Choosing GS15 instant leadership versus GS13 long-term path?
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Anonymous
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As the parent of a child in daycare, if you had the choice between a GS13 step 4 role that would stay GS13 for a decade+, but involved a lot of prestige (mostly involves work you 100% love, great but mostly busy colleagues dealing with lots of projects) versus a GS15 role where they wanted to hire you on the spot, high chances of dysfunction, offered no chance to ask questions during the interview, none of that specific work you 100% love, and the role has reduced telework--only benefits are guaranteed higher pay and a higher GS grade--what would you take (especially if you are fortunate to not have student loans)?
The perk of staying with the GS13 role is that long-term, I could move within the department, or choose high-profile private sector, and everything's telling me to stay put...but I know folks on the GS15 end will tell me to take the chance and run (but they don't have kids so their perspective isn't mine...). Advice either way? (Please be nice?) |
Anonymous
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Oof, that's hard. On balance I would stay at the 13 and try to find a different way to progress, but that's a big career and financial hit. Any one of the negatives about the 15 would not be enough to kill it for me, but all of them together sounds like a poor fit.
Hopefully since the 15 job is so hot to have you, you'll find other options before 10 years. |
Anonymous
| Remember the 15 salary is currently capped at about a step 4? so it is not so much more than a 14...just putting that out there for you. |
Anonymous
| The 15 can be a trap because it can be hard to find another opportunity where they have approval to hire at that level. |
Anonymous
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Let’s see
129759 -1 133692 - 3 137624 - 5 141557 -7 145489 - 10 149422 - 13 153354 - 16 Vs 163964 - 1 169429 - 2 174894 - 3 180359 - 4 185824 - 6 191289 - 8 191900 * - 10 Year 1 - $33K Year 5 is almost $50K difference Year 10 - $55K That’s a lot of college funds. What’s your H’s salary? Will you have more kids? Is the commute 30 minutes? An hour? Remember the 15 is not a permanent position you’ll move in 3-5 years to a possibly more flexible position. If you move to other places like FDA their directors make in the $250+ range. |
Anonymous
| Is there anyone in (or adjacent to) the new office you can talk to and get a real sense of how dysfunctional it is? Money is nice, but unmitigated misery 8 hours a day may not be worth the tradeoff. |
Anonymous
step 7? 192K is the cap in DC, isnt it? but the difference between step 6 and 7 is a few hundred dollars? |
Anonymous
15-6 vs 15-7 191289 191900 * |
Anonymous
It was a panel interview where 80% were in their 1st year,and no questions allowed which felt...off. |
Anonymous
They probably forgot to schedule time for questions. Did you get the offer? Ask if you can talk to the hiring official. Also how much annual leave do you have currently? Ask them to match it. |
Anonymous
| If you don’t need the cash I would keep the 13. Doing what you like with people you like with flexibility is worth a lot. (As you can maybe tell I tend to be risk adverse and to value being happy in my work) |
Anonymous
| I would take the 15. You can always use that to apply to other 15s if it really is that bad. |
Anonymous
| I’d choose the 13. Worklife balance and all that. |
Anonymous
Can you ask to speak to a current employee? I've had candidates do that after the offer, so they can ask about work life balance stuff that feels too much for the interview. |
Anonymous
| This GS 15 position sounds like a dumpster fire rather than an opportunity. |