Author Topic: Advice for Landing a Government Job  (Read 7461 times)

nexus

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Advice for Landing a Government Job
« on: August 16, 2016, 12:21:55 PM »
Hey guys (and gals)! Thanks for taking a moment to read my story and supply some intel.

My questions if you don't want to read the story first
1. Websites I can leverage? (Calopps.org is my go-to) (USAjobs??)
2. Are there government recruiters or recruiting agencies that can help me get a foot in the door?
3. Advice on how to land any sort of government job? I'm looking for "City of ____" jobs and will start to venture into school districts if there may be a need for analytics there.
4. Things you like about your govt job?
5. Things you dislike about it?
6. Your position & if it relates at all to Data Analytics?
7. How long did it take from 1st interview to 1st day at work? I hear it can take months.
8. If you're nearby, can we network?


Government jobs appeal to me because...
- Job security
- Decent work/life balance
- Much better benefits than I'm currently receiving
- I need to work 8-10 years to reach FI
- I want something sort of boring and predictable, even if it means making less than 6 figures for a few years


I live in California, within about 30 miles north/inland of SF (east bay). I am currently on my last ~5 months of an 18 month contract position with <BigBank> as a Database Analyst. I have a great boss, great work-life balance, awesome pay, but literally no benefits beyond the following through my staffing agency:
a. 401k with a 50 cent match for every dollar I put in up to 6% (finally enrolled once eligible)
b. 3 sick days per 12 months. I can take time off, but won't be paid for it.
c. Bare bones Obama Care medical plan. No dental, no vision
d. No paid holidays. (don't work 'em, but that means I get a 32 hour check instead of a 40 hour one). Paid weekly!

I like <BigBank>, but there's literally no turnover in the department I work and they're currently outsourcing labor to India and not hiring right now. Some FTE's are being displaced so those folks have priority for any internal positions that open up. This means come Jan 2017, I won't have a job. I can take 6 months off, pull unemployment, and then apply for another 18 month stint but I don't want to bank on that, no pun intended. The upside of this is I'm able to stash about $50k each year I contract for <BigBank>.

There may be positions I'm qualified for in their SF offices, but I have ZERO interest in taking BART to SF every day or working in SF. I simply don't like crowds/clusters. Rant on SF commuting..
1. $6 each way to take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). $12/day, $60/wk.
  1a. If I have to work 10 more years, that $60/week would have built up my stash by another $45k.
  1b. My current transportation expenses per week are $20 at most for gas.
  1c. Even if <BigBank> pays for my BART costs, 1.5 hours each way is too much of a life drain. I could pick up a part time gig and just work those extra 15 hours a week instead
2. Moving closer to SF increases my housing costs by at least $500/month and I would not be making an additional $500/month. In fact, contracting I earn over $120k and with a permanent position I would be lucky to start at $80k with <BigBank> in SF... Can you say "lowball?". Anyway, if I haven't mentioned it before, any job in SF is a deal breaker. :)

iris lily

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2016, 12:23:42 PM »
Do you mean federal job, or state and local, too?

trashmanz

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2016, 12:26:16 PM »
Most federal jobs will be in SF probably (I would think) but with no commuting to SF that would be a no-go for you? 

JJ-

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2016, 12:26:40 PM »
Do you mean federal job, or state and local, too?

Yeah, advice for any of these is probably quite different.

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2016, 12:38:25 PM »
Thanks for the fast responses. At this point, I'd say any of them. I honestly don't know the differences or nuances between a state, federal, or local govt. job other than their impact or scale.

Sailor Sam

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2016, 12:44:49 PM »
I'm sometimes involved in hiring for ZA, ZP, and ZT (GS2 to GS4) positions inside the federal government. I'm sorry to say, you're looking at a difficult hiring environment. Federal govt hiring is designed specifically to discourage cronyism, patronage, and targeted hiring. It's a horrific nightmare of red tape, year long hiring processes, and unintended preferences.

Networking with people in your preferred field is great, but your resume has to make it through all of HR's wickets, before it can be passed to the person doing the hiring selection. In the past 36 months, all the resumes I've seen have had Veteran's Preference Points. Resumes with no points just aren't making it through the system.

