At what age did you make it to the maximum GS scale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:38. came in as a GS-15 step 10

So no advancement or pay increase for 20 plus years unless you leave before retirement?

I came in as part of a technology group and didn’t stay long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m becoming a 15 at 48. Won’t max out for a few more years.

My agency is actively downgrading positions. Virtually impossible to get a non-supervisory 15, and what used to be 15s are becoming supervisory 14s. I’m managing a bunch of senior 13s who are great and probably going to leave soon because there is no advancement potential for them. It’s incredibly frustrating.

I am in a similar agency. I may stay at a 13 for many years.

[Anonymous]

38. I am not an attorney, nor am I in IT.

[Anonymous]

I came in as a GS-15 step 7 at the age of 55 for an IT role, after 33 years in the private sector. I will stay in this role for five years to get health insurance before retiring.

[Anonymous]

GS-15 at 42, hit the pay cap at 52. STEM field, non-supervisory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yuck, the idea of grade/step is so foreign to us in the private sector. But, it’s a simple low risk concept.

Not foreign to me at all. We call it something different at my private firm but it’s the same idea.

[Anonymous]

Non-supervisory GS-15 attorney at 33, 20+ years ago.

[Anonymous]

That lady made it before 40 but she lied her way into it.

[Anonymous]

GS-15 at DOJ at 31. Maxed at 37.

[Anonymous]

Started as 5 at 22, was a GS 15 at 32. SES at 37.

[Anonymous]

42 with 15 years of service.

Looking at a long 15 years with no pay raises if nothing changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:29, at OMB there is a career ladder from 9-15 for non-supervisory program examiners so if you start as a 9 at age 24 you can be a 15 when you’re 29. It’s absurd, a big reason that OMB is so highly graded even for non-supervisors.

We sure do 😄 but ask us what hours we work …with no overtime pay or any fun extras.

To answer OP, GS15 at 35.

People at OMB tell themselves this, that they’re the smartest and hardest working people in government. That’s why they promote themselves quickly and every single supervisor is an SES. I was there for a few years then I went to an agency where we had actual customer demands and did real tangible work, which was much harder, required more hours but was also more rewarding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:29, at OMB there is a career ladder from 9-15 for non-supervisory program examiners so if you start as a 9 at age 24 you can be a 15 when you’re 29. It’s absurd, a big reason that OMB is so highly graded even for non-supervisors.

We sure do 😄 but ask us what hours we work …with no overtime pay or any fun extras.

To answer OP, GS15 at 35.

People at OMB tell themselves this, that they’re the smartest and hardest working people in government. That’s why they promote themselves quickly and every single supervisor is an SES. I was there for a few years then I went to an agency where we had actual customer demands and did real tangible work, which was much harder, required more hours but was also more rewarding.

You are replying to me and I did say we work hard but not that we’re the smartest. You could do that work and deliver because we spent hours figuring out budgets and management policies that would (to extent possible) promote mission and not interfere.

To everyone else, the handful of supervisors are SES because they deal with direct politicals …aka the President’s folks. And we have a 15 ladder but not every year, there are certain steps we need to hit first before we can be considered for a GS increase. Oh and we’re pretty freaking motivated by civil service and our mission but who isn’t

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:29, at OMB there is a career ladder from 9-15 for non-supervisory program examiners so if you start as a 9 at age 24 you can be a 15 when you’re 29. It’s absurd, a big reason that OMB is so highly graded even for non-supervisors.

We sure do 😄 but ask us what hours we work …with no overtime pay or any fun extras.

To answer OP, GS15 at 35.

People at OMB tell themselves this, that they’re the smartest and hardest working people in government. That’s why they promote themselves quickly and every single supervisor is an SES. I was there for a few years then I went to an agency where we had actual customer demands and did real tangible work, which was much harder, required more hours but was also more rewarding.

You are replying to me and I did say we work hard but not that we’re the smartest. You could do that work and deliver because we spent hours figuring out budgets and management policies that would (to extent possible) promote mission and not interfere.

To everyone else, the handful of supervisors are SES because they deal with direct politicals …aka the President’s folks. And we have a 15 ladder but not every year, there are certain steps we need to hit first before we can be considered for a GS increase. Oh and we’re pretty freaking motivated by civil service and our mission but who isn’t

Have you ever worked at any other agency besides OMB? We have tons of GS14s and 15s who deal directly with politicals, aka the President's folks. We are doing our work despite your interference while tolerating your breathtaking arrogance that your band of mighty budgeteers empowers us all. There are around 8000 SES in all of government for 2.1 civil servants, about 1 in 250. At OMB it's around 1 in 10 with SES managing small groups of examiners while reporting up multiple layers. The only reason you have so many is that you set it up that way decades ago, it would never pass the laugh test if OPM were doing a normal desk audit and those of us who deal with OMB regularly think it's a joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:29, at OMB there is a career ladder from 9-15 for non-supervisory program examiners so if you start as a 9 at age 24 you can be a 15 when you’re 29. It’s absurd, a big reason that OMB is so highly graded even for non-supervisors.

We sure do 😄 but ask us what hours we work …with no overtime pay or any fun extras.

To answer OP, GS15 at 35.

People at OMB tell themselves this, that they’re the smartest and hardest working people in government. That’s why they promote themselves quickly and every single supervisor is an SES. I was there for a few years then I went to an agency where we had actual customer demands and did real tangible work, which was much harder, required more hours but was also more rewarding.

You are replying to me and I did say we work hard but not that we’re the smartest. You could do that work and deliver because we spent hours figuring out budgets and management policies that would (to extent possible) promote mission and not interfere.

To everyone else, the handful of supervisors are SES because they deal with