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Gravel Gravy posted:So I've been offered a job in the DC metro area. Pay is somewhere in the $55k range. The work is going to be in two locations, Mc Lean and Pentagon City. Can anyone offer any insight as to where I should look for an apartment? I've been told Arlington, though with that salary I think that'd be on the high side. Rosslyn might be a good place to look if you're planning on not having a car or if you're only going to use the metro. You'd be able to use the blue line to Pentagon City and the silver to Mclean.
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Aug 12, 2014 02:18
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Got a question for the engineers here. I've been working a job with the Defense Contract Management Agency at the DoD for the last year and a half or so. I'm grateful to have the position, as it pays better and has benefits (my previous job had none). However, it is focused on administration and contractual oversight. Although my private sector job treated me like human garbage as an employee, I find myself missing actually doing real engineering. In my private sector job, I would design electrical circuits and simulations, would program firmware and embedded software, and would construct and troubleshoot prototypes. I really miss this kind of work, and as more time passes, would prefer it to the more administrative type of engineering. I have a friend who is an engineer for the FAA, and he tipped me off to an 0855 electronics engineer position that I've applied for and have just been notified that I have been referred to the hiring manager for. He tells me that engineers at this office actually devise solutions that involve engineering circuitry to interface aging radar and infrastructure with newer computer systems. That sounds like a blast, and I hope I get it! Well, as exciting as that is, it's just one job and one listing. So basically, does anyone here maybe know of other federal 0800-series jobs that with real, not paper-pushing engineering I could aspire to? I'm currently a GS-0854-09 with 52 in-grade completed at GS7. I've got a few years private sector experience that could defensibly be called "similar to GS-11 work" at least, and a year and half in the federal government working knee-deep in the defense acquisitions contracting world, so I've got bonifide business and legal experience too. I'm on a promotion path with my current job; this May, when I hit 52 in-grade at GS9, I'll get a promotion to 11, and then finally 12 the next year. It's tempting to tough it out for a few more years til I get 52 in-grade at 12 and then start applying for 13s elsewhere, but I feel like it may be easier to switch agencies earlier on while they still don't have to pay much for my training. And I know with the FAA, I can easily get on a path making way better money than GS-13 after a few years anyways. My dream job would be working on firmware and embedded software, as that was my favorite part of the private sector job, and the part that I was the best at.
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Aug 12, 2014 23:54
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Hey y'all, I was just notified that I have a phone interview for a State Department internship next week. Any tips on acing the interview? I've never done a phone interview before.
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Aug 13, 2014 03:51
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dalliance posted:Hey y'all, About a year ago I had the same interview. I have to imagine it depends on the office. Generally speaking all that matters is you sell yourself as best you can, highlight your skills and try to provide examples of you actually using them to practical problems. I don't have any specific advice though I think it is largely dependent on the office you are interviewing with. My office was my first choice but overall I don't think it was near as competitive as other offices, so your mileage may differ. My experience: a day before the interview, I got a call scheduling the interview the next day, as I was making an all-day drive from VA to SC. That night my friends in Charleston and I had a few drinks, went to bed late. Fast forward to the morning, I had left my contact lenses in overnight and for the most part I had become practically blind. And hungover. To compensate for the hungover bit, I had too much coffee and ended up a little wired and anxious during the whole process, and despite all that I still got through. And got to wear a cool eye patch for about a week. Phone interview advice, get yourself ready somewhere in your house, have your resume handy, maybe a few notes on how to apply your experiences to the job itself. And phone interviews suck in that you have no visual cues. You can't tell when the other person is about to speak or not, and you can easily end up talking over each other for a bit. Just try not to get flustered, and allow them to proceed unless they request you to.
