Federal Job Hunt Stats

[Anonymous]

I’ve been applying for federal jobs since January. I’ve spent my 30-year career in nonprofits and I’m applying to GS13/14/15 positions. So far I’ve limited my search to jobs I’m excited about that I feel are a good match for my skills and background.

How would you interpret these results?

16 Applications Completed
9 referred (1 GS14 interview - not selected)
3 not referred
4 received (no updates)

I know some people apply to hundreds of jobs and say it’s a numbers game. I have a stable job so can afford to be picky. But I’m getting discouraged anyway. I’d hoped I’d get more interviews after being referred, but maybe these jobs aren’t the fit I think they are.

Advice? Perspective? Words of encouragement? TIA!

[Anonymous]

It is very hard to get hired at that level with no federal experience. It's even harder to get hired for something that is not direct hire unless you are a veteran or have some other preference (maybe you do but didn't say). You are more likely to get a GS13 - 14's and 15's are very hard to get without experience within the agency for which you are applying. Keep trying and look for direct hire announcements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is very hard to get hired at that level with no federal experience. It's even harder to get hired for something that is not direct hire unless you are a veteran or have some other preference (maybe you do but didn't say). You are more likely to get a GS13 - 14's and 15's are very hard to get without experience within the agency for which you are applying. Keep trying and look for direct hire announcements.

Thanks for this. I’m getting referred for 14/15 jobs but no interviews, so I may be aiming too high. I worked for the feds fresh out of college, but only for 9 months before grad school and that was decades ago. I have no other preferences.

[Anonymous]

OP here and I forgot to mention that most of the jobs I’m applying to are Excepted Service, Term, or Direct Hire.

[Anonymous]

Those are outstanding stats coming from outside gov. In previous rounds, I have done worse even as a status candidate. So good job, OP.

[Anonymous]

You get referred because you qualify on paper, according to HR.

The hiring manager may not put you on the interview shortlist because s/he doesn't see anything on your resume that fits with the experience s/he's looking for.

If you're okay with a 12/13, you can easily rise to a 14 if you demonstrate value once you're hired. Of course, there are also a lot of 13s who wonder why they are not getting promoted to 14s (that's a separate discussion)

[Anonymous]

I was a finalist for a 14/15 position coming from an NGO but had pretty directly related and specialized experience that uniquely qualified me as well as some connections in the agency. I was pretty shocked though when I was referred because prior to that I’d never made it past the HR screen for lower level positions (earlier in my career).

[Anonymous]

OP here and I just applied to a couple GS 12 positions. Thanks for the advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here and I just applied to a couple GS 12 positions. Thanks for the advice.

Definitely be open to starting low and then continue to search and be willing to switch agencies to move up the GS scale.

[Anonymous]

DH is an attorney with a 10 year career at a non profit. From March through June, he applied to about 10 federal jobs, mostly at one agency. He got an interview for every job at that agency (none at the others, where he has no subject matter expertise). He got a tentative job offer in July for a GS-14 position. The background check dragged out and he didn’t get the final offer until recently. He is starting in mid Sept.

Unfortunately, you are less likely to be hired at this point because agencies rush to spend their hiring budget in the summer. They need to start new employees before the fiscal year ends Sept 30. Some hiring will still happen throughout the year but if you’re feeling burned out, you may want to give it a break until next spring/summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is an attorney with a 10 year career at a non profit. From March through June, he applied to about 10 federal jobs, mostly at one agency. He got an interview for every job at that agency (none at the others, where he has no subject matter expertise). He got a tentative job offer in July for a GS-14 position. The background check dragged out and he didn’t get the final offer until recently. He is starting in mid Sept.

Unfortunately, you are less likely to be hired at this point because agencies rush to spend their hiring budget in the summer. They need to start new employees before the fiscal year ends Sept 30. Some hiring will still happen throughout the year but if you’re feeling burned out, you may want to give it a break until next spring/summer.

That's going to be agency-dependent. There's nothing special about the end of the fiscal year except that our HR specialists want to clear their plates before they submit their end-of-year accomplishments. So yes, even we're in a lull right now, except for hiring actions that have been in the pipeline, but we'll start right back up again next year.

Well, continuing resolutions are a problem. So, assuming the budget process drags out, which is a very safe assumption, we'll probably hold back on non-critical hiring for the first few months. But regardless of whether or not we're still on a CR, we'll resume hiring like normal come the new calendar year.

Spring/summer is mostly just for hiring new college grads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is very hard to get hired at that level with no federal experience. It's even harder to get hired for something that is not direct hire unless you are a veteran or have some other preference (maybe you do but didn't say). You are more likely to get a GS13 - 14's and 15's are very hard to get without experience within the agency for which you are applying. Keep trying and look for direct hire announcements.

Agree- at our agency most of the 14/15s are only open to existing agency employees to begin with. But we’ve had a fair number of GS12-13 hires who were not previously federal employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is an attorney with a 10 year career at a non profit. From March through June, he applied to about 10 federal jobs, mostly at one agency. He got an interview for every job at that agency (none at the others, where he has no subject matter expertise). He got a tentative job offer in July for a GS-14 position. The background check dragged out and he didn’t get the final offer until recently. He is starting in mid Sept.

Unfortunately, you are less likely to be hired at this point because agencies rush to spend their hiring budget in the summer. They need to start new employees before the fiscal year ends Sept 30. Some hiring will still happen throughout the year but if you’re feeling burned out, you may want to give it a break until next spring/summer.

Dragged out ? How many weeks did the background check take ? (Appears to be less than 8 weeks.)

[Anonymous]

At my agency the jobs are typically advertised as 12-14. People without prior Fed experience come in at 12 and move up to 13 a year later. Getting to 14 is another story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is an attorney with a 10 year career at a non profit. From March through June, he applied to about 10 federal jobs, mostly at one agency. He got an interview for every job at that agency (none at the others, where he has no subject matter expertise). He got a tentative job offer in July for a GS-14 position. The background check dragged out and he didn’t get the final offer until recently. He is starting in mid Sept.

Unfortunately, you are less likely to be hired at this point because agencies rush to spend their hiring budget in the summer. They need to start new employees before the fiscal year ends Sept 30. Some hiring will still happen throughout the year but if you’re feeling burned out, you may want to give it a break until next spring/summer.

Good point here. Don't get discouraged if nothing pans out this year. Hiring should ramp back up after the holidays.