I'm not trying to discourage you from trying, but it's an environment you should be aware of.

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2016, 12:50:55 PM »
Thanks Sailor Sam! I didn't serve the country, so it seems that the odds are against me. It makes perfect sense for vets to get preference. Many of them are probably already familiar with the system and I'd equate it to hiring internally or promoting from within.

Initial conclusion: The odds are against me with federal jobs, but maybe there's still hope for state & local positions!

JJ-

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2016, 01:34:34 PM »
Thanks Sailor Sam! I didn't serve the country, so it seems that the odds are against me. It makes perfect sense for vets to get preference. Many of them are probably already familiar with the system and I'd equate it to hiring internally or promoting from within.

Initial conclusion: The odds are against me with federal jobs, but maybe there's still hope for state & local positions!

Before you dismiss it as an option, have you even considered what you would want to do in the government? Other than work for the government, have you identified an occupational series that you'd like to serve in or an agency where your skills could get you employed? Getting the job just for the 'perks' doesn't really make it sound like I would want to hire you.

If you're able to find the position you'd like to do, take a look at USAjobs and see if there are openings. If so, look at the requirements and the sample questionnaire. If you're quite experienced and can answer favorably to most of the questions, consider applying. Yes, veterans usually make it to the top due to the hiring preference, but they don't always have the appropriate technical resume to make it to interviews. I see non vet resumes in the candidate pool for GS positions > GS 9. The outlook as Sam said is grim, but there's still a chance you could land the position if you're good.

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2016, 01:59:18 PM »
I am currently on my last ~5 months of an 18 month contract position with <BigBank> as a Database Analyst.

Sorry if I was unclear. I'd like to stay in data analytics. My education and prior work experience is in HR, so I could see myself happily in an HR Analyst position. Quite honestly as long as it involves writing queries, pulling data, and producing reports in Excel, Tableau, etc. I'll be right at home.

wenchsenior

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2016, 02:19:55 PM »
I can't speak to the particulars of most positions, but Sailor Sam has some good points. Federal funding for most positions has been very tight (with the exception of a couple of years) for the past decade.

In the sciences at least, hiring is a very long and complex process. If you make it through the initial screening (computer applications) you are then usually shunted into a bin where you are asked to submit a series of very detailed essay type responses to a set of 5-10 questions pertaining to skills/experience. Then, from the standouts of that pool, the hiring muckity/committee, will contact 3-6 candidates that they want to interview. Sometimes there is a phone interview first to weed the pool.  The interview process in the sciences can take several months on its own.

One of my husband's coworkers just changed jobs/locations...it was a lateral move to the same position, but at a different office. Because the feds discourage targeted hiring or lateral transfers, he had to apply and compete just like a newbie. It was just about 1 year from him first applying, to him actually being officially confirmed/hired, and then it took a couple of additional months for him to get his current position wrapped up/personal logistics in order, to make the big move. So about 1.5 year process all in all to change jobs laterally. At this level of job, this process was a little longer than we've typically seen, but not unusually so.

On the upside, there is a massive glut of Boomers who (theoretically) are/have been on the cusp of retirement and supposedly will be vacating a ton of positions. However, with a decade of budget cuts/freezes, a lot of departments are trying to downsize through attrition and don't seem to be filling these spots.

As to the actual employment and satisfaction with it, it likely depends on location, office, and the particulars of your specialty. My husband loves his actual job (scientific research and outreach, with some teaching responsibilities). The pay and benefits are good and great, respectively. He HATES the incredible amount of bureaucratic ass-covering red-tape that he has to deal with, and the increasing expectation that everyone do more research with fewer operating funds to even upgrade vehicles, equipment, etc., as it ages out usefulness..

ETA: given your most recent post, I think you might be happy with a federal position and should certainly apply to any you are qualified for. Just be prepared to be on the bubble a long time.

economista

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2016, 02:29:45 PM »
I work for the federal government (GSA) and all of our jobs are always posted on USAjobs.gov - there is no other way to apply, no recruiters, headhunters, etc.  If I were you I wouldn't completely count out federal jobs; while most of them would probably be in San Francisco, there is a huge push within all government agencies to decrease their physical footprint and put as many employees as possible on telework schedules.  I live in Colorado and I currently work out of the Denver office, but I just applied for a job with our central office in DC that is a permanently virtual position.  You might have to go to the main office for a week or two of training, but they would pay for your travel and per diem expenses while training.

