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Yeah, it's just a matter of whether the employees have joined and are paying dues or not. At my last agency about 60% of the employees in our field offices weren't in a bargaining unit, but they got extended the benefits that the bargaining employees negotiated for out of convenience (and as a way to reduce more employees from joining). Join the union!
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Feb 9, 2024 00:36
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El Mero Mero posted:Yeah, it's just a matter of whether the employees have joined and are paying dues or not. At my last agency about 60% of the employees in our field offices weren't in a bargaining unit, but they got extended the benefits that the bargaining employees negotiated for out of convenience (and as a way to reduce more employees from joining). No, some positions are bargaining unit eligible and others are not. Bargaining eligible employees can choose not to join a union but lots of positions are completely ineligible. The method for determining which positions are is complicated but this article gives some details: https://www.federaltimes.com/manage...gaining%20unit. A group of employees can petition to form a union but you may not be allowed to.
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Feb 9, 2024 01:29
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Oh, whoops yeah I misunderstood that post completely. I thought it was referring to BU jobs that weren’t in a union. Sorry.
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Feb 9, 2024 02:00
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Well I finally heard back about the patent office thing. They said I do meet the eligibility qualifications but I’m not a top candidate so they’re not considering me for the role. Based on that, do I need to apply for future openings? Or since they already reviewed my application and found I’m eligible do they keep me on file?
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Feb 9, 2024 20:50
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Fork of Unknown Origins posted:Well I finally heard back about the patent office thing. They said I do meet the eligibility qualifications but I’m not a top candidate so they’re not considering me for the role. You need to rework your resume and refile. You have effectively been trash binned because you didn't hit all the rubric points.
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Feb 9, 2024 21:25
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Toshimo posted:You need to rework your resume and refile. You have effectively been trash binned because you didn't hit e on every question. Fixed for clarity
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Feb 9, 2024 22:19
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Any suggestions for entry level of some kind? I'm trying to find work / possibly pivot while television work as completely dried up. I'm a 2d compositor with well over a decade of experience, but I know there isn't a high demand for that in government work. I have an MFA and bachelors. I'm just trying to find something to keep my lights on at this point.
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Feb 12, 2024 01:51
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IRS is always hiring!
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Feb 12, 2024 15:21
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https://www.usajobs.gov/job/774359900 Remote GS14 0028 for the Federal Railroad Commission… what a dream.
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Feb 12, 2024 21:28
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wolfs posted:https://www.usajobs.gov/job/774359900 "Many vacancies" 
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Feb 13, 2024 00:59
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Wonder if I could trick them to hire me. I'm a 14 equivalent but I'm sure I'll be in the office 5 days a week within two years...
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Feb 13, 2024 01:26
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Endless Mike posted:IRS is always hiring! Thanks
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Feb 13, 2024 01:29
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Endless Mike posted:IRS is always hiring! Not here for some reason.
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Feb 13, 2024 03:46
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Yeah, if you just need a keep-the-lights-on job and are willing to do clerical or data-entry work, the IRS always needs warm bodies; the pay's pretty bad (I think clerical/data entry will start you at GS-4 with a bachelor's), but the benefits are good, and you'll get your foot in the door to internal applications for higher-level positions. I'm not sure what an MFA does for you, but with a bachelor's alone you'd also have a shot at a tax-examiner position that would start higher and have a better ladder, and also be more intellectually stimulating work if that's something that matters to you. (And if you can't get a TE job right off the street, a successful year in data entry or clerical will almost certainly get you in the door -- this may have changed in the interim, but when I got in doing data entry in 2018, they were pushing hard for anyone with a modicum of interest in advancement to apply for TE.)
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Feb 13, 2024 07:06
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Maybe that's why I never heard back, no bachelor's.
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Feb 13, 2024 13:31
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There are plenty of folks in my IRS call site without any college. This GS-05 job does not require a post-secondary degree to tell callers their amended return is delayed, their return is under review for questionable tax credits claimed, or to do addition and subtraction. If you've ever been in any customer-facing job before, you can do this job. They don't even interview you, a computer spits out a tentative offer email within a few months if you pass the screener. Make sure to answer all questions on the application with answer E (or sometimes A, read the question and answers first). You want to make it look like to the computer filter that you are the best person to have ever lived and smartest and most qualified person ever. I had to take an additional aptitude screener, and although the questions may be different from the usual variety of big box store aptitude screeners, you treat it the same way and answer with the best possible choice you can.