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Aug 13, 2014 04:28
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Justus posted:So basically, does anyone here maybe know of other federal 0800-series jobs that with real, not paper-pushing engineering I could aspire to? It sounds like you are in a developmental program that is either one of the nationally sponsored AIP (whatever they are calling them now) programs or one that is modeled along those lines. DoD has a bunch of programs similar to that that might be more hands on, and that would probably be happy to have your experience working for DCMA as well. I can tell you, though, that with your DCMA experience many places (not just DoD) will try to push you back towards that paperwork oriented world, because you will be the guy who is not afraid of contracts. Or at least who can speak their language to a certain degree. And probably the longer you stay in that position the worse it will be initially when you go somewhere else. It doesn't mean you can't move now or 10 years from now and do the type of work you want, just that you might have to be firm about what you want your focus to be.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:11
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e_wraith posted:It sounds like you are in a developmental program that is either one of the nationally sponsored AIP (whatever they are calling them now) programs or one that is modeled along those lines. DoD has a bunch of programs similar to that that might be more hands on, and that would probably be happy to have your experience working for DCMA as well. Thanks for the response. Do you know of any particular programs that are more hands-on? I'm finding it impossible to tell just from the listings. The way you worded your response, it would almost sound like any agency would have hands-on and contract-based positions and I just need to be more vocal about the kind of work I want to do. I have not found this to be the case at DCMA, which does not employ hands-on engineers. I'm guessing, for instance, that if I want to stay within DoD for instance, maybe I'd have better luck working directly for Army, Navy, or Air Force, while perhaps the fourth estate is more solidly admin-focused...but honestly, I'm just guessing. Is there any way to tell outside of trying to track down people who work at these offices and asking directly? I'm not trying to just apply for places blind here.
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Aug 13, 2014 18:06
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dalliance posted:Hey y'all, Review the job app and make sure you're ready to discuss any experience or skill that you marked, especially if your resume doesn't make it clear where that experience came from.
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Aug 14, 2014 00:24
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Gravel Gravy posted:So I've been offered a job in the DC metro area. Pay is somewhere in the $55k range. The work is going to be in two locations, Mc Lean and Pentagon City. Can anyone offer any insight as to where I should look for an apartment? I've been told Arlington, though with that salary I think that'd be on the high side. You might check out the Huntington area. It's at the very end of the yellow line, but at least it's metro accessible and relatively inexpensive. I had a one bedroom there for $950.
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Aug 15, 2014 00:15
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CherryCola posted:You might check out the Huntington area. It's at the very end of the yellow line, but at least it's metro accessible and relatively inexpensive. I had a one bedroom there for $950. Would you recommend the development whatever the name is? I did see one place right near the station but I think I've settled on a place up in Falls Church. It's a few hundred more, but its only a few miles from work, more space, and one of the better reviewed/rated places I could find in my price range. I am open to other alternatives though.
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Aug 15, 2014 00:29
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Justus posted:
Yeah, DCMA has a very specific focus so this doesn't surprise me. But yes, in my experience the specific services all have a program or programs that do what you want. If you work in a strongly competency aligned agency (NAVAIR for instance) it might be easier to find a specific job that has the role you are looking for as they may seperate the paperwork people out more into other competencies or subcompetencies. Honestly I am largely recommending Navy or Air Force, because they have some very interesting programs going on and the technical challenges they face are significant. But avoid DLA or any of the supply activities because they will likely have you doing more contract oriented stuff. http://www.secnav.navy.mil/rda/workforce/Pages/NADP/Applicants.aspx is the Navy developmental program. I know many people who went through this and do exactly the work you are talking about. The Air Force also has the PALACE Acquire Program which I hear is also good. Local sites also have complimentary programs to these, which would probably be even easier to transfer into as a 9, but it is hard to speak to them without knowing where you are looking to work in terms of geographic location or department/agency. There is so much out there, the problem is that it can be hard to determine what the role will be up front. Let me tell you this, though. Once you are into any of the services, you can make your own way. It is not like DCMA. It is very easy to move around (and encouraged, at least by many commands). If you find yourself in a position where things are not hands on enough, you can move to one that is. But the DoD does so much R&D and testing and ad hoc sustainment that there's no shortage of hands on engineering positions. PM me if you have any specific questions.
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Aug 15, 2014 12:47
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https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/PrintPreview/377501800 https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/377500800 USCIS is hiring ISO1s for the Service Centers again.