One piece of advice when applying for federal government jobs - the application process is VERY different than in the private sector.  For starters, a normal government resume is 5-7 pages long.  Instead of the brief outline format that most private companies want, the government HR people want full, written out paragraphs that explain what you did in your previous jobs.  Also, use as many key words as possible from the job description in your resume.  There are usually 4 rounds to the hiring process.  In the first round the computer system does an automatic search of all applicants to weed out anyone that isn't qualified based upon experience and whether there are enough key words in your resume.  If you make it through that, then you get put into a pile that HR goes through and manually chooses who to pass on for an interview.  Then there is a first round interview followed be a second round interview if you are pushed forward again. 

I love my job, and the benefits are definitely worth it.  I get 2 hours per week of accruing sick leave, and 3 hours per week of accruing annual leave time.  The TSP match is up to 5% and the health insurance options are really good.  One thing I would caution you on is the idea that government workers are lazy and that it's an easy way to get a paycheck without working a whole lot (I didn't interpret your post in a way that makes it seem like you think that way, but a lot of people do).  While this stereotype is EXTREMELY prevalent, I have not seen it at all at my agency.  I work hard and I am expected to perform at a very high level.  I've been with the same division for 4 years now and in that time I've seen quite a few people fired for not doing their jobs, even those who had worked for my agency 10+ years.  The idea that tenured government employees can't be fired is a myth. 

wenchsenior

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2016, 02:46:45 PM »

I love my job, and the benefits are definitely worth it.  I get 2 hours per week of accruing sick leave, and 3 hours per week of accruing annual leave time.  The TSP match is up to 5% and the health insurance options are really good.  One thing I would caution you on is the idea that government workers are lazy and that it's an easy way to get a paycheck without working a whole lot (I didn't interpret your post in a way that makes it seem like you think that way, but a lot of people do).  While this stereotype is EXTREMELY prevalent, I have not seen it at all at my agency.  I work hard and I am expected to perform at a very high level.  I've been with the same division for 4 years now and in that time I've seen quite a few people fired for not doing their jobs, even those who had worked for my agency 10+ years.  The idea that tenured government employees can't be fired is a myth.

This is totally true where my husband works as well. Since he was hired (for a job that already had a very high expectation of productivity), the work environment has continuously ratcheted in the direction of "ok, you have even less money to work with this year than last year, but we need you to do the same amount of work and btw we are adding six new training modules, a new mandatory workshop, to your schedule, etc. etc." Essentially, the work keeps increasing, but the research and support funding doesn't, so the remaining scientists work longer and longer hours and spend extra time raising funds from outside the system.

My husband has approximately 1 month of paid leave per year. He rarely can afford to take more than a week. Usually he ends up taking 10-14 days scattered through the final quarter of the year ''off'', which actually means he just stays home and then works a good chunk of the day via telecommuting, so as to keep up. It's kind of sad, really. If he didn't love his work, he would have burned out in very short order.

notactiveanymore

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2016, 02:56:03 PM »
About me: 1 year as legislator assistant for state House of Representatives. 3 years in "local government" at a joint action agency of municipal utilities (I am on the local government pension but get my healthcare through rural cooperatives - it's weird, but technically we're a political subdivision of the state). My job is mostly administrative but with increasing communications duties. I am finishing our new website and I do tons of publications - magazines, e-newsletters, and brochures.  Husband also worked as legislator assistant and has now worked nearly 2 years for a state-level department.

1. Websites I can leverage? (Calopps.org is my go-to) (USAjobs??)
http://www.counties.org/public-sector-job-opportunities
http://www.mmasc.org/jobs.aspx
https://www.jobs.ca.gov/
http://abag.ca.gov/jobs.html
http://www.westerncity.com/Western-City/Job-Opportunities/
http://caljobsource.com/caljobs.html

2. Are there government recruiters or recruiting agencies that can help me get a foot in the door?
Not that I know of. Seems like you'd need to be in a highly specialized position for that.

