USA Jobs is nuts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

It is crazy. A GS9 in DC starts at below $70K. I hire only S&E grads and they can get $70K with only a BS, so there’s no hope of attracting any decent Ph.D. at that level. Our agency has a minimum of GS11 for them right out of grad school.

[Anonymous]

The fact government-specific experience is required does not mean the position is wired for one candidate. We often hire from other agencies.
I also look for people who can explain why the experience they do have is functionally the same as the qualifications, even if they weren't in government at the time.
If a supervisor or 15 position seems targeted at an internal candidate, look for that person's old job to be advertised in the near future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

If you think our ads are crazy, you should see the candidates we get. They're just not qualified. I think ads try to get more and more specific to weed out these candidates but it doesn't help. I wish they'd bring back KSAs or even maybe a short phone screening would be helpful. I hire for GS13/14s and at that level the person should be an expert with 10+ years of experience. It's very hard to find those people versus the people who do my job as an ancillary duty 5% of the time and aren't very familiar with my work.

Well of course it's very hard to find those people. Kids fresh out of college are making GS 13/14 money in tech and finance, even just a few years experience gets you $100K+ in most professional jobs these days. Expecting late-career experience for early career pay is crazy, feds need to reevaluate the pay scale drastically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

If you think our ads are crazy, you should see the candidates we get. They're just not qualified. I think ads try to get more and more specific to weed out these candidates but it doesn't help. I wish they'd bring back KSAs or even maybe a short phone screening would be helpful. I hire for GS13/14s and at that level the person should be an expert with 10+ years of experience. It's very hard to find those people versus the people who do my job as an ancillary duty 5% of the time and aren't very familiar with my work.

Well of course it's very hard to find those people. Kids fresh out of college are making GS 13/14 money in tech and finance, even just a few years experience gets you $100K+ in most professional jobs these days. Expecting late-career experience for early career pay is crazy, feds need to reevaluate the pay scale drastically.

It’s a top-level problem of federal pay compression. Really only Congress can fix this. It’s well documented that total compensation at the GS13-14-15 levels is well below the equivalent in the private sector, and for SES-level people it’s often ridiculously low (like less than half). We’re all tied to the idea that we have to make less than politicians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact government-specific experience is required does not mean the position is wired for one candidate. We often hire from other agencies.
I also look for people who can explain why the experience they do have is functionally the same as the qualifications, even if they weren't in government at the time.
If a supervisor or 15 position seems targeted at an internal candidate, look for that person's old job to be advertised in the near future.

If a GS-14 or higher position is listed for internal candidates for a period of a week or less, then it is wired for someone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact government-specific experience is required does not mean the position is wired for one candidate. We often hire from other agencies.
I also look for people who can explain why the experience they do have is functionally the same as the qualifications, even if they weren't in government at the time.
If a supervisor or 15 position seems targeted at an internal candidate, look for that person's old job to be advertised in the near future.

That’s fine. Yet don’t say it’s a job open to the public when you are seeking agency experience and ask questions that will screen out non-government workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The fact government-specific experience is required does not mean the position is wired for one candidate. We often hire from other agencies.
I also look for people who can explain why the experience they do have is functionally the same as the qualifications, even if they weren't in government at the time.
If a supervisor or 15 position seems targeted at an internal candidate, look for that person's old job to be advertised in the near future.

That’s fine. Yet don’t say it’s a job open to the public when you are seeking agency experience and ask questions that will screen out non-government workers.

You could wind up hiring a contractor.
You could wind up hiring someone who is a current or former fed but without competitive/permanent status.
Both of these are members of the public for the purposes of hiring categories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

If you think our ads are crazy, you should see the candidates we get. They're just not qualified. I think ads try to get more and more specific to weed out these candidates but it doesn't help. I wish they'd bring back KSAs or even maybe a short phone screening would be helpful. I hire for GS13/14s and at that level the person should be an expert with 10+ years of experience. It's very hard to find those people versus the people who do my job as an ancillary duty 5% of the time and aren't very familiar with my work.

Most lawyers start at GS11 as new grads, not GS9.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

If you think our ads are crazy, you should see the candidates we get. They're just not qualified. I think ads try to get more and more specific to weed out these candidates but it doesn't help. I wish they'd bring back KSAs or even maybe a short phone screening would be helpful. I hire for GS13/14s and at that level the person should be an expert with 10+ years of experience. It's very hard to find those people versus the people who do my job as an ancillary duty 5% of the time and aren't very familiar with my work.

I agree with OP and think USAJobs is nuts. I am a fed and have applied for more jobs than I can count that are a grade or two below my current grade and can’t get a bite. I’m trying to get a job that gives me a better commute- thus why I’m ok with a pay cut. Doing away with KSAs - the writing contest was good. Unfortunately, the new way of self-rating yourself is not much better m. If you don’t put yourself down as an “expert” for every skill, you won’t qualify for your resume to be forwarded. This is BS, because it encourages embellishment/lying on your application. In my job series and at my grade, very few are experts at every aspect of a the job. This applies to job candidates and even those currently doing the work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GS 9 is what PhD or Law degrees come in at if they are just out of school and have no experience. I don't think that's crazy. We can offer GS11 sometimes to them. GS7 is for BS/BA degrees.

If you think our ads are crazy, you should see the candidates we get. They're just not qualified. I think ads try to get more and more specific to weed out these candidates but it doesn't help. I wish they'd bring back KSAs or even maybe a short phone screening would be helpful. I hire for GS13/14s and at that level the person should be an expert with 10+ years of experience. It's very hard to find those people versus the people who do my job as an ancillary duty 5% of the time and aren't very familiar with my work.

I agree with OP and think USAJobs is nuts. I am a fed and have applied for more jobs than I can count that are a grade or two below my current grade and can’t get a bite. I’m trying to get a job that gives me a better commute- thus why I’m ok with a pay cut. Doing away with KSAs - the writing contest was good. Unfortunately, the new way of self-rating yourself is not much better m. If you don’t put yourself down as an “expert” for every skill, you won’t qualify for your resume to be forwarded. This is BS, because it encourages embellishment/lying on your application. In my job series and at my grade, very few are experts at every aspect of a the job. This applies to job candidates and even those currently doing the work.

I feel heard! Thank you.

OP