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Aug 15, 2014 18:54
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This isn't a federal job, but a county job question. I hope the same stuff sort of applies. The position I am applying for has a min wage of 36000, and max of 63000. The title is "POLLUTION CONTROL INSPECTOR 1", looking over the role its basically a field engineer position with a stupid title. They are looking for people with degrees in bio,chem, mech eng, civil eng, and chem eng. I looked up what they are currently paying some employees and its exactly on the min wage for the position, although in some previous years they payed some people higher. One of the guys who got the higher wage at 57k had a masters in civil engineering with 1 year of experience. I am a recent graduate with a chemical engineering degree. Would I be stupid to ask for anything higher than the minimum when I go in for the interview? The average starting wage for chemical engineers in Miami seems to be around 60k. Now I know I shouldn't expect that when working for the government, but is the minimum all I should expect? edit: also this is in miami where the cost of living is retarded. Xeom fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Aug 16, 2014 |
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Aug 16, 2014 04:26
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Aside from the outliers the HR department probably has a certain formula for increases over and above the base salary. Exp: So if the basic is $36K, they might do a 5% for a B.S. another 5% for a M.S., 5% for years of service, etc. That is how they do it around here for certain positions. A lot of times there is no wiggle room past the formula they use so you can ask but I wouldn't expect a positive answer.
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Aug 16, 2014 21:06
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Cross posting from another thread but I'm just starting graduate school in September and I have a phone interview for a state department internship today. If I am offered the internship, it's unpaid and I'm not sure I can afford to live and work in DC without pay. I'm already paying over 40K for grad school starting this fall and I don't know if I can afford the internship costs as well. Are there any private organizations that could help fund someone in this situation? My graduate school offers stipend grants but getting one is extremely difficult from what I have heard.
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Aug 19, 2014 19:57
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Today's town hall meeting with Service Center Operations for USCIS led to the fairly tantalizing suggestion that they are very likely to be opening an entirely new service center basically as soon as they can figure out the logistics...the chief actually said "we would like to open one, two, three more service centers?" so THE SKY'S THE LIMIT! maybe. The best part is, regardless of whether you like whatever new location they pick (the only rumored location was Orlando, but that is seemingly just a perpetual rumor), there will undoubtedly be not only lots of jobs opening there, but also at the other service centers and field offices with their respective mass exoduses to the new location. Basically this is just my monthly "come work for USCIS" post
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Aug 22, 2014 01:28
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Quarex posted:Today's town hall meeting with Service Center Operations for USCIS led to the fairly tantalizing suggestion that they are very likely to be opening an entirely new service center basically as soon as they can figure out the logistics...the chief actually said "we would like to open one, two, three more service centers?" so THE SKY'S THE LIMIT! maybe. Wait, so is CBP the one that it sucks to work at? Because I was going to schedule a test for the officer opening.
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Aug 22, 2014 03:22
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Stolennosferatu posted:Wait, so is CBP the one that it sucks to work at? Because I was going to schedule a test for the officer opening. The reason is the same for CBP and ICE--they are subject to the whims of Congressional funding, and Republicans only want to fund things involving us crossing other borders, not vice-versa; so if the government gets shut down, you go home. As opposed to USCIS, which is 99+% fee-funded (as we love to brag), and we are like "oh the government shut down? Guess we will just have to stay open with all these piles of immigrant money." TSA apparently sucks to work at because it is really hard and your supervisors are unforgiving monsters for the most part; as opposed to being furloughed, I imagine they would definitely be deemed "critical" in such a situation. Edit: Sounds like that is true! BUT, I will say that of course the people who came to USCIS from these agencies left because they did not like it there. In fact, CBP (Border Patrol specifically) is the only one I have really heard anything good about at all, as even though one of our GS-9s came from being a GS-12 in Border Patrol, he said it was not that he hated the job, but that rather after 7 years he was ready to stop carrying a gun and feeling like a target. If you would be CBP like passport control, then that seems like it would not be so bad other than the hectic nature of the job, at least from what my passport control ex-ladypal tells me. Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 07:06 on Aug 22, 2014 |
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Aug 22, 2014 04:03
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Michigan has also been bandied about
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Aug 22, 2014 04:26
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TSA sucks to work for because their management is horrifyingly abusive and they exist in a nebulous otherworld where the usual Title V protections do not apply and all appeals are handled by bodies internal to DHS. That means no MSPB, EEO is internal, no FLRA, no independent arbitrator, no one outside of the agency judges these fuckers on what they do. And they were declared essential, so they had to work without pay like BoP folks did during the shutdown. Pity your TSOs, folks.
