Why is it so hard to find a Federal job??

[Anonymous]

^ That middle school kid might be a GS-15/step 10.

[Anonymous]

OP, what field are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to sequestration, we can't fill vacant positions at my agency.

+1, we have lots of "vacancies" that will never be filled. We don't have the money. When we do hire in the upper grades (14/15) it usually is an internal-only opening so that our own people can advance their careers, but then their former lower-grade position is often not filled.

FWIW, I'm GenX and I don't think brain drain is a thing: plenty of GenXers and older Millennials have been working in their agencies for 10+ years now, they know the job and have the institutional knowledge. I think the big threat to the Federal workforce is that we are not hiring people to replace the Boomers who are retiring, and we are not spending money to train anybody of any age.

I'm a genxer, and brain drain is very real in my agency. It is very knowledge based, and it takes a decade to bums the knowledge. Old people retire and new ones leave for money. It is a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to sequestration, we can't fill vacant positions at my agency.

+1, we have lots of "vacancies" that will never be filled. We don't have the money. When we do hire in the upper grades (14/15) it usually is an internal-only opening so that our own people can advance their careers, but then their former lower-grade position is often not filled.

FWIW, I'm GenX and I don't think brain drain is a thing: plenty of GenXers and older Millennials have been working in their agencies for 10+ years now, they know the job and have the institutional knowledge. I think the big threat to the Federal workforce is that we are not hiring people to replace the Boomers who are retiring, and we are not spending money to train anybody of any age.

I'm a genxer, and brain drain is very real in my agency. It is very knowledge based, and it takes a decade to bums the knowledge. Old people retire and new ones leave for money. It is a problem.

Oh, if you're expanding "brain drain" to cover retention problems, then I agree. Inability to retain good younger people (because we have no funding for bonuses or training, and because everyone has to take on more and more work as people leave) is a problem for us too.

[Anonymous]

They are making a concerted effort to shrink our agency. For every 3 people that leave, our agency only replaces maybe one, and often a they'll replace a lifer who retired with someone who just graduated from law school (or college).

[Anonymous]

Because in general they are not hiring when someone retires.

[Anonymous]

My agency is also not filling all vacancies with new hires because of the budget issues. Hiring retired annuitants is a popular option though.