3. Advice on how to land any sort of government job?
As referenced by links above, look for the association of counties, municipal associations, etc for casting a wider local net. Get on the state of California potential employee rolls and look for merit-based positions. That's what they are called in MO, but they may be called something else for you - just look for jobs that wouldn't get taken away to give out campaign favors later.

4. Things you like about your govt job?
I loved working for the state legislator because he worked really hard for his district and I got to be involved/organize several important meetings as we drafted new legislation. The coolest was working with the American Bar Association and Innocence Project to try and revise criminal procedures for murder investigations.

In my current job, I love working with our members who are all municipal employees or utility employees (city administrators or electric superintendents, etc) and helping them communicate better with the public. I enjoy bringing my unique skills at design and web development to raise the bar on the materials we produce. I love the health insurance which is 100% covered for myself AND my husband with a $600 deductible and $2000 OOP max. I love that I don't have to travel and that I have a pretty predictable work schedule. It's not the same each day, but each calendar year is similar to the last. I like that it's not super high-stakes. Messing something up means issuing a correction or adding an extra fail-safe to the process.

5. Things you dislike about it?
Working for the state was rough financially. MO has the lowest paid state workers in the country. I grossed $25,400 the year I worked there. The insurance was pretty decent, but even $180/month premium feels high on that pay. It was stressful working in the legislature and I was on-call all the time. My husband makes $37,000 and he's salaried, so he's frequently staying late or working weekends this summer. Governments are usually exempt from employment laws, so the new overtime laws won't even apply to him!

With my current position, the CYA (cover your ass) syndrome is rampant. I think that's pretty common in government positions at all levels. Sh*t rolls downhill, so if you get in higher up, that would be eased a bit. I've really only worked non-profit or government, so I don't know if this is just an across the board mentality among middle and senior managers, but in govt it's the norm. You have to find a balance between sticking up for yourself and accepting the role to make the boss look good.

The biggest drawback for me with government work is that you typically cannot negotiate your raises/salary. My current position allows for this, but most local, state, and federal positions are decided in a budget process far outside your control. The more local you get the more flexibility you have here.

6. Your position & if it relates at all to Data Analytics?
As explained above, my position is not in data analytics, but we have a lot of that where I work. I would actually encourage you to look into electric utility work either at the regional level or municipal or the state utility commission. We have an economist, two energy analysts, and 5 energy schedulers (SCADA system). Data analysis experience is something we have looked for when hiring these roles in the past. It's an interesting field and it's never going away.

Resources for those jobs:
http://cmua.org/jobs/
https://www.caiso.com/about/Pages/Careers/CurrentJobs.aspx
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/jobs/

7. How long did it take from 1st interview to 1st day at work? I hear it can take months.
For my husband in state govt, it took about 8 weeks for a state job. My current job was about 8 weeks as well. I think the key in government jobs is to look regularly and apply to anything you might qualify for. The husband is applying right now to a bunch of positions with the hopes to hear back by the end of the year. He has a good chance of losing his current job because of the election.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2016, 02:59:18 PM by theotherelise »

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2016, 03:22:26 PM »
This has been a GOLD MINE of great information so far! You guys are great, seriously. Thanks for taking the time to write such detailed responses. I love the honesty and insights. It sounds like there are definitely some barriers to entry, a lot of patience to be had, and a boatload of hard work once you're finally in, but I think it is worth pursuing.

Special -extra- thanks to TheOtherElise for providing those websites. Seriously, there was probably no way I would have found all the ones you listed. I've got my homework cut out for me now. Best of luck to your husband in his search!

Cellista

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2016, 03:39:30 PM »
More about the application: 

USAJOBs has you type your education and work experience into their system, but you want to make sure you attach a regular resume - the one you would use in the private sector (adjusted for the job you're applying for of course).  The format on USAJOBs is hard to follow. I've read applications for my agency and it is just so much easier and more pleasant to read a real resume.

Be sure to list relevant coursework in the "real" resume.  "BA in Computer Science" is nice but when they're evaluating you for specific skills they want to know specifically what you've trained for.