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Aug 22, 2014 05:41
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Must Love Dogs posted:TSA sucks to work for because their management is horrifyingly abusive and they exist in a nebulous otherworld where the usual Title V protections do not apply and all appeals are handled by bodies internal to DHS. That means no MSPB, EEO is internal, no FLRA, no independent arbitrator, no one outside of the agency judges these fuckers on what they do. TSA did get access to the MSPB before I left that hell. But from what I've heard from my old coworkers, it's gotten better and worse in some aspects. Thank gently caress I'm gone.
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Aug 23, 2014 02:26
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Beerdeer posted:Michigan has also been bandied about Delorence Fickle posted:TSA did get access to the MSPB before I left that hell. But from what I've heard from my old coworkers, it's gotten better and worse in some aspects.
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Aug 23, 2014 02:53
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Quarex posted:Apparently CBP and ICE are both the ones that suck to work at. Well and TSA. Pretty much everything involving border-crossing in any sense that is not USCIS, from what I gather. Cool, thanks for all the info. I'm not going to make the CBP a career thing, nor am I worried too much about furloughs, but it is a lot to think about.
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Aug 23, 2014 03:39
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Beerdeer posted:Michigan has also been bandied about I'm at CSC and I hadn't heard this rumor at all! Michigan would be potentially awesome. I had pretty much resigned myself to NBC and NSC being my long-term options if I wanted to stick with the agency and center-type work.
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Aug 23, 2014 04:16
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Otten posted:I'm at CSC and I hadn't heard this rumor at all! Michigan would be potentially awesome. I had pretty much resigned myself to NBC and NSC being my long-term options if I wanted to stick with the agency and center-type work.  Also, did you know a guy named Bentley who just transferred to Vermont in April?
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Aug 23, 2014 04:35
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Quarex posted:Wow, Vermont is that bad, huh? VSC is just so far from everything I know and love! Midwest/West 4 lyfe. Nope, don't know that dude.
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Aug 23, 2014 06:53
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Otten posted:VSC is just so far from everything I know and love! Midwest/West 4 lyfe. And to make this post more general-interest, there was some discussion about how Service Centers likely need 1,000-1,200 people to be considered fully-staffed. It sounds like we are perpetually down at least a few hundred nationally, so I would be shocked if there were not several more rounds of hiring soon even before any new Service Center opens.
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Aug 23, 2014 06:58
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Delorence Fickle posted:TSA did get access to the MSPB before I left that hell. But from what I've heard from my old coworkers, it's gotten better and worse in some aspects. Sadly, that's not the case. AFGE is still fighting to get MSPB rights for TSA folks. Nothing's happened on that front yet, mostly because it'd require an act of Congress. Right now, any adverse action can get appealed, but only to OPRAB, which is an internal review board.
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Aug 23, 2014 15:35
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Is there a service center (or a chance of one) in the NJ/NYC area? (If there isn't one already?) Because you guys make USCIS sound awesome to work for in that environment, but (since I can't drive) I gotta stick to places with decentish mass transit.
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Aug 23, 2014 15:36
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Spacewolf posted:Is there a service center (or a chance of one) in the NJ/NYC area? (If there isn't one already?) The creation myth of the Vermont Service Center involves people at the New York Field Office getting sick of having to deal with a constant stream of customers and wanting to actually get caught up on paperwork, and thus literally packing up a van full of files and renting office space in Vermont to escape. So the New York Field Office is certainly a thing, and ... I bet I can figure this out online Oh look, here we go, according to this list there is one in New York City proper and one in Queens: https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.summary&OfficeLocator.office_type=LO&&OfficeLocator.statecode=NY And the National Customer Service Center/"Eastern Telephone Center"/USCIS Application Support Center? is in New York. Googling for any of those three brings up the last one and its address; not sure whether those are three or two different places or all the same place, but the point of all this is that there are absolutely at least 3 and possibly up to 5 USCIS offices in the New York metropolitan area. But these would all be the "actually dealing with calls/visitors all day" type as opposed to the service center "paperwork 24/7" type; hopefully interviewing people sounds better than cross-referencing databases and laws all day.
