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I'm not a term employee and this was a normal competitive service hire, so it sounds like I should just apply for preferable positions whether they come sooner than 1 year or in the 1-3 year window. Regarding the percentage of your salary that gets withheld for the pension, I know it keeps going up. Is 3 years the threshold in order to keep my (presumably lower) current withholding percentage if I were to leave government then return later?
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# ? May 18, 2024 18:42 |
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Slig posted:Usually, but not always, one year in is the end of your probationary period. This is sometimes called "career conditional." Note that the probationary period is completely distinct from "career-conditional/permanent" status. After the one year probation (two years for some positions), you are protected by the merit system and that due process for termination, etc. In your first year you could theoretically be removed without cause or any kind of appeal , much like in the private sector (I say "theoretically," because I don't think most managers take advantage of this). After three years of substantively continual service (or something like that), you become career permanent, have "tenure" ("permanent reinstatement eligibility") and can always apply for fed only jobs, even after leaving. Even if you leave before that time (while still career conditional), you have a three year period of the same reinstatement eligibility. I think all vets are automatically tenured in this way, regardless of years of service. I'm still unsure if the tenure gives you a big leg up to get hired or just opens up more job listings... it's such a complicated system. I'll hopefully find out soon because I'm applying for jobs again in case a transfer doesn't pan out. I get to enjoy USA Jobs for the first time, since I used my peace corps NCE to get in the door.
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Josh Lyman posted:I'm not a term employee and this was a normal competitive service hire, so it sounds like I should just apply for preferable positions whether they come sooner than 1 year or in the 1-3 year window. As a current fed, you should be able to apply for fed only jobs now. They usually ask whether you are currently a fed or have reinstatement eligibility (aka the three-year tenure). However, if you go that route you will be bound to your current grade (you need 52 weeks in grade to apply for a higher grade). quote:Regarding the percentage of your salary that gets withheld for the pension, I know it keeps going up. Is 3 years the threshold in order to keep my (presumably lower) current withholding percentage if I were to leave government then return later? It's very ad hoc, so if they up the rates again they will probably publish some guidance of who makes the cut under which rate. For the past two increases, they made an exception for people "rehired with less than 5 years of civilian service that is potentially creditable under FERS." If they grandfather in people vs doing an across the board increase (as is currently being advocated by the budget office), 5 years is probably a good bet. I was hired in the age of FRAE (the current, highest rate), but I was able to get myself reclassified as RAE (the "middle" rate of 3.1%... higher than the original 0.8% one most people are on, but still cheaper than the current 4.4%) given a specific provision for people who were serving on the Peace corps at that time. Surprise surprise, it was a long, slow beaurocratic hassle to get changed. Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 04:10 on Jun 15, 2018 |
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Thanks for the clarification regarding IRS perm seasonal employees. A majority of the perm employees in my unit are career seasonal (as we call it), but I wasn't sure if other agencies had the same concept.
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On section 22 of the SF-86, it statesquote:In the last seven (7) years have you been issued a summons, citation, or ticket to appear in court in a criminal proceeding against you? (Do not check if all the citations involved traffic infractions where the fine was less than $300 and did not include alcohol or drugs) These instructions seem to conflict, should I list all my traffic tickets or not?
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I would only list traffic tickets if one of the following applied: 1. They were an actual criminal offense in the jurisdiction (ie reckless driving, driving on a suspended license). 2. Alcohol or drugs 3. They were a civil offense/infraction with a potential fine of $300 or more If you're unclear if something meets the criteria I'd probably list it and let the investigators worry about it.
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Just started with USACE and haven't gotten my CAC fit computer access, but I'm wondering how much poo poo posting other goons get away with on government computers
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At FDA at least, all the regular staff seem paranoid to where they generally use their phones for everything and even put tape over the webcam on their laptops. The admins don’t seem to care though. I saw one lady who spent an entire presentation on Facebook on her laptop.
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Josh Lyman posted:At FDA at least, all the regular staff seem paranoid to where they generally use their phones for everything and even put tape over the webcam on their laptops. FDA/USDA are the target of absolutely bonkers industrial pressure, capture efforts and surveillance, so a little paranoia's not too surprising.