FYI in my agency we would love to hire vets but they still have to have the qualifications.  We turn away people who've honorably served their country who just don't have the skills for the job.  Don't think you're behind the curve if you have no military background.

Good luck!

kimmarg

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2016, 05:21:01 PM »
I work for the Federal government.  ALL federal jobs are on www.usajobs.com.  (at least all with my agency) Set up a profile and some saved searches for stuff in your area.

As someone up thread said, there's a lot of hoops to jump through. Resumes are processed by HR who generally know nothing about what you will be doing. They check the checkboxes, rank you and pass the top 25 or so on to whomever is doing the hiring. THe supervisor will then select a few to interview and then hire. Generally getting through HR is the tough part - if you get an interview you can use your charm, etc. The basics:
- resumes can and should be as long as needed to prove your qualifications to some HR person 2000 miles away who knows nothing about your field. I just applied for promotion and mine is 9 pages long.
- cross your t's dot your i's. EVERYTHING listed must be there. Yes, your citizenship, yes that signed up for selective service. 
- make sure all the key words and phrases listed in the job opening are on your resume. Don't assume they know it's equivalent.

Because of the hiring process pure networking won't get you a job by design but it WILL help you know if one will open soon. I would also talk to someone where you might want to work and find out the job names and descriptions. Maybe something with a different name is a job you'd like. You said "data analyst" are you interested in budgets? because they always seem to be needing budget analysts.

I do like my job, which is in a scientific field where the government is the main employer. Benefits are good. TSP is super low expense ratio, Health insurance is excellent. I get Overtime and Night differential when I work odd hours.  The main drawback is the red tape. I work in one office of an agency with 100+ offices nationwide. We can't just decide to do this cool new thing only for our section of the country - I needs to get approved and rolled out regionally or nationally which generally takes a long time.
« Last Edit: August 16, 2016, 05:27:19 PM by kimmarg »

kimmarg

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2016, 05:32:38 PM »
One other thing to consider given you stated you like "data" type stuff is whether you'd rather be part of some big group that does mostly data crunching (Say Bureau of Labor Statistics) or be the sole person (e.g. maybe the Forest Service California region needs a numbers guy). Given what you've said you like you might find lots of opportunities in a wide variety of agencies. For example my office employees 20 scientists, but also 3 electronics technicians, 1 IT guy, and 1 general office person. We're known for our science work but we still need an IT and office person.

Here's everything "data analyst" in California....
https://www.usajobs.gov/Search/?keyword=data+analyst&Location=California&AutoCompleteSelected=

kimmarg

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2016, 05:41:00 PM »
Two stand out, both in San Fransisco

HR person:
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/446693800/

Contract analyst:
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/420434400/

Second has "direct hire authority" which basically means they are so desperate for people they've been granted the ability to skip all the bogus crazyness we just told you about and hire you as long as you meet the basic qualifications.  Go for it! It's much easier to move around within the Federal government than it is to get in so get in where you can.

Goldielocks

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2016, 05:43:17 PM »
Look for and apply to jobs in rural, out of town locations, if you can move away from the Bay Area.

That is one of the perks of government jobs, porportionately, there are more of them per capita in lower cost of living areas and they sometimes have trouble finding people who will move there, especially if pay is lower than in the city or limited potential for a spouse to find work.

Also -- apply to PG&E.  They have a lot of East bay work and need a lot of data analytics for their commercial / industrial customers...

MsPeacock

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #19 on: August 17, 2016, 05:31:36 AM »
I think the initial screening is actually computerized and consists of a scan and count for keywords. You can submit a cover letter and resume customized for each application on usajobs. Use the exact language from the job description in order to match the keywords. This is critical. Consider even cutting and pasting relevant sections into tutor resume or cover letter.

Hiring is extremely slow - over a year in my agency.

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #20 on: August 19, 2016, 03:08:03 PM »
Thanks again everyone for your input & feedback.

gggggg

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #21 on: August 19, 2016, 07:37:27 PM »
I work for state government. I didn't read every post in the thread, but a big one is to know someone where you apply. A lot of this goes on where I work; and if I'm honest, it's why I got hired, even over folks with a much better resume and schooling. My agency likes when someone they know, sincerely vouches for you. This may be too simple of a response for this thread, but I see it at work constantly. It may not be fair, but it's how the world works sometimes.

