Questions from a potential new fed

[Anonymous]

I have a few questions for current or former feds. I am close to make a switch out of the private sector.

1. In the retirement plan, how does the pension portion of it work? I understand the TSP perfectly fine. But, I am curious how the pension portion of the plan works.

2. What has been your experience transitioning from the private sector to federal work? Do you have any advice? I have been a consultant for 19 years; 10 of that consulting with a federal agency. I am worn out from the consulting life. I don't know how it compares to BigLaw for all the lawyers here -- but the travel and hours have certainly been demanding. I still want to be challenged - but, at a little more sane pace. I am ready to take a good sized pay cut and hoping that the other features of the job will make up for it.

[Anonymous]

IIRC, roughly speaking, if you stay at least 10 years and don't collect your pension until retirement age, then you can get 1% of your "high 3" (meaning the average of the 3 highest average annual salaries you earned) for each year you worked.

[Anonymous]

p.s. as to the transition, cultures and practices are very agency-specific. In general, I would say there is more bureaucracy (both of the HR kind and the "get everybody informed" kind), but there are unique opportunities to be involved in very interesting and challenging issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IIRC, roughly speaking, if you stay at least 10 years and don't collect your pension until retirement age, then you can get 1% of your "high 3" (meaning the average of the 3 highest average annual salaries you earned) for each year you worked.

After 62 with 20+ years of service it's 1.1%

[Anonymous]

I generally agree with the PPs.

With respect to the annuity, there is a ton of information on the OPM website with respect to how it is calculated, when it vests, how much you pay into it (you pay more as a new hire after this year), etc. Go there and educate yourself. The GovExec website also will run stories on benefits, although these are more focused on those about to retire.

With respect to lifestyle, I think in general government is pretty humane but the specifics really vary not only by agency but by office within the agency. Some offices work early hours (starting as early as 6:30 and working an 8-hour day) while others expect you there till 6 p.m. regardless of when you arrived. Some supervisors allow compressed schedules, telework, etc., and some don't; some expect you to check your blackberry after hours and some (maybe most) agencies don't provide blackberries. Travel should be mentioned in the job advertisement and you will get a good feel at the interview for the office's hours and general tone. Beyond that, it's just luck unless you know somebody already there who you can ask frank questions of. Personally I will say that I am glad I made the switch to Federal service (I came from Big Law): I really enjoy my work and I feel that what I do matters, but it doesn't matter so so much that I can't get home at roughly the same time every night. But there certainly are Federal employees whose jobs (or personalities) are not that way, and who really work themselves to the bone. The pace is dictated by the mission demands of the office so you'll need to keep those in mind as you evaluate opportunities.

You indicate you are close to switching, but it doesn't sound like you have a specific office in mind so I am going to assume you don't have a job offer. I apologize if I assume to much. But you need to know that the Federal job market is super competitive right now, with many agencies experiencing long-standing hiring freezes and some layoffs, and of course the sequestration cuts, if they come, will exacerbate that. It's not that you shouldn't try -- rather that you should try very hard, and think very carefully before passing on any offer you may receive. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I generally agree with the PPs.

With respect to the annuity, there is a ton of information on the OPM website with respect to how it is calculated, when it vests, how much you pay into it (you pay more as a new hire after this year), etc. Go there and educate yourself. The GovExec website also will run stories on benefits, although these are more focused on those about to retire.

With respect to lifestyle, I think in general government is pretty humane but the specifics really vary not only by agency but by office within the agency. Some offices work early hours (starting as early as 6:30 and working an 8-hour day) while others expect you there till 6 p.m. regardless of when you arrived. Some supervisors allow compressed schedules, telework, etc., and some don't; some expect you to check your blackberry after hours and some (maybe most) agencies don't provide blackberries. Travel should be mentioned in the job advertisement and you will get a good feel at the interview for the office's hours and general tone. Beyond that, it's just luck unless you know somebody already there who you can ask frank questions of. Personally I will say that I am glad I made the switch to Federal service (I came from Big Law): I really enjoy my work and I feel that what I do matters, but it doesn't matter so so much that I can't get home at roughly the same time every night. But there certainly are Federal employees whose jobs (or personalities) are not that way, and who really work themselves to the bone. The pace is dictated by the mission demands of the office so you'll need to keep those in mind as you evaluate opportunities.

You indicate you are close to switching, but it doesn't sound like you have a specific office in mind so I am going to assume you don't have a job offer. I apologize if I assume to much. But you need to know that the Federal job market is super competitive right now, with many agencies experiencing long-standing hiring freezes and some layoffs, and of course the sequestration cuts, if they come, will exacerbate that. It's not that you shouldn't try -- rather that you should try very hard, and think very carefully before passing on any offer you may receive. Good luck!

Thank you. This is very helpful.

[Anonymous]

On hours, stress etc - this varies a lot by and within agencies. Strategy and policy shops tend to be long, long hours, stressful work and often not have the greatest inter-office dynamics. Ditto budget, allocation, etc departments (especially right now). But this reputation is usually pretty clear ahead of time so, especially if you're looking to join the agency you'd been consulting with, there probably aren't any big surprises.

They just changed the amount new hires have to pay towards the pension part of retirement, so probably just checking the OPM site is worth it.