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Feb 13, 2024 13:50
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Star Man posted:There are plenty of folks in my IRS call site without any college. This GS-05 job does not require a post-secondary degree to tell callers their amended return is delayed, their return is under review for questionable tax credits claimed, or to do addition and subtraction. If you've ever been in any customer-facing job before, you can do this job. They don't even interview you, a computer spits out a tentative offer email within a few months if you pass the screener. Good to know. I will try again! And follow the title thread, maybe I hosed up somewhere in the application. Or the position wasn't the right one, there's only one call center near me and I applied like last summer.
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Feb 13, 2024 14:38
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Not sure that E or A answer thing lined up with what I saw on the application but I'll keep that in mind moving forward.
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Feb 13, 2024 19:39
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Vishass posted:Not sure that E or A answer thing lined up with what I saw on the application but I'll keep that in mind moving forward. I remember taking another pre-employment screener when I applied in December 2021. The questions weren't exactly like you would get if you were applying to a Walmart, but my reading of the screener was to treat it the same way and answer with the best answer and not the one I would do in the given situation.
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Feb 13, 2024 20:06
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You mean those loving unicru tests? I like to find the dude that made that.
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Feb 13, 2024 20:35
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Cowslips Warren posted:You mean those loving unicru tests? It's more like a screener that asks you to self-certify how well you meet each of the requirements. There's not really upside to being 'honest' and rating yourself as a medium, because it's used as a screener to throw applicants out before the HR drone reads your resume.
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Feb 13, 2024 20:50
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Star Man posted:I remember taking another pre-employment screener when I applied in December 2021. The questions weren't exactly like you would get if you were applying to a Walmart, but my reading of the screener was to treat it the same way and answer with the best answer and not the one I would do in the given situation. I applied to another one this morning and I did get the 20 multiple choice questions where one answer is I'm God's Gift to whatever topic they were asking about. My previous applications only had one or two questions like that. I got another one that was inscrutable because it was basically a vibes check and the correct answer sure seems unknowable since it depends on your future supervisor 's management style.
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Feb 14, 2024 18:54
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I just accepted a GS-14 level position as a digital electronics designer for Army Futures Command to be part of public facing research into a jam-proof and spoof-proof replacement for GPS for position, nav, and time function. Non-managerial work is there in the federal workforce at the high level if you look in the right places! I’ve been posting in this thread since 2012 when I was getting sick of private sector engineering jobs working me like a slave and then laying me off, and the other posters helped me get my first fed gig as a GS-7 to 12 ladder back then. Got more help here in 2015 and 2016 to find places in the government to actually do technical engineering work. Initially I took a pay cut to do it as a GS-11. And now I can be a 14 with all the federal benefits and get paid to play with toys and help develop new cutting edge tech. What a dream! This thread has been a fantastic companion every step of the way. Wild to think that it’s been here for me the whole time to help get my foot in the door, through a mid-career, all the way to now advanced career. Thank you, fed goons.
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Feb 14, 2024 19:34
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I just got a grade increase for a position I started last year and only went down one step in my new grade. Is that normal? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I always thought it was two steps down when you go up a grade. (And my career ladder skips a grade, so if anything I was prepared for it to be more.)
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Feb 14, 2024 23:31
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They take your old grade and step and add 2 steps to it. Then they put you on the lowest step in your new grade that pays at least that much. It’s odd to only go down one step, though. Do you happen to be on a special salary table?
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Feb 15, 2024 02:50
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TheMadMilkman posted:They take your old grade and step and add 2 steps to it. Then they put you on the lowest step in your new grade that pays at least that much. Nah, just the regular GS scale. That definitely doesn't line up with my new grade/step, though. If they took my old grade/step and added 2 steps, it'd be about $7000 less than my current salary based on my locality's pay tables. And if they put me in the lowest step for my new grade that pays at least that much, that would still be about $4000 less.
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Feb 15, 2024 03:56
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Post details and locality area so we can troubleshoot. You go to the step just above whatever is 2 steps over your current grade.
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Feb 15, 2024 04:03
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Justus posted:I just accepted a GS-14 level position as a digital electronics designer for Army Futures Command to be part of public facing research into a jam-proof and spoof-proof replacement for GPS for position, nav, and time function. Non-managerial work is there in the federal workforce at the high level if you look in the right places! That's awesome, congrats! That sounds genuinely interesting. Sometimes I wish I had gone into engineering way back in undergrad.
