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Howard Phillips posted:Wow. You enjoyed the peace corps that much? I’ve definitely had the same idea as the other guy. Doing Peace Corps again immediately after retirement would be way better than when I first did it in my mid 20s. It’s even better now that they let you choose where to go (assuming it’s still like that in 25 years). In general, the “senior” PCVs I served with seemed to enjoy themselves much more and had better community relationships when compared to the younger folks.
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Sep 17, 2020 03:50
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laxbro posted:I’ve definitely had the same idea as the other guy. Doing Peace Corps again immediately after retirement would be way better than when I first did it in my mid 20s. It’s even better now that they let you choose where to go (assuming it’s still like that in 25 years). Wow didn't know you get more control over where you get to go. I'd definitely do at as a young 60 something retiriee.
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Sep 17, 2020 16:30
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Howard Phillips posted:Wow. You enjoyed the peace corps that much? it had its struggles, but I highly recommend it. But ask me again when I'm 60 or whatever. The retiree volunteers were indeed a chill bunch.
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Sep 17, 2020 22:52
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Thesaurus posted:it had its struggles, but I highly recommend it. But ask me again when I'm 60 or whatever. In your experience, what do you think made the retired volunteers more chilled out compared to the younger ones? Also, do older retirees get the same minimal benefits as everyone else?
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Sep 17, 2020 23:39
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Howard Phillips posted:In your experience, what do you think made the retired volunteers more chilled out compared to the younger ones? Also, do older retirees get the same minimal benefits as everyone else? All volunteers receive the same benefits. There's no differentiation by age in any assignment, but I think a small percentage at any one time is retiree aged. Practically, older volunteers may have more health issues, and I think there were more challenges placing people with more health conditions. Here are some of my limited observations from my service: most volunteers are straight out of undergrad and still in that youthful and inexperienced mindset. That's not a bad thing, but my impression is that more of them are in it for the experience and don't necessarily have a lot of background to draw on. I only met a few older couples (they're often couples), and they were fully cognizant of the challenges they were going to be taking on. Most had already raised kids and had full careers. They were generally more confident and willing to take leadership on projects. The flip side is that older volunteers do tend to struggle more with the language immersion if they don't have any background in it. But I remember older couplew getting along with busted spanish because they weren't afraid to use it, while younger volunteers often get nervous and psyched out about what they don't know, afraid to get up and speak in front of a big group in a new language, etc. Older volunteers seemed to be more focused on their projects in their communities, while younger volunteers could get more caught up in the social aspect (not necessarily a bad thing). On a practical level, in many developing countries, older people are likely to receive more respect and people may listen to them more, especially if they already have kids or grandkids. In the Dominican republic, if you were single and in your 20s everyone expected you to get married and have kids asap. I served with my wife, and we were very much considered weirdos for not having any kids yet. Finally, the type of "old" person that decides to sign up for a two year adventure in a foreign culture, when they may already be quite comfortable back at home, tends strongly towards the cooler side. They're more likely to be open minded and flexible. Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Sep 18, 2020 |
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Sep 18, 2020 02:32
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So if I keep getting these notices about You were not considered because you do not meet the Area of Consideration requirements as specified in the announcement. When I’m 100% certain that I meet the area of consideration for the job. It’s either special authorities or VEOA. What’s going on here? I always take the time to make sure I’m not wasting time on the ones I’m not a candidate for either(internal hires).
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Sep 18, 2020 14:57
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The only time I ever got that, and I am definitely not insisting this is what is happening to you, was when I somehow totally overlooked that a posting was internal to a specific agency, despite otherwise also listing itself as available to reinstatement candidates like me.
