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If you guys are wondering if an agency will be hiring, check out the Senate appropriations subcommittee funding bill. Some agencies were decimated and took big hits while others (like mine) actually got a lot more money than what was asked for. The House bill has more budget line items listed with a lot more explanation. Look specifically for the salaries and full time equivalent (fte) sections.
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Jan 11, 2014 05:51
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Mind linking that? All my search permutations are coming up with the same useless PDFs that don't go into line items.
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Jan 11, 2014 22:12
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So, I have a degree in engineering that I got 5 years ago, but no experience, what sort of jobs should I be looking for on USAJOBS? Apparently I'm not eligible for the Pathways program since the cut off is 2 years. But should I be looking at short-term stuff, or what?
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Jan 13, 2014 18:15
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YF19pilot posted:So, I have a degree in engineering that I got 5 years ago, but no experience, what sort of jobs should I be looking for on USAJOBS? Apparently I'm not eligible for the Pathways program since the cut off is 2 years. But should I be looking at short-term stuff, or what? I would suggest looking at GS Edit: someone correct me if I'm wrong, but opm.gov has a classification qualification table and it says for gs 7 you need 1 year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement. Stolennosferatu fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 14, 2014 00:22
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Stolennosferatu posted:I would suggest looking at GS It is a GS 5 for a bachelors degree/four years of college, though some jobs may allow you to apply at the GS 7 grade if they list SAA as a qualifier. The job announcement will say if that is applicable. You will have to attach unofficial transcripts onto the job application, and then have the university you attended release official transcripts to HR if an offer is given. At least, that's what happened in my case. Below are the requirements for SAA (Superior Academic Achievement):
One year of graduate school will allow you to apply to GS 7 as well, and two years in grad school or receiving a master's degree is GS 9. Having a doctorate, or three years working toward a doctorate-level degree, is GS 11. http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/#url=Group-Standards Midge the Jet fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 14, 2014 01:21
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Did they diversify the pay bands or something? I've started to see federal jobs that actually pay about as much as contracting jobs now, but that aren't part of the general schedule. Also, has anyone ever gotten hired out of one of the direct hire authority repositories, or are they just a black hole for resumes?
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Jan 14, 2014 02:26
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Feed Me A Cat posted:Mind linking that? All my search permutations are coming up with the same useless PDFs that don't go into line items. It's not 100% into specifics for FTE's for each agency, but a good place to start. http://thomas.loc.gov/home/approp/app14.html Edit: Looks like the Senate subcommittee agreed on a final bill. It will go up for vote/deliberation over the next 3 days, but the specifics weren't released yet. Evil SpongeBob fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Jan 14, 2014 |
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Jan 14, 2014 02:49
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psydude posted:Did they diversify the pay bands or something? I've started to see federal jobs that actually pay about as much as contracting jobs now, but that aren't part of the general schedule. Not all agencies use the GS scale--I recently started at an agency that doesn't. Instead, it uses pay bands that are intended to provide some incentive for performance rather than automatic step increases.
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Jan 14, 2014 04:49
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We tried that a few years ago. It didn't end up working out, and we're back on GS now.
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Jan 14, 2014 05:23
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Stolennosferatu posted:I would suggest looking at GS For Librarians, a master's with little to no experience = GS9. I think it might vary by job.
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Jan 14, 2014 06:00
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Evil SpongeBob posted:It's not 100% into specifics for FTE's for each agency, but a good place to start. Thanks for the link. There's some lines in there that give me hope that CBP is safe from cuts that will affect my tentative selection, but still, government 
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Jan 14, 2014 06:53
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Based on the responses I have gotten from USAJobs in the last near-year of applications, I have noticed that I get the "most highly qualified and referred to hiring authority" from FEMA about 5x as often as any other agency. I cannot think of any particular thing that makes me extra-qualified for that unless it is my combination of political science and criminal justice education, because I certainly have never worked in anything resembling emergency management. Does anyone know if FEMA just like to crush your hopes later in the process and this is common? If no-one else has any experiences like this then clearly it means I should be applying to every FEMA job.
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Jan 14, 2014 23:46
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P.D.B. Fishsticks posted:We tried that a few years ago. It didn't end up working out, and we're back on GS now. Yeah, it has positives and negatives, and I'm not trying to make any kind of endorsement for it. There are still a limited number of agencies using non-GS pay scales, though.