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Feb 15, 2024 04:09
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Post details and locality area so we can troubleshoot. You go to the step just above whatever is 2 steps over your current grade. Yeah, this. If it's an error, it's NOT in your favor and you will end up getting a debt letter when they correct it, so better to get in front of it to minimize it.
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Feb 15, 2024 15:16
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Post details and locality area so we can troubleshoot. You go to the step just above whatever is 2 steps over your current grade. I've occasionally seen people get a quality step increase in conjunction with a promotion as well but OP would probably know if that had happened.
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Feb 15, 2024 15:29
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Treasury just sent out an all employees email saying we are to be back in the office at least 50% of the time starting in May. Not sure how that squares with the union contract (doesn't matter for me since I am an NBU position), or the existing 10+ years of frequent telework meaning 2 days per pay period. Not to mention we don't have room for that many people in most office since we have been rolling out hoteling for years. Oh yeah or the people who have arranged their lives the last several years around NOT going to the office that much. Should be interesting! Oh we just got a follow up email that it only affects employees in DC for now LMFAO
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Feb 15, 2024 22:33
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Same for SSA, they're forcing everyone back 2-3 days minimum depending on component, I guess what was supposed to be a union agreement through 2025 still ultimately ended up being "until some political appointee wanted to look good to Congressional shitheads."
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Feb 15, 2024 23:00
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Our USCIS office is moving into a smaller workplace. There are a thousand of us and room for like 200 in the new facility. When asked about it yesterday, we got "well, this is what we're doing and we'll cross that bridge when it comes to it."
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Feb 15, 2024 23:57
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Post details and locality area so we can troubleshoot. You go to the step just above whatever is 2 steps over your current grade. 7-9-11-12 career ladder. I went from GS 7, step 4, to GS 9, step 3. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown locality.
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Feb 16, 2024 02:44
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heated game moment posted:Treasury just sent out an all employees email saying we are to be back in the office at least 50% of the time starting in May. Not sure how that squares with the union contract (doesn't matter for me since I am an NBU position), or the existing 10+ years of frequent telework meaning 2 days per pay period. Not to mention we don't have room for that many people in most office since we have been rolling out hoteling for years. Oh yeah or the people who have arranged their lives the last several years around NOT going to the office that much. Should be interesting! I was in the office today so heard the very audible "WTF?????" when that email went out, lol. Our office has been trying to hire like crazy, already running out of space for new people, frantically trying to cram more people into previously hoteling desks and conference rooms. I think the manager who has been trying to deal with the space issue almost poo poo himself.
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Feb 16, 2024 02:47
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Atahualpa posted:7-9-11-12 career ladder. I went from GS 7, step 4, to GS 9, step 3. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown locality. I'm not the best at calculating this, but I don't see why they wouldn't have made you a 9 step 1, per the a two-step rule: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/promotions/ GS 7 step 6 is still less than gs 9 step 1, so they wouldn't need to bump you up any more steps.
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Feb 16, 2024 04:50
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Atahualpa posted:7-9-11-12 career ladder. I went from GS 7, step 4, to GS 9, step 3. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown locality. I think they screwed up and looked at the GS-8 line instead of the GS-9. The 2 step rule would have made you a GS-8 Step 3. You should definitely be at GS-9 Step 1.
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Feb 16, 2024 06:14
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TheMadMilkman posted:I think they screwed up and looked at the GS-8 line instead of the GS-9. The 2 step rule would have made you a GS-8 Step 3. You should definitely be at GS-9 Step 1. Seconded. Id have them audit because they will eventually find the error. You'd rather that happen now rather than 12 pay periods later.
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Feb 16, 2024 08:38
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Leviathan Song posted:I've occasionally seen people get a quality step increase in conjunction with a promotion as well but OP would probably know if that had happened. If you have good HR people (laugh), they'll space them out so a qsi hits right before or after a promotion so you get an extra boost. I got 2 qsis and it worked for me until I hit my head on the pay ceiling.
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Feb 16, 2024 08:42
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Evil SpongeBob posted:Seconded. Id have them audit because they will eventually find the error. You'd rather that happen now rather than 12 pay periods later. To be clear, I'm going to do this regardless of the answer. But out of curiosity, what would the consequences be if I didn't? I would have assumed just paying back the overpayment plus interest, but from some of the reactions here, I'm getting the sense it would be more severe.
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Feb 17, 2024 02:06
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