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Sep 18, 2020 17:25
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Customer service in all of its forms is just the loving worst. Every day is Ask Stupid Questions at the Post Office Day. No, I do not know what time your carrier gets to your place to deliver mail. It gets there when it gets there. No, I cannot call them to find out where they are. Do not come up to my dutch door, tell me that you have held mail that you want to pick up, and expect me to know exactly who you are and where you live. I have and will stare at you for about fifteen seconds waiting for you to tell me anything more before I concede that no, you aren't going to provide me with any more information and I have to ask what your address is. Yes, this is small town Wyoming, but we deliver to over ten thousand people from our area office and I can't even name a quarter of the people I graduated high school with out of a hundred and eighty. For the love of loving god, check your mail regularly. Every carrier and clerk hates your guts if you leave your box full of junk mail and we have to leave a notice because it's too full. It's especially worse for the country bumpkins who live in places we can't even deliver to and provide a PO box to for free because they never ever come into town to empty the stupid thing. Then they get pissed off when they check their box after hours and all there is inside is a yellow card with their box number on it. This also goes for people with NBUs at their apartment complex or trailer park or wherever that has one. No, the carrier has not come back yet or dropped off your parcel at the downtown office. It will be available for pickup at the downtown office tomorrow, like it says on the ticket. No, I cannot call them and ask them to turn around and go back. And on and on...
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Sep 22, 2020 02:44
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Same with my job, only with several extra helpings of  because the IRS is so hosed up right now.No, I don't know when they'll process your mailed return/amended return/check. No, I can't give you a transcript because even though I can see your return in one spot procedures for making a transcript from there don't exist, and I have no idea when the places we can put together an emergency transcript from will finally show your return. Yes this sucks, yes I know you're getting screwed by something you've been calling in about for the past month or three still not being fixed for whoever is hounding you, I still can't do anything about it. No, I can't even send you a letter by next week about it.  It could be worse. I could be getting regular calls where people threaten suicide like one of my coworkers and fellow classmates. But it's still soul-draining. Ignatius M. Meen fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Sep 22, 2020 |
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Sep 22, 2020 03:33
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:Same with my job, only with several extra helpings of I'm crossing my fingers that I can get a not IRS job before I finish training.
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Sep 22, 2020 06:02
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Xelkelvos posted:I'm crossing my fingers that I can get a not IRS job before I finish training. Honestly, this season is way messier and more chaotic than any I've dealt with previously, because... well, everything. I've been trying to impress on the new hires in my department that this is all very far out of the norm and next season will be a lot saner in terms of workload and expectations. That said, I don't work in Accounts Management; I'm not sure being on the phones in AM is ever sane.
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Sep 22, 2020 08:56
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Maybe not 'sane' but at least it's a somewhat tolerable level of dysfunction. You have guidelines and timeframes for when the service center is supposed to get poo poo done or at least move the case along, and if they get blown repeatedly you can maybe throw the case to TAS or refer to the TAC and come away with a clean conscience. Now, though, timeframes don't reliably exist for anything mailed for understandable, even obvious reasons, and what would have been more than enough time to process things pre-COVID isn't; add to this the TAC not being open for most things and TAS being overburdened and it's a lot easier to just be left shrugging your shoulders and say "sorry, maybe next call we'll be able to give you better help" which is awful by comparison. Also lol, you're way more optimistic about how claiming the recovery rebate credit is going to go than I am. It won't top this year without another shutdown (I'm going to die if that happens because I'll be three for three on my first three loving years), but there's a lot of people who didn't qualify for the advance payment that will be putting it on their return, and I hope your new hires are getting good prep on how that's supposed to work because otherwise I will probably get the calls from the people they gently caress up and have to learn how to fix your poo poo.
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Sep 22, 2020 09:45
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oh christ I forgot about that Here's hoping someone in the pipeline knows how to handle it!
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Sep 22, 2020 11:49
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lmao should have known hope was a bad idea
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Sep 22, 2020 14:48
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IRS goons are the best fed goons because it's just pure, kafkaesque horror stories all the time. Maybe SSA goons, too
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Sep 22, 2020 17:46
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Thesaurus posted:IRS goons are the best fed goons because it's just pure, kafkaesque horror stories all the time. It's true
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Sep 22, 2020 17:52
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speaking of the IRS! I applied to a few tax examiner positions - the latest one stopped taking applications on 9/14, and I haven't gotten any emails or updates aside from emails confirming submission. I'd imagine hiring is pretty slow? Or should I expect to get referred or rejected before the month is out? or will the (maybe) impending government shutdown slow down hiring? not a veteran or current government employee e: I also applied to a few FEMA things that had early September closings and got "not qualified" for a good handful, but for some I've still yet to hear back.