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Jan 15, 2014 03:20
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I just want to post about an experience I had with USAJobs and the federal government. I applied for two year-long term positions as a wildlife biologist at a local refuge. The job descriptions for these two jobs were exactly the same, and were as follows: quote:Collects, measures, and records biological information such as species, size, weight, sex, age, percent mortalities, etc. Computes, compiles, summarizes and assesses data in tabular, graphic, or narrative form. Assists or performs biological studies/surveys for determining the manner and extent to which wildlife, or plant populations are affected by management activities. Monitors appearance and activity of wildlife for obvious signs of illness, disease, discontent, and general physical condition. May conduct resource management activities such as mapping, surveying, seeding, habitat monitoring, fencing, invasive weed management, etc. Operates and performs limited maintenance on a variety of equipment and structures. May be required to operate passenger vehicles, light trucks, tractors and boats. May participate in prescribed burning activities So, sounds like pretty standard entry-level biologist stuff. Doing bird/plant surveys, maybe doing a little habitat management stuff, writing reports, etc. Exactly what I do now and have done for the past ~ 7 or 8 years. I know the refuge manager so I called him up to ask about these positions and what he told me is a great example of why it is so frustrating applying for federal jobs, and why the likelihood of getting referred for jobs on the USAJobs website is so low. First thing he told me was that neither of these positions even exist, and they won't know for a couple months if they are going to get funding for either position. The deadline to apply for these jobs was January 8th but they won't know about the funding situation until June. So, with USAJobs you may be applying for jobs that don't even exist but you have no way of knowing. Second thing he told me - both of these jobs are listed as 1-year term positions doing biological surveys. Well, one of the jobs is a 2-month temporary position doing biological surveys. The other job is for a full-time tractor operator position. Nowhere in the job description does it mention tractors besides "May be required to operate passenger vehicles, light trucks, tractors and boats". So, the job descriptions don't even mirror what the actual job responsibilities would be. I can't imagine getting called in for an interview for a job I think is doing wildlife surveys and actually end up interviewing for a full-time tractor driver position. So, even though it would appear that I have all the skills and education necessary to be a great candidate for this job, I'm actually totally unqualified because I don't drive tractors, I'm a wildlife biologist. Just thought I'd share this story for those of you getting frustrated with USAJobs. I did get offered an interview from the State of New Mexico, I've been having a lot more luck applying for state jobs than federal jobs.
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Jan 16, 2014 17:45
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That was an incredibly distressing story. Thanks? for ... posting it? I do think that in some ways is a good thing to hear, though, for those people who apply for countless jobs and wonder why it seems like their applications disappear forever--well, they actually might disappear for virtually forever, apparently. (I was offered an immigration services officer position today without an interview ... well, that counts as success, I think)
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Jan 17, 2014 01:02
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Geez. That's a bit distressing, considering I'm hunting for Marine Biology jobs... guess I'd better start nowish.
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Jan 17, 2014 01:32
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Quarex posted:That was an incredibly distressing story. Thanks? for ... posting it? It is really frustrating, especially in Biology. Congrats on your job offer though! There's always success stories  Aerofallosov posted:Geez. That's a bit distressing, considering I'm hunting for Marine Biology jobs... guess I'd better start nowish. Yeah I know. I was hoping some other biologists would see this and it would help them understand why they're not getting callbacks. What makes it super-frustrating is that the best way to get a job in this field (or most fields I'd guess) is through personal contacts. But personal contacts can't even help you in this situation because the hiring manager literally has NO POWER. I talked with the refuge manager for over an hour on the phone. We had met previously at a conference and at some other events so I kinda-sorta knew him and he was totally straight with me. He told me it is extremely frustrating on his end too, because he can't even look at your application unless it ends up on his desk, ie) your application has made it through the computer system and has been arbitrarily defined as "best qualified". He told me that if my application ended up on his desk, he would hire me for the 2-month gig which is great but there's no way to know if my app made it to his desk or not, and it will be ~4 months before I even find out. All I can do is wait for a letter. He also told me that everyone that applies for a job through USAJobs got a rejection/acceptance letter. I told him I had applied for probably around 50 jobs through USAJobs and have never one time got a letter, ever. He was very surprised to hear that. I actually applied for a conservation job through USAJobs last year, never heard back, never heard back. Finally I emailed the person listed as the contact and she said they were so under-staffed and under-funded at that office, not only were they not able to fill the position, but they didn't even have anyone to send out the rejection letters. So... yeah. There's a story for you. With biology jobs, I definitely think it's more worth your time to heavily focus on a couple states and hardcore apply for jobs through their state website, and don't apply for anything federal unless it looks really, really promising. I feel like I just waste my time with USAJobs sometimes.
