Posted: 5/29/2009 8:09:08 AM EDT
| I have never held a federal position before and am currently being reviewed for several positions. My background is Avionics Tech in the Navy(4 years) and field service engineer, installing and fixinginduction heating units. I was laid off from work on 22January2009, when the auto industry tanked, and have been fervently searching for jobs and have been applying, a ton, for federal jobs. My question is this- What can I expect If I am called upon for further review by the hiring official? Any and all information on the feds hiring practice is appreciated. |
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I went through the process recently for a federal IT position with the Army. All told, it was a little over six months from the time I applied via usajobs.gov to the time I PCS'd to Germany. My application first went through the resumix system, which matched my job history against their list of keywords (KSA's) then, it was forwarded to the hiring official with about 60 others. At that point, a panel reviewed the resumes and narrowed them down to half a dozen and the hiring official made his selection from those.
From the time I was notified that my application had been forwarded to the hiring official to my one phone interview was 1.5 months. After that, I didn't hear anything back for 2.5 months. I'd just about given up when I got a call from the HR rep in Germany who asked me to start filling out new hire forms. Once I got all of those filled out, scanned and sent back to HR, I received the offer. Long story short, it can be a lengthy process. Good luck! |
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I applied for 3 different fed agencies. I got hired 3 years into it. I turned two down...the one I took, the hiring process lasted about 20 months. I was overlapping them and working so it was really no sweat off my back...
Its takes time. Good luck and keep looking, and keep applying! 
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| Good stuff, guys. I have outstanding apps for the FAA and Homeland Security. Homeland says they expect to fill the position within 90 days of the close date(fingers crossed). Both jobs seem right up my alley. BTW- my staus is pending for several pay grades; is that a good indication I am well qualified for the lower pay grades? |
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These things take time. I know there is a push in a lot of agencies to hire within 3 months but I just do not see it happening in all aspects.
I think the key is to make sure to really make yourself stand out, to get to know as many people as you can for the agencies you are applying for. Remember, its not what you know, but WHO you know, that will get you a job. Best of luck and be patient. Just because you haven't heard anything doesn't mean that your still not in the running. About 6 years ago I applied for an ICE position. I never heard a thing from them and went on and acquired employment elsewhere. About 18 months later they called and offered me a position. By that time though I had acquired another position and was no longer intersted. So as you can see, it takes time, just relax, and do not become frustrated that you never hear anything. |
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I'm a GS-12 IT management specialist hired about four years ago following my USN retirement. I have sat federal hiring boards as a Senior and Master Chief Petty Officer and now as a manager. Each federal agency is slightly different, I work for the DoD proper.
You have two hurdles to cross - first is the Resumex system which screens your resume for the skills, knowledge, and abilities that match what the manager hiring specified. Often the job announcement will contain these: "must know how to work on high voltage transformers" so in your resume there should be a matching phrase "worked on high voltage transformers" - nearly word-for-word. From those job seekers resumes that clear the automated process the processing office will human screen them and select a number of them for review by the hiring agency. When we hire we get 40-100 Resumex selected and about 10-15 resumes to review by the hiring panel. From those we look for a good number to interview - say 5 or 6 of them based on a scoring system pre-determined before anyone sees the resumes. At the interview the exact same questions are asked to every candidate. The candidates interviews are ranked by each panel member and then a consensus is agreed upon and the top 3 are presented to the manager - there he or she can basically pick any member they want with cause as all three presented are "qualified". There are "blockers" where someone might be a previous federal employee laid off - they get hiring preference. Veterans get five points, disabled vets another five, college graduates get five hiring points so being a disabled vet with a degree really helps. I responded to the announcement in November, interviewed in mid-December, and went to work in mid-January. The Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holidays slowed the process down because normally it's about 30-40 days from closing of the announcement to hire for my agency. |
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I was hired on as a DON employee in April.
I applied for the job in Oct last year, my application and resume were accepted in Oct. I first heard back about the job in early Feb. Updating my SF86 and getting my clearance reactivated took about a month. This was stateside though. 