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Sep 22, 2020 18:19
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We can tell you are not a current employee because you have not yet absorbed the deep knowledge that you apply for jobs then forget you applied as otherwise you will go mad. I am starting training next month for my FEMA position I applied for in February, for example. And got told I am unqualified for the exact same position I applied for in another location in July.
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Sep 22, 2020 19:37
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so you’re telling me to apply to everything and never expect to hear back until suddenly I find myself getting finger printed or whatever for it in ??? months
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Sep 22, 2020 20:58
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wolfs posted:so you’re telling me to apply to everything and never expect to hear back until suddenly I find myself getting finger printed or whatever for it in ??? months Basically just show up to random federal buildings and grab a desk; you’ll never know where the next paycheck comes from but it’ll always come.
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Sep 22, 2020 21:18
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Application submission to hire date was almost 6 months for me. The IRS is very slow.
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Sep 22, 2020 21:22
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well I guess that’s good I have until at least June or July before the texas department of transportation is liable to just cut all their contractors as the budget situation unravels 
wolfs fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Sep 22, 2020 |
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Sep 22, 2020 23:00
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wolfs posted:so you’re telling me to apply to everything and never expect to hear back until suddenly I find myself getting finger printed or whatever for it in ??? months Just got a call from HR today about an internal position that I applied for back in June. "Hey, you still want this position? You'd start September 28th." Uh okay. Welcome to Trademarks! That was fast and slow at the same time.
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Sep 23, 2020 00:07
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I applied for a position in February with it indicating it starting in June and despite (or because of?) Covid, I got the paperwork for it in May but didn't even start until the very end of August. Basically, wait a few months.
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Sep 23, 2020 02:07
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Midjack posted:Basically just show up to random federal buildings and grab a desk; you’ll never know where the next paycheck comes from but it’ll always come. "Just show up and make it their problem" is literally how I ended up not having to wait an extra year for an academy class. YMMV when you show up at the training site and it's a military base and you say you're their for your first day.
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Sep 23, 2020 14:14
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Thesaurus posted:IRS goons are the best fed goons because it's just pure, kafkaesque horror stories all the time. I mean I've got stories, but this SSA job is by far the least demanding, best paid job I've ever had. My worst day sitting at my dining table answering calls from people too dumb to formulate the question they want to ask is better than the best day I ever had crawling out of a ballast tank. I've never worked with such a broad spectrum of accomplishment in one place before either. We've got exceptional people that I try to emulate in little ways, and we've got people I think should be arrested for stealing their paycheck.
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Sep 23, 2020 14:50
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GD_American posted:I mean I've got stories, but this SSA job is by far the least demanding, best paid job I've ever had. My worst day sitting at my dining table answering calls from people too dumb to formulate the question they want to ask is better than the best day I ever had crawling out of a ballast tank. One of us! One of us! 
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Sep 23, 2020 14:54
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oh thank gently caress USPS is not going through with the tax deferrals
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Sep 23, 2020 17:03
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Star Man posted:oh thank gently caress 
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Sep 23, 2020 19:14
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Star Man posted:oh thank gently caress conclusive proof the USPS has better management than the IRS But seriously, that's great.
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Sep 23, 2020 19:59
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I definitely would appreciate people listing the codes/job titles they searched when they applied for stuff like IRS, I have real training but I'd rather be at a makework job if the choice is available given how chaotic my life is right now.
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Sep 24, 2020 01:07
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DACK FAYDEN posted:I definitely would appreciate people listing the codes/job titles they searched when they applied for stuff like IRS, I have real training but I'd rather be at a makework job if the choice is available given how chaotic my life is right now. Fair warning: unless you're applying for the lowest-level clerical stuff, the IRS isn't a no-stress makework employer right now, or possibly ever. I enjoy my job, but for tax examiner on up, there's a substantial knowledge base involved. (For clerical and data entry, less so, but there are performance quotas, so definitely not "sleep at your desk" stuff.)