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Jan 17, 2014 02:16
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I've read a couple of posts about people applying for Customs and Border Protection Officer. I've been through the process if anyone has any questions. It pays well, goes up to GS-12, but can be rough sometimes.
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Jan 17, 2014 02:17
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razz posted:It is really frustrating, especially in Biology. Congrats on your job offer though! There's always success stories (I am now comfortable enough to mention that I actually failed the probably-supposed-to-be-a-formality Secret Service physical exam; if there is an opposite of adrenaline, then that is what my body filled me with on my big morning, as I turned in fewer push-ups/sit-ups and slower run/sprint times than I had in months of training) kys posted:I've read a couple of posts about people applying for Customs and Border Protection Officer. I am busy wondering, even though I do mostly like the idea of where I would be stationed, how realistic it would be to hope to transfer to a similar job elsewhere. I seem to recall people talking about it being much easier to job-hop in the government once you have a job in the first place--could I realistically expect to be able to move to a similar job on, say, the opposite coast after a year or something? I know that lateral transfer is supposed to be one of the cool things about working for Da Feds after all.
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Jan 17, 2014 02:43
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razz posted:Finally I emailed the person listed as the contact and she said they were so under-staffed and under-funded at that office, not only were they not able to fill the position, but they didn't even have anyone to send out the rejection letters. I haven't applied to any biology-related jobs, but that is a wonderful summary of my experiences over the past year and change. I applied to a fellowship with DHS in November 2012 still reads "Application Received" and e-mails to the HR contact are still unanswered  kys posted:I've read a couple of posts about people applying for Customs and Border Protection Officer. Currently filling out the e-QIP forms to start the background investigation process, and I got my fingerprint cards in the mail today via Priority Mail no less. CBP has really been speeding me along this process, should I expect the rest of the application process to take the 12-18 months they keep referencing in PDFs? Curious to know how much time I'm looking at between turning this stuff in and getting interviewed, polygraphed, etc. Also, will I have to wait long before it's time for PFT2 and getting a slot for FLETC?
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Jan 17, 2014 02:58
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Feed Me A Cat posted:I haven't applied to any biology-related jobs, but that is a wonderful summary of my experiences over the past year and change. I applied to a fellowship with DHS in November 2012 still reads "Application Received" and e-mails to the HR contact are still unanswered Some of the state websites really suck for stuff like that. For example, New Mexico. I really want to live/work there so I've applied for like 20 jobs through their state employment website. I've already gotten rejection emails from 10-12 of these jobs, but you can't take them off your "Jobs I've Applied For" page. I even emailed someone to ask how to get these jobs off my page, and they said I simply can't. So every job I apply for in the state of New Mexico will be on my jobs page, forever, because apparently you can't take them off the list. Ever. There's no option to "hide" or "remove" the listing like there is on USAJobs. So every time I get on, I have to slough through this list of jobs that I've already been rejected for and try and remember which ones I'm actually still in the running for (because they obviously don't update the status, they're all still on "Application Received").
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Jan 17, 2014 03:07
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Feed Me A Cat posted:I haven't applied to any biology-related jobs, but that is a wonderful summary of my experiences over the past year and change. I applied to a fellowship with DHS in November 2012 still reads "Application Received" and e-mails to the HR contact are still unanswered You have to get a poly as an immigration officer???
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Jan 17, 2014 05:11
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Quarex posted:Yeah, I am glad to be one of those success stories after all the time I spent assuming it was impossible, despite hundreds of applications You got to remember that there are other people in your position that are thinking the same thing, so I would say that you should be okay with being a CBPO for a few years (in order to get your tenure/experience). The good thing about cbp is that theyre almost always hiring and transfers are simple (one-for-one swap.)