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| It's no wonder that the .gov misses out on hiring some of the more talented people in the industry. If it takes 1-3 years to get a gig the people who have skills will already have found a job before the .gov even makes the first contact with the applicant. I applied just once for a .gov job. Interview went perfectly. Never got a call back after several months. After I followed up I was told the position never got funded. It's probably best that I didn't get that job after the stories I have heard. |
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It's no wonder that the .gov misses out on hiring some of the more talented people in the industry. If it takes 1-3 years to get a gig the people who have skills will already have found a job before the .gov even makes the first contact with the applicant. I applied just once for a .gov job. Interview went perfectly. Never got a call back after several months. After I followed up I was told the position never got funded. It's probably best that I didn't get that job after the stories I have heard. NSPS was/is supposed to fix the talent issue but from what I am hearing, most folks don't think it's being used correctly. I hired in under NSPS but my boss refers to me and my peers as GS-12's. If you compare the GS pay chart to our salaries we are in fact 12's. That's the thing, NSPS or not, when the offer comes, it'll be indexed to the corresponding GS position. For the most part (especially for IT positions) the salary on offer is well below the market rate. |
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I'm a GS-12 IT management specialist hired about four years ago following my USN retirement. I have sat federal hiring boards as a Senior and Master Chief Petty Officer and now as a manager. Each federal agency is slightly different, I work for the DoD proper. You have two hurdles to cross - first is the Resumex system which screens your resume for the skills, knowledge, and abilities that match what the manager hiring specified. Often the job announcement will contain these: "must know how to work on high voltage transformers" so in your resume there should be a matching phrase "worked on high voltage transformers" - nearly word-for-word. From those job seekers resumes that clear the automated process the processing office will human screen them and select a number of them for review by the hiring agency. When we hire we get 40-100 Resumex selected and about 10-15 resumes to review by the hiring panel. From those we look for a good number to interview - say 5 or 6 of them based on a scoring system pre-determined before anyone sees the resumes. At the interview the exact same questions are asked to every candidate. The candidates interviews are ranked by each panel member and then a consensus is agreed upon and the top 3 are presented to the manager - there he or she can basically pick any member they want with cause as all three presented are "qualified". There are "blockers" where someone might be a previous federal employee laid off - they get hiring preference. Veterans get five points, disabled vets another five, college graduates get five hiring points so being a disabled vet with a degree really helps. I responded to the announcement in November, interviewed in mid-December, and went to work in mid-January. The Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years holidays slowed the process down because normally it's about 30-40 days from closing of the announcement to hire for my agency. Thanks for that, Master Chief. Bump for the feds off work now. |
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If your job requires any type of security clearence, then grab a Snickers bar. Secret is still active. As I used to understand, your clearance fell flat after you processed out. Anyway, I had a rez on usajobs for some time, when I got a call out of the blue in Nov of last year and was on the job early Feb this year. I had the impression that it was seen,read and I got the call in a short time. Basiclly it would have been quicker if my app didn't keep being pushed to the back burner. |
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If your job requires any type of security clearence, then grab a Snickers bar. Secret is still active. As I used to understand, your clearance fell flat after you processed out. Anyway, I had a rez on usajobs for some time, when I got a call out of the blue in Nov of last year and was on the job early Feb this year. I had the impression that it was seen,read and I got the call in a short time. Basiclly it would have been quicker if my app didn't keep being pushed to the back burner. Hmmm, lots of mystery on this issue. I have heard it stays active for up to 2-5 years. At least that is what the security manager at my command told me when I processed out. I have also heard it was a done deal upon members exit. Hopefully I'll be in a position to confirm or disconfirm this. |
| I wonder if you'll have to fill one of these out to work at GM or Chrysler now? Maybe after you're discharged from the military you can keep your time towards retirement like the Post Office. Not to derail the subject but look at the defecit the USPS runs yearly and then wonder if the government can run car companies any better? |
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Get to Guam and you could get a job.
I didn't say anything about being able to afford a home, but you'll get a job. Fed jobs are fixed. We had two positions open that they already had people picked out for. Our headquarters personnel office got them backwards and into the jobs they didn't want. So they denied the positions and they were reannounced and they got hired into the correct jobs they wanted. It's funny to watch the good ole boy network not work right sometimes. Under this NSPS crap it gives these retired asshats the power to bargain for their pay. We just got a retired E-9 that bargained for his pay and is the highest paid smoker on Guam. Guy doesn't do crap but make life hell for the GI's as he fights for power....rest of the time he's outside huffing cigarettes. I made more money several decades ago making minimum wage in Pennsylvania working the flagstone quarries, farms, and slaughterhouses for $5 an hour. Only 400 hours of labor would get you an acre of land. Now 5,000 hours of labor for an acre of land at $20 an hour. I don't give a shit who you work for. We're all screwed. I wish I could go back to making minimum wage in Pennsylvania and getting an acre of land for 400 hours of labor. Getting into some Federal job ain't your answer. We all need to figure out what the hell we need to do because somebody's shagged us in the rear hardcore. |
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Get to Guam and you could get a job. I didn't say anything about being able to afford a home, but you'll get a job. Fed jobs are fixed. We had two positions open that they already had people picked out for. Our headquarters personnel office got them backwards and into the jobs they didn't want. So they denied the positions and they were reannounced and they got hired into the correct jobs they wanted. It's funny to watch the good ole boy network not work right sometimes. Under this NSPS crap it gives these retired asshats the power to bargain for their pay. We just got a retired E-9 that bargained for his pay and is the highest paid smoker on Guam. Guy doesn't do crap but make life hell for the GI's as he fights for power....rest of the time he's outside huffing cigarettes. I made more money several decades ago making minimum wage in Pennsylvania working the flagstone quarries, farms, and slaughterhouses for $5 an hour. Only 400 hours of labor would get you an acre of land. Now 5,000 hours of labor for an acre of land at $20 an hour. I don't give a shit who you work for. We're all screwed. I wish I could go back to making minimum wage in Pennsylvania and getting an acre of land for 400 hours of labor. Getting into some Federal job ain't your answer. We all need to figure out what the hell we need to do because somebody's shagged us in the rear hardcore. I heard Guam is beautiful. I, as an unemployed dude, welcome any and all politics involved in a new position. Sad but true. 
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