyond "lawyer stuff." But that would never have come to mind for me beforehand. Even when I think I have it figured out, sometimes I am wrong (no surprise there), like how I had a search set up for security administration jobs (0080!) before realizing that was literally physically administering security, not, you know, being involved in national security administration or anything metaphysical like that. (I have looked for a list of jobs that "people who have sort of worked in offices and on campaigns but have otherwise just been graduate students" should be applying for, but no luck so far in finding FromCouchToGovernment.com)
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 01:32
|
|
|
Quarex posted:sorting through thousands of job postings and slowly getting a sense for what the job descriptions actually mean.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 03:59
|
|
|
Axium posted:I've literally never posted in this thread before, but just wanted to tell everyone thanks for providing tons of useful information about federal employment. Where did you get hired and what position? I've worked seasonal the past five years at a couple different parks as a biological science technician. I've had two interviews so far but didn't get selected, but I should have one more for great sand dunes in Colorado.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 13:50
|
|
|
Quarex posted:Please anyone let me know if I am getting too annoying, I have a great desire to not be "the new person to the thread who acts like every thing he learns is also news to everyone else." I think your over complicating things. I'd say like 85% of jobs out there are in like 15 codes. For example everyone in my office of 400 people is either 2210 or 0343. No one bothers getting more specific than that. Stuff in 18xx all deals with investigations, criminal stuff, police work, ect. Stuff in 22xx deals with computers. Just do keyword searches for jobs to get an idea and you'll start seeing trends.
|
|
#
?
May 11, 2013 14:54
|
|
|
Justus posted:This is what I did TBH, but I also knew I wanted to get something in engineering, so that helped me narrow it down quite a bit. problematique posted:I think your over complicating things. I'd say like 85% of jobs out there are in like 15 codes. For example everyone in my office of 400 people is either 2210 or 0343. No one bothers getting more specific than that. Problematique, your advice has definitely been useful. I decided to just do a general search for each overarching category and page through to get a better idea of each series' jobs. I figured out several series that I had no business looking at in the first place, including the 1500 series researcher jobs, as they are all the "actual mathematics-related degree" kind of research (though that does mean the precious PALACE ACQUIRE is outside my reach, alas). I definitely have few enough series now to run a search better-suited to myself! At long last, I will be able to apply for just the right job that I then must immediately forget about having applied to in the first place.
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2013 03:22
|
|
|
I've never used USAJOBS before - last night I applied for a bunch of things through USAJOBS (and USA Staffing) and after submission they all read as "incomplete - missing required documents" or something similar. I had my resume and cover letter attached, but nothing else was required and the posting specified that "if selected" I would have to provide transcripts. On my applications my resume read something like "Retrieving from USAJOBS" but I assumed that was not it since I was just re-using the same file for all of them. This morning I got an email and all my applications read "Application Received" in USAJOBS and "Complete" in USA Staffing. Am I good to go? What gives?
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2013 13:26
|
|
|
I'm a mortician (associate's degree in mortuary science, passed the national board exam, etc.). Right now I have a temporary job with FEMA, although it's not mortuary related. Just getting my foot in the federal door, so to speak. What might be out there for me? I'd really like to work for the government doing a mortuary-related job, although I'm also considering enlisting in the military. I know about the federal DMORT teams, but most of their websites and information are dead or woefully out of date. Someone in the office forwarded my email to his old friend on a DMORT team, but after two months of no response, I'm assuming he's either busy or not interested.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 03:22
|
|
|
Operating Rod posted:This morning I got an email and all my applications read "Application Received" in USAJOBS and "Complete" in USA Staffing. Just in case it helps anyone, I ended up calling the central resume processing center and they advised me to attach my transcripts, which I was able to get done before the listing closed to further applicants. So I guess if you are confused at all, call the help number.
|
|
#
?
May 16, 2013 12:50
|
|
|
I have nothing useful to add regarding the last few posts. But I do have this to add for anyone else who hates/hated USAJobs for maliciously logging you out multiple times a day just when it knows you are not looking: THE OPERA BROWSER I had already used USAJobs in Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer (it was an accident I swear), so I figured I might as well try out Opera. I decided to make Opera my "I am applying for jobs" browser to help me get my mind in a "this is work time!" place. I HAD NO IDEA IT WAS THE BEST BROWSER FOR USAJOBS EVER. And why is this, you ask? Because if you right-click on a webpage while using Opera, you can set ... AUTO-REFRESH. AUTO. REFRESH. So now I have ever USAJobs page I open set to refresh every 10 minutes to prevent the nightmare-made-flesh I have experienced multiple times of USAJobs' mocking "you must sign in to use this page" spread across 30 tabs. Someone is going to come along and tell me that auto-refresh is a feature of every browser ever made since 1993 and I am an idiot, but I imagine this post will still help someone, so I am happy to be mocked as a result. Edit: I would have made this a new post, but nobody else has posted: you are welcome! Is it just me, or does applying to jobs get literally exponentially faster after a few months? I swear it would have taken me 30 minutes to apply for that Management Analyst job in March, and I think it took me about 3 minutes just now. Edit: Just gonna keep putting things here until someone posts again. Today I discovered the most delightful/horrific "required document" ever: for this job, you must (must) submit proof of marriage to a deceased member of the military. I have rarely been more confident that a "required" document was not. Edit: Maintenance Night, just when I was within a few dozen postings of being caught up on all four of my searches in less than a week for the first time. USAJOOOOBS 
Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 05:44 on May 19, 2013 |
|
#
?
May 18, 2013 04:59
|
|
|
After not checking in here for a couple of years, I guess I'll update by saying that I transferred to another agency for a promotion. I got out of the IRS with good timing, I guess. I'll be heading over to FEMA and hopefully staying there for a long time.
|
|
#
?
May 20, 2013 14:42
|
|
|
Late night thoughts for the day: * Is there any way to get a job in intelligence without already having had a job in intelligence? I assume this is the kind of thing where if you are not a military person you just have no way to get the requisite skills? * Why do most, but not all, National Guard positions require membership in the National Guard? What are they so worried about?!?!
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2013 12:10
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 23, 2024 06:26 |
|
|
Quarex posted:Late night thoughts for the day: 1) Yes. Many people get hired straight out of college. An MA helps. Just apply for everything and be able to get and maintain a clearance. 2) No idea.
|
|
#
?
May 22, 2013 12:57
|
|