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Jan 17, 2014 05:18
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Feed Me A Cat posted:I haven't applied to any biology-related jobs, but that is a wonderful summary of my experiences over the past year and change. I applied to a fellowship with DHS in November 2012 still reads "Application Received" and e-mails to the HR contact are still unanswered CBP has pretty quick turn around due to the fact that there is a lot of attrition. This job is not for everyone and a lot of people quit because of the long hours and the law enforcement aspect. I've already gotten in a couple of fights and I am pretty comfortable slapping on handcuffs, but then again I'm at a very busy port. The money is good though. The backround and polygraph usually take the longest so expect for another 2-4 months before you get the call for the job. The PFT2 happens like two weeks before you show up at the port for the first day. When you show up at the port they already have a FLETC date for you, so once you get the call, thats when youll know when you're going to FLETC. kys fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 05:25
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...And then it's nothing but Super Chicken and trying to get to the dining hall before BOP
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Jan 17, 2014 05:38
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Quarex posted:(I was offered an immigration services officer position today without an interview ... well, that counts as success, I think) Congrats dude. Was it a firm offer or a tentative offer? On a related note, I've been officially hired by US Patent and Trademark Office! I start there in three weeks.
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Jan 17, 2014 10:46
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problematique posted:You have to get a poly as an immigration officer??? kys posted:You got to remember that there are other people in your position that are thinking the same thing, so I would say that you should be okay Delorence Fickle posted:Congrats dude. Was it a firm offer or a tentative offer? And COOL GOOD JOB WOOO! Edit: Also, dammit, where is the advice about how to try negotiating your starting salary (or benefits, though I doubt either is possible)? I know that generally you do not negotiate, but I qualify for GS-11 education-wise even though I think I have an offer at GS-9, and I seem to recall someone saying there is a modest chance that might be relevant (but I am also content to just excitedly take the job as-is if you all tell me "do not even try to negotiate, idiot"). Dr. Quarex fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 10:53
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Where was your offer? I'm an ISO at Nebraska Service Center. I know we're bringing in new ISO-1s.
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Jan 17, 2014 15:32
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Quarex posted:Edit: Also, dammit, where is the advice about how to try negotiating your starting salary (or benefits, though I doubt either is possible)? I know that generally you do not negotiate, but I qualify for GS-11 education-wise even though I think I have an offer at GS-9, and I seem to recall someone saying there is a modest chance that might be relevant (but I am also content to just excitedly take the job as-is if you all tell me "do not even try to negotiate, idiot"). You can ask your new(future) boss about promotion potential as well. grover fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Jan 17, 2014 |
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Jan 17, 2014 15:32
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first time posting here, but I've read through the thread over the past month and have put in some applications for various jobs. (Looking for work in general and included public sector as well). I haven't been at this long yet, so not much time for any info to come back. But I just got an update yesterday on an app I put in with the CDC showing my rating results from the questionnaire. It says my rating was a 90. Is this good / bad? I've seen a few people reference the rating scores but not quite sure what all it means or what the scale is. Is it to 100?
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Jan 17, 2014 15:43
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problematique posted:You have to get a poly as an immigration officer??? Not sure, I was referring to the Customs and Border Protection Officer process which I'm going through. kys posted:CBP has pretty quick turn around due to the fact that there is a lot of attrition. This job is not for everyone and a lot of people quit because of the long hours and the law enforcement aspect. I've already gotten in a couple of fights and I am pretty comfortable slapping on handcuffs, but then again I'm at a very busy port. The money is good though. Thanks for the info. Didn't know I would be going to a port prior to FLETC, is that for some initial training and/or admin stuff?
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Jan 17, 2014 21:21
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Beerdeer posted:Where was your offer? I'm an ISO at Nebraska Service Center. I know we're bringing in new ISO-1s. grover posted:It's not so much that you don't negotiate for a gov job as you often can't because the federal system is so rigid. It doesn't hurt to ask, though, especially the HR POC. If it's a GS-9/11 position, they may be able to bring you in as an 11. But if it's a straight GS-9 position, you'll come in as a GS-9. They *may* have some control over what step you enter as, but most likely won't, and you'll come in as a GS-9 step 1. lanefrost posted:I haven't been at this long yet, so not much time for any info to come back. But I just got an update yesterday on an app I put in with the CDC showing my rating results from the questionnaire. It says my rating was a 90.