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Well today was a demoralizing day. Instead of offering promotions to the people in my unit for a position left open by somebody that retired, they bring in a guy from another section and train him up. This has my boss pissed beyond belief. To further twist the knife, they're still not hiring any additional people for my section. She basically said to me straight up "Get your resume together and escape this poo poo because I'm retiring." I've already put my resume for multiple jobs out there so I can move on.
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Discendo Vox posted:FDA/USDA are the target of absolutely bonkers industrial pressure, capture efforts and surveillance, so a little paranoia's not too surprising.
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Josh Lyman posted:Please capture me into a salary of $200k/yr tia Depending on your position, I probably could! But I won't, because I technically still have a soul.
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Delorence Fickle posted:Well today was a demoralizing day. Instead of offering promotions to the people in my unit for a position left open by somebody that retired, they bring in a guy from another section and train him up. This has my boss pissed beyond belief. To further twist the knife, they're still not hiring any additional people for my section. She basically said to me straight up "Get your resume together and escape this poo poo because I'm retiring." Similar in my agency. I've been lining up interviews in the private sector and state government. Right now we have no back-filling of vacant positions, our telework policy being rolled back on October 1st, recording our phone calls, and they pretty much killed our collective bargaining. Yeah, up to half of my office may be gone soon. Sad since I had hoped to be in government for a long time, but the environment and senior support is becoming abysmal. I may return in the future if things change for the better.
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The tone sounds so different from my office, which kinda makes sense since we're DoD so our funding and staffing is pretty secure I think. The only thing I've heard in my first few days that might actually be bad is if USACE gets restructured and split up amongst Public Works and Interior and stuff so like goes with like and the military isn't putting resources in things like repairing Puerto Rican infrastructure or surveying the everglades
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I'm at ED, and the feeling from everyone in my office is that they are trying to do everything they can to force people to quit. Morale is sinking daily, so it's working.
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If anyone wants to jump ship, my office at FDA is hiring 11-12 Operations Research Analysts.
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Hi guys. A few years ago I took a job with the federal government well below my qualifications, to get my foot in the door. Fast forward to now and my job duties and responsibilities have increased to a place where I would like them to be and am happy with, but my title and grade level have not changed since I was hired. I would like to remedy this but all I can think of doing is leaving the public sector for a year or two and then coming back in the future, is that really what I have to do? For reference I took a position as a GS-5 three years ago, and I'm Workin in a GS-9 position with the title and pay of a GS-5, now. I would have left by now but I like my coworkers, I like my work, I like everything except this one major thing.
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I believe (don't quote me on this) the answer is what's known as a "desk audit".
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Spacewolf posted:I believe (don't quote me on this) the answer is what's known as a "desk audit". I really hope it doesn't come to that, I've heard nothing but bad things about doing a desk audit.
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cinnamon rollout posted:I really hope it doesn't come to that, I've heard nothing but bad things about doing a desk audit. Yeah, people in my office have warned against them because if they go against you it can drag down the salaries of everyone else who has the same title around you. I have no idea if this is true though. I got the sense there's a bogeyman attitude around them that may not be terribly reflective of the truth.
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Sounds like the general attitude with any sort of audit in that, in principle, it's generally a net good for the company/organization in the long term and a net bad for people who benefited from the slack picked up by the audit.
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Josh Lyman posted:If anyone wants to jump ship, my office at FDA is hiring 11-12 Operations Research Analysts. Internal transfer or open to the public? What office? Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jun 30, 2018 |
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Years ago I went through a desk audit, at my boss's urging, to get me to the next grade level. Fortunately, I was the only person on our tiny team with that role and title, so there was no risk. The whole thing took like six months, I spent a ton of time writing and rewriting descriptions of my responsibilities. I even used the official position description of the next grade as a guide, to show how I was already doing that exact job. And in the end HR STILL found that I hadn't had a sufficient "accrual of duties" or whatever, so I stayed at the same grade. A lot of work for nothing. (Eventually I was able to apply for the next grade and was easily selected. So I got there, it just took a long time, like everything in government HR.)