Rylito

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #22 on: August 22, 2016, 07:18:53 AM »
Hi,

Wanted to recommend that you look at jobs in the UC system: UC Berkeley, UC Office of the President, and Lawrence Berkeley Lab are all in the East Bay (also maybe UC Davis if close enough to you?), and do a lot with analytics.  I would also recommend taking a second look at large, stable private organizations that have good job security, like Lawrence Livermore National Lab and Kaiser Permanente--I think both offer pensions.  Good luck!

Enigma

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #23 on: August 22, 2016, 07:31:03 AM »
I have been a government contractor for the past 7-8 years.  It has the benefit of getting paid slightly higher than the government civilians but the disadvantage of getting less benefits (Time off or as much sick time).

Professor Ecks

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #24 on: August 22, 2016, 08:22:49 AM »
Another thing to note for Federal jobs is that we're coming up on the close of the fiscal year, so most agencies are pretty tight on funds. Outside hiring usually picks up in mid-to-late October once the new appropriations have been analyzed (assuming Congress actually completes the appropriation process in a timely fashion). That brings up another con to Federal employment; In the past decade or so, Feds have had to deal with the constant threat of furloughs and layoffs due to Congress's inability to agree on funding. It can be a pretty stressful experience for some people.

I work for Social Security in the Kansas City Payment Processing Center. We have a large payment center at the Frank Hagel Federal Building in Richmond, CA, which may work better for your commuting situation. In addition to handling the Social Security payments for our regions, the payment center would  also house all of your region's (Arizona, California, Nevada, Hawaii) HR and Data Analysis positions. I'd take a look for those in a couple of months.

nexus

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #25 on: August 22, 2016, 09:15:41 AM »
Thanks Professor Ecks! Working there would be great! I'd have a reverse commute and it wouldn't warrant a relocation. I'll start looking into that ASAP and set myself some reminders to follow up in October/November.

Enigma: Not a bad option. As a current contractor at a financial institution, I'm looking for more PTO. I get paid weekly and it's always disappointing to get a 4 day paycheck instead of a 5 day paycheck just because there was a holiday. Next week is no exception. I get Monday off for Labor Day and every FTE gets it as a paid holiday, whereas I have to ramp up my side hustle to offset the loss in income. Can you PM me the agency that you work with? I'd be curious to know what organization/staffing agency recruits for the government. Many thanks!

Rylito: I have been checking UCB fairly regularly. I have a colleague from my previous job that's husband works in the HR department. Thanks for jogging my memory, as it may be a good time to reconnect. :)
« Last Edit: August 22, 2016, 09:28:14 AM by nexus »

FLBiker

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #26 on: August 22, 2016, 01:47:09 PM »
I second the UC recommendation.  I work at a large public university in Florida and I really like it.  You get the perks of being on a college campus (pleasant atmosphere, awesome library) with the perks of being a gov't employee (great benefits).  The benefits are no joke.  We have access to a 457 w/ Vanguard index funds (in addition to our 403b).  Plus, Florida has a spousal benefit for health insurance.  Since DW and I are both state employees, we pay $30 a month (total) for family health coverage.  Crazy.


marty998

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #27 on: August 22, 2016, 03:12:30 PM »
While the positions take over a year to be filled.... who does the work in the meantime? Is the remaining team expected to cover for an entire year?

JJ-

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #28 on: August 22, 2016, 05:06:55 PM »
While the positions take over a year to be filled.... who does the work in the meantime? Is the remaining team expected to cover for an entire year?

Somebody/team could cover, somebody could come in on a "detail" where they act in that position temporarily until the position gets permanently filled, or the work simply doesn't get done.

Happy in CA

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Re: Advice for Landing a Government Job
« Reply #29 on: August 22, 2016, 09:48:22 PM »
Look in Santa Clara County.  The pay and benefits are better than the feds, better than the state, better than the various cities in the area.  Probably better than either Alameda or San Francisco too.  SCCGOV.org - they have an employment portal I think.  The only downsides are the competition for the jobs and the commute to San Jose, but it will be worth it.  Good luck.