The U.S. Federal Government Jobs Megathread: Next time... be more careful!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > The U.S. Federal Government Jobs Megathread: Next time... be more careful!

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

Carlton Banks posted:

I am interest in a career with the IRS (or any other federal accounting job) after finishing my masters next May. Is it worth registering at USAJobs and posting my resume this far in advance in order to get my name in the system as a potential candidate ahead of time, or is it best to wait until after graduation when everything is finalized (GPA, etc)?

Just wondering because I was told a while back that agencies such as the IRS only take resumes every so often so it is best to apply during your last year before graduating, but I don't know how accurate that is.

I'd say that it would be worth your time to register and set-up a solid resume as well as begin getting a feel for the kind of postings you're looking for. If you want, USAJobs allows you to set various parameters for jobs you're interested in and it will email you when new jobs fitting those parameters are posted.

Applying for and actually getting federal jobs can take a really long time, so you should definitely start earlier than you think. Starting late this year or early next year wouldn't be too crazy, honestly.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2010 16:34

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 00:49

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

grover posted:

No, but the old retirement plan (CSRS) is so damned good, they have next to no incentive to stay at work.

Wasn't CSRS phased out in the 80s, though? How many of the Boomers in the civil service actually were around to be grandfathered into that plan?

# ¿ Jul 18, 2010 06:05

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

Kase Im Licht posted:

Where did you get that info?

Minimum 101? How do you get over 100? Be a vet? If so, why aren't those marked vets only?

This poo poo is depressing.

Yep, there are bonus points for being a veteran and even more for being a disabled veteran. When they list the minimum points needed to be referred, that probably means that some veterans or disabled veterans applied to the job and drove the scores way up.

# ¿ Sep 26, 2010 19:32

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

Cjones posted:

What if you say "Sort of, but I don't think you really can"?

Or "it's junk pseudo-science?"

# ¿ Nov 15, 2010 07:10

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

NintyFresh posted:

My agency is the 2nd highest with retirement eligibles on that chart. I can easily believe it from just glancing around HQ.

In my division, we have quite a few people who have been working for over 40 years. We had our division secretary retire earlier this year after 43 years and haven't opened a job announcement for her replacement.

Do you think that they're still effective in their jobs? It seems like any agency with so many people who've been in that long will become incredibly top-heavy.

# ¿ Sep 2, 2013 21:54

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

sbaldrick posted:

The answer is no, we have have two guys in my department who between them have 92 years of service (48 and 44).

I don't get why people in that position don't just retire. They're under the old pension system, right? Why stay at work when they can earn most of their salary off fishing or doing something else?

# ¿ Sep 4, 2013 04:53

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

VideoTapir posted:

So are the right keywords guaranteed to be in the job listing?

Yes, definitely. The description of the position will have key words and phrases; use them as much as possible. It's a weird system. Your primary goal is to survive the first round and get human eyes to look at your resume.

# ¿ Feb 21, 2014 06:17

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

The silver lining is that institutional knowledge sometimes means "knows how to run terribly broken processes and won't change them." Hopefully some positive changes will come with staff turnover, right?

# ¿ Mar 20, 2014 04:55

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

Declan MacManus posted:

No one is retiring, ever. They will die at their desks.

Actually, this reminded me of a question I've had. How do agencies and companies have mandatory retirement ages without being hit with age discrimination lawsuits? Is there a specific exception carved out?

# ¿ Mar 27, 2014 05:12

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

themrguy posted:

Law enforcement agencies had a court case a while back that confirmed that they can pretty much force people out as they were able to prove that being able to run/jump/shoot is an essential part of the job. No idea about the rest of the govt. though.

Verdugo posted:

Outside of Law Enforcement, Air Traffic Controllers, and the Foreign service, there is no mandatory retirement age for Federal Employees. Some people in the private sector, and State Governments (like Judges in PA) are initiating lawsuits claiming mandatory retirement is age discrimination.

Makes sense they could argue for mandatory retirement in positions where good physical condition is required. I'm just curious how organizations will function when important positions are held by people well into their 70s or 80s.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2014 03:38

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 00:49

more friedman units: Jul 7, 2010; The next six months will be critical.

Is anybody familiar with the GAO's pay band scheme? I saw there were hiring analysts, but I can't find much on how the pay and promotions work.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2014 01:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > The U.S. Federal Government Jobs Megathread: Next time... be more careful!