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Aug 23, 2014 21:54
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I'm otherwise hoping to be a paralegal, so, uh...other way around.
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Aug 23, 2014 22:07
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Must Love Dogs posted:TSA . . . EEO is internal . . . All EEO complaints by federal employees are internal. Once the complaint has proceeded through the EEO process, the employee can choose to request a hearing by an EEOC attorney-examiner (aka administrative judge).
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Aug 24, 2014 01:40
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Anyone have any federal resume tips/resources?
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Sep 2, 2014 00:27
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Oh we have SO MANY OF THOSE First, you are going to want to actually use the USAJobs résumé-creator thing, as it is actually required for some jobs (though not many). It takes forever and is really not that easy to use BUT then you suddenly realize you can apply to 10 jobs a day and it makes you feel better. That said, one of the most important things is making sure your application contains as many of the keywords from the job description as you can reasonably fit--if the job description requirements says something like "must have rerouted the encryptions on at least six Gibsons" then if you have "rerouted," "encryptions," and "Gibsons" somewhere in your job descriptions you will pass the computerized/minimum-wage-application-checkerized determination of whether to pass you on to the actual hiring official. Or at least, that is the impression I get. I did not actually fully appreciate this advice until after I had applied to the job I ended up getting, but it was an immigration job and I was a graduate student working on immigration research, so the keywords already happened to be there. There have to be posts somewhere in this thread that do a much better job explaining all the ways you can amp up your awesomeness for USAJobs, though.
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Sep 2, 2014 01:14
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I finally got my GS-13! Just waiting on my start date now. It looks like I'll be changing services; anyone know how that works? The OPM website is less than helpful.
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Sep 2, 2014 04:17
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You give your notice of lateral transfer. You quit Friday, go to work at the new agency on Monday. No gap means all your leave transfers over.
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Sep 4, 2014 03:20
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TSA would be cool if you are working overseas. I had the aviation safety and security portfolio at my last embassy post, where we had a last-point-of-departure flight to Washington. The TSAR that handled most of sub-Saharan Africa seemed to really enjoy his job and had a pretty good personal hotline through his A/A up to the administrator, but was dreading going back to the US to head up whatever office he was going to next. We had a good relationship though, he came through every 30-60 days (we got more attention than other posts due to bilateral reasons on the State side, rather than TSA side), and the work was fun and meaningful. Being able to say "Yep, you guys had X number of major and Y number of minor deficiencies in your last inspection, now you only have Z, great job guys, you are a tangibly safer and more secure airline/airport" was kind of awesome in a way you don't always get in a fed job. On the other hand, the FAA reps overseas made it their duty to make my life miserable, and were completely incompetent at their jobs.
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Sep 7, 2014 09:42
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I have an in person interview on Wednesday with the FBI for an accountant position. Anyone have any words of wisdom on what to expect?
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Sep 15, 2014 18:24
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I've just received an email for an online assessment for a Secret Service Special Agent position. Is this anything to get even remotely excited about, or is the assessment a gimme for anyone who applied?
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Sep 16, 2014 13:06
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Someone else may have better information, but last year about this time I made it to the fitness test part for the Special Agent position, and at no point did I have to take an online assessment, so I am guessing this could be a new intermediary step between the application and the initial written test. Surely not a bad thing, anyway.
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Sep 16, 2014 13:11
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Feeliums posted:I've just received an email for an online assessment for a Secret Service Special Agent position. Is this anything to get even remotely excited about, or is the assessment a gimme for anyone who applied? http://www.secretservice.gov/join/apply.shtml
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Sep 17, 2014 00:48
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