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Sep 24, 2020 01:26
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Antivehicular posted:Fair warning: unless you're applying for the lowest-level clerical stuff, the IRS isn't a no-stress makework employer right now, or possibly ever. I enjoy my job, but for tax examiner on up, there's a substantial knowledge base involved. (For clerical and data entry, less so, but there are performance quotas, so definitely not "sleep at your desk" stuff.) (But not actually. I mean, I want a job that doesn't suck, I'm just... not looking to do the thing I have a master's degree in. There's a reason I dropped out before my Ph.D., if you catch my drift.)
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Sep 24, 2020 01:35
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:conclusive proof the USPS has better management than the IRS Have you heard of this guy called Louis DeJoy?
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Sep 24, 2020 02:05
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The entry level "Seasonal" positions are basically all four seasons+. At least from what I've heard from the people above me in training. There was also some Security tract positions that were up on IRS if you want to try applying for those. I did, but I may not make it since I opted for GS 6 where the base is GS 5 and I might not be fully capable. 
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Sep 24, 2020 02:05
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Star Man posted:Have you heard of this guy called Louis DeJoy? Yes, I was only commenting on how Mnuchin is making us go through the white elephant deferrals whereas DeJoy somehow isn't or is being blocked. I didn't intend to downplay or ignore the other bs he's putting you through, should have just not posted instead. Sorry. Xelkelvos posted:The entry level "Seasonal" positions are basically all four seasons+. At least from what I've heard from the people above me in training. This is accurate. IRS "Seasonal" positions are basically seasonal at the discretion of the agency, and with it being chronically understaffed for various reasons, anyone worth keeping around is kept around and periodically signs new forms saying that they're agreeing to allow their 'season' to be extended. If you stick around long enough, you get an offer to go permanent, though YMMV on how long that takes (I recently got this last week or so, maybe six weeks shy of my two year hiring anniversary). Ignatius M. Meen fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Sep 24, 2020 |
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Sep 24, 2020 03:06
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Ignatius M. Meen posted:Yes, I was only commenting on how Mnuchin is making us go through the white elephant deferrals whereas DeJoy somehow isn't or is being blocked. I didn't intend to downplay or ignore the other bs he's putting you through, should have just not posted instead. Sorry. I intended that response to be more like a "get a load of this guy" kind of comment.
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Sep 24, 2020 05:13
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GD_American posted:I mean I've got stories, but this SSA job is by far the least demanding, best paid job I've ever had. My worst day sitting at my dining table answering calls from people too dumb to formulate the question they want to ask is better than the best day I ever had crawling out of a ballast tank. I hear you. I love my fed jobs. Working in a bureaucracy requires the right mindset. Some people are rapidly driven insane, however.
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Sep 24, 2020 16:27
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Thesaurus posted:I hear you. I love my fed jobs. Working in a bureaucracy requires the right mindset. Some people are rapidly driven insane, however. I wouldn't call it rapid, but after 10 years I'm definitely starting to feel it.
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Sep 24, 2020 16:32
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It took me 2 years to not feel weird putting in my own time. I remember I went off on a career SSA employee (he was a 30 year+ CSR, you are filling in the blanks correctly from there) who was in the break room bitching about being micromanaged. (We are not micro-managed. If anything, we're under-managed somewhat) I told him that in millions of jobs in America, they have a timeclock, a time card, and often they have a supervisor there watching you punch in, and if you punch in late (or even just on time) you get groused at, and about 5-10 minutes after work time starts they collect all the time cards so if you come in later than that you have to see your boss just to be able to start work. The concept horrified him. I remember he retired early (like, mid-50s) and last I heard he was about to go work at Amazon. lol good luck there, fucko, I'm sure that'll be an education
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Sep 24, 2020 16:58
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