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Jan 17, 2014 22:29
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Does anyone have any advice for me and my wife? She has been a federal contractor for six years. During that time, she has been encouraged by her federal supervisors to apply for about a dozen jobs that have opened up...two of these have been identical to the position she was working as a contractor at the time...but she has never even made it to the interview process. In 99% of these cases, she has been told by HR that other applicants had higher scores due to military veteran status or other factors. The person who gets hired for the position is inevitably a friend of the ones doing the hiring. (We keep hoping an investigation will be done about this, as it recently happened in another federal facility in a nearby city.) In the meantime, for the last six months her federal boss has turned into a complete bitch. (This is someone who was friends with my wife before she was promoted.) She screams at her employees, and seems to take particular delight in upsetting my wife. (Yelling at her for not knowing things that she was never trained on, even though she has tried to get that training approved for years and kept getting denied, including by this bitch.) Her team has a 98% accuracy requirement, which has been met ever since my wife got her current position, and still any time there's any sort of error she gets screamed at about it. I understand from one of the other job threads that "hostile work environment" isn't something she can complain about unless it's a class-based discrimination incident, but is there anything she can do about this situation other than quit/get fired? If she complained to HR, would it even matter since she's a contractor, or would they just take the federal employees' word over hers?
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Jan 17, 2014 23:36
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It probably depends on the agency. My anecdotal experience as a contractor was that we were in a separate caste from federal employees, and despite making up 95% of the technical workforce, we were generally held below even the shittiest federal employee by the upper management. People who made recommendations in a public setting were oftentimes fired. Your wife's best option is probably to start looking for a new job, because if she complains she'll likely be canned.
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Jan 18, 2014 02:49
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So razz, what I can take from this is that job postings for biology jobs might not be accurate about the duties of a job, its work period, and if it actually exists. Guess I should start doing searches in state level jobs again.
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Jan 18, 2014 04:05
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I'm trying to start working on my e-QIP for the SF-86 so I can get the ball rolling on getting a Secret clearance in time for June. I went to the website, and it gives me an error based on my browser, says it can't recognize it. I'm on a Chromebook while I'm overseas for the next week and a half and don't have any Windows or Mac computers that I trust, so I have to use Chrome... is there a reason it's not working? Is this a known issue? Have others been able to do the forms with Chrome, or do I just have to wait until I'm back in the US to start filling it out?
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Jan 18, 2014 12:40
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CronoGamer posted:I'm trying to start working on my e-QIP for the SF-86 so I can get the ball rolling on getting a Secret clearance in time for June. I went to the website, and it gives me an error based on my browser, says it can't recognize it. I'm on a Chromebook while I'm overseas for the next week and a half and don't have any Windows or Mac computers that I trust, so I have to use Chrome... is there a reason it's not working? Is this a known issue? Have others been able to do the forms with Chrome, or do I just have to wait until I'm back in the US to start filling it out?
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Jan 18, 2014 15:28
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I think I remember it not supporting Chrome, here's your solution though, IE tab Chrome extension : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ie-tab/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjbdenadd?hl=en-US
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Jan 18, 2014 15:32
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grover posted:Not sure; Chrome usually works pretty reliably for me on US Gov sites. The time consuming part is gathering the information, though; that's where you really need the head-start. It's maybe a couple of hours (at the most) to actually enter it; probably not even that much. Just download a paper SF-86 in the meantime and work on listing all your prior addresses and references for those addresses, and what specific town your parents were born in, etc. Yeah, I've already started to get some of it together, but pulling up a paper copy of it would be a good idea so I know exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks. problematique posted:I think I remember it not supporting Chrome, here's your solution though, IE tab Chrome extension : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ie-tab/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjbdenadd?hl=en-US
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Jan 18, 2014 16:11
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psydude posted:It probably depends on the agency. My anecdotal experience as a contractor was that we were in a separate caste from federal employees, and despite making up 95% of the technical workforce, we were generally held below even the shittiest federal employee by the upper management. People who made recommendations in a public setting were oftentimes fired. This really depends on even specific buildings in agencies. With that said, there's a contractor who just got on my poo poo list after writing a snarky email directed towards me. Tuesday is going to be glorious.
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Jan 18, 2014 22:37
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