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Josh Lyman posted:If anyone wants to jump ship, my office at FDA is hiring 11-12 Operations Research Analysts. USACE in SAJ might also be looking for help once the Puerto Rico money starts coming in.
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Josh Lyman posted:If anyone wants to jump ship, my office at FDA is hiring 11-12 Operations Research Analysts. STOP COMPETING WITH ME FOR OPRES PEOPLE, FDA! Ahem. Sorry. In big demand lately, it seems. Any operational research/systems analyst/developers looking to get into government and have the patience of Job to get through a slow as hell hiring process and an HR that really, truly wants you to know how little they care?
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e_wraith posted:STOP COMPETING WITH ME FOR OPRES PEOPLE, FDA! Where at, and at what grade level?
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Discendo Vox posted:Internal transfer or open to the public? What office? Incidentally, there’s a similar GS13 position on USAJobs that I could’ve interviewed for and gotten. I may have hosed myself for the next 2 years by taking this 11 position. ![]() Josh Lyman fucked around with this message at 14:27 on Jul 5, 2018 |
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I have a board interview coming up at DHS, I would appreciate any fed-specific tips.
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Woof Blitzer posted:I have a board interview coming up at DHS, I would appreciate any fed-specific tips. Which agency? There's a ton of variance in management culture between the major agencies. Management at TSA is very different from USCIS, which is different from NPPD, etc.
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Lady Bureaucrazy posted:Which agency? There's a ton of variance in management culture between the major agencies. Management at TSA is very different from USCIS, which is different from NPPD, etc. CBP
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If it's for a CBPO position there's no real advice, just treat it like any job interview. Don't admit to lots of past or future felonies. Then just hope your polygrapher doesn't bounce you because their magic box said so.
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I’ve been investigated, cross-examined, interviewed, etc. by all types of people before but never done a poly. So not sure what to expect but it can’t be any worse than all that.
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Woof Blitzer posted:I’ve been investigated, cross-examined, interviewed, etc. by all types of people before but never done a poly. So not sure what to expect but it can’t be any worse than all that. I wouldn't count on that haha, having been though the whole process I could either write a long thing or just say good luck. I'm honestly not sure which would help you more. One thing I will say about the panel is don't be afraid to use you imagination a bit.
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AntennaGeek posted:Where at, and at what grade level? Answered elsewhere, but for general consumption NJ; 7,9,11,12 career ladder for the most part.
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If I'm applying to a position within my agency that's open to the public, and for some reason asks for resumes to be emailed rather than submitted through USAJobs, should I just copy/paste my resume from there or write up a new, shorter one?
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You should submit a condensed one tailored to the vacancy whenever possible.
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Some of you might get a kick out of this. I posted earlier in the year about how the feds withdrew a job offer after I had been waiting ~2 years for a security clearance. Last month, and again just today, I received phone calls from investigators that say they are starting my clearance process. Also, neither of the people I've talked to had any idea about the job offer being withdrawn and both figured I was already working for the agency. They said they would make a note on the clearance paperwork, which is p clearly outdated by now, but I'm going to try contacting the agency again to see whats up. Where were these assholes last year when I was still interested in getting paid peanuts to touch computers for the feds?
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Is there any sort of consistent time frame between getting Referred and hearing about an interview/hearing you weren't selected? I vaguely remember getting Referred for a job years ago and not hearing anything for like 16 months before it finally told me I had not been chosen for an interview.
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Yorkshire Pudding posted:Is there any sort of consistent time frame between getting Referred and hearing about an interview/hearing you weren't selected? I vaguely remember getting Referred for a job years ago and not hearing anything for like 16 months before it finally told me I had not been chosen for an interview. No, it's wildly inconsistent. I had some NASA jobs that were just showing as referred for about 5 years. Other times I've been moved to not selected in under a week.
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# ? May 18, 2024 18:42 |
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Yorkshire Pudding posted:Is there any sort of consistent time frame between getting Referred and hearing about an interview/hearing you weren't selected? I vaguely remember getting Referred for a job years ago and not hearing anything for like 16 months before it finally told me I had not been chosen for an interview. I'm still showing as 'referred' for a postion 4 years after the fact, despite knowing they hired someone else, and then decided to just eliminate the position entirely.
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