Can someone help ballpark a fed salary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

In the DC area- many people start out as a 15.

[Anonymous]

^^ or 13 and quickly work their way up to 15. Several of my Big 4 colleagues joined as 13s 5 years ago and are now 15s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a choice between 15/low steps vs. 14/high steps, take the 15/low steps.

Why? She could get a bump up when she gets promoted to 15 down the road (two step rule) if she comes in as a 14.

Because moving up the grade is much harder than moving up the steps. Maybe DOJ is different. It's not unusual taking more than 10 years to move up a grade in other agencies. It took me 14 years between 14 and 15 but I'm not a lawyer, just a dumb engineer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a choice between 15/low steps vs. 14/high steps, take the 15/low steps.

Why? She could get a bump up when she gets promoted to 15 down the road (two step rule) if she comes in as a 14.

Because moving up the grade is much harder than moving up the steps. Maybe DOJ is different. It's not unusual taking more than 10 years to move up a grade in other agencies. It took me 14 years between 14 and 15 but I'm not a lawyer, just a dumb engineer.

NP here. I think it's a lawyer thing and a DOJ thing. Most of the lawyers I work with are much better paid than our engineers and scientists with PhDs. There is no non-managerial path to a GS15 for engineers here. -another dumb engineer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

At DOJ, that isn't necessarily true. I have a friend 7 years out of school recently brought in at 15/10. She and I were both surprised at the 10, though. She came straight from Biglaw which was a big factor. Even if you have had similar Biglaw salaries in the past, if you have taken an interim pay cut elsewhere, you are in a weaker position.

Nothing good about 15/10 unless she plans to move out. She's "stuck" now.

So would rather come in lower just so you aren't stuck rather than starting at the higher salary it would otherwise take years to work up to? That seems crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

At DOJ, that isn't necessarily true. I have a friend 7 years out of school recently brought in at 15/10. She and I were both surprised at the 10, though. She came straight from Biglaw which was a big factor. Even if you have had similar Biglaw salaries in the past, if you have taken an interim pay cut elsewhere, you are in a weaker position.

Nothing good about 15/10 unless she plans to move out. She's "stuck" now.

So would rather come in lower just so you aren't stuck rather than starting at the higher salary it would otherwise take years to work up to? That seems crazy.

It makes no sense. "I'd rather strive for 15/10 for years so that I have something to aim for than get 15/10 right off the bat and make more money for those years"??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

At DOJ, that isn't necessarily true. I have a friend 7 years out of school recently brought in at 15/10. She and I were both surprised at the 10, though. She came straight from Biglaw which was a big factor. Even if you have had similar Biglaw salaries in the past, if you have taken an interim pay cut elsewhere, you are in a weaker position.

Nothing good about 15/10 unless she plans to move out. She's "stuck" now.

So would rather come in lower just so you aren't stuck rather than starting at the higher salary it would otherwise take years to work up to? That seems crazy.

It makes no sense. "I'd rather strive for 15/10 for years so that I have something to aim for than get 15/10 right off the bat and make more money for those years"??

15/10 here and I kinda understand PP's point. Because 15/10 is capped, if you factor in inflation, it's like getting pay cut every year. Not a big deal but still doesn't feel right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you have a choice between 15/low steps vs. 14/high steps, take the 15/low steps.

Why? She could get a bump up when she gets promoted to 15 down the road (two step rule) if she comes in as a 14.

Because moving up the grade is much harder than moving up the steps. Maybe DOJ is different. It's not unusual taking more than 10 years to move up a grade in other agencies. It took me 14 years between 14 and 15 but I'm not a lawyer, just a dumb engineer.

If the position was advertised as a 14 or 15 as OP says, then it probably has promotion potential to the 15 and they advertised both grades to widen their applicant pool. If it does have promotion potential to GS 15, an employee is usually promoted after a year. The vacancy announcement would state the promotion potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

At DOJ, that isn't necessarily true. I have a friend 7 years out of school recently brought in at 15/10. She and I were both surprised at the 10, though. She came straight from Biglaw which was a big factor. Even if you have had similar Biglaw salaries in the past, if you have taken an interim pay cut elsewhere, you are in a weaker position.

Nothing good about 15/10 unless she plans to move out. She's "stuck" now.

So would rather come in lower just so you aren't stuck rather than starting at the higher salary it would otherwise take years to work up to? That seems crazy.

It makes no sense. "I'd rather strive for 15/10 for years so that I have something to aim for than get 15/10 right off the bat and make more money for those years"??

15/10 here and I kinda understand PP's point. Because 15/10 is capped, if you factor in inflation, it's like getting pay cut every year. Not a big deal but still doesn't feel right.

Sure, but if you start at 15/5 just to have somewhere to go up, that represents an actual pay cut (relative to the 15/10 salary) for the ~10 years (without freezes) it could take to get to a 15/10.

No one would take an actual pay cut for 10 years just so they could avoid the perception of a pay cut through inflation.

[Anonymous]

if you get offered a 15/10 take it. you still get the cola every year.

[Anonymous]

At DOJ it's not hard to move from a 14 to a 15. If the salary would be the same, then a 14 is fine because you will eventually be promoted to a 15.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At DOJ it's not hard to move from a 14 to a 15. If the salary would be the same, then a 14 is fine because you will eventually be promoted to a 15.

Yup. If you are an attorney, moving up to the 15 is much easier than at some other agencies where there are very few non-managerial 15s.

[Anonymous]

OP, out of curiosity, how long did it take between the time you applied and your interview? I have applied to DOJ (very recently) and am trying to get a sense of how long I may be waiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well DOJ is on the GS scale so you should probably start there. The position has to be advertised at a specific grade level - my guess is that with 11 years of experience you're likely applying for a 13, 14, or 15 grade level position. If the job is in DC it will pay 95, 112, or 131 respectively.

Few people are brought in as a GS 15, so I would go more with the 95k or 112k.

That is not true for attorneys at DOJ -- we are regularly brought on as GS-15. I was brought on at GS-15 with only 5 years experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, out of curiosity, how long did it take between the time you applied and your interview? I have applied to DOJ (very recently) and am trying to get a sense of how long I may be waiting.

at least 6 weeks after the posting closes and with the fiscal year ending- I am assuming it could be longer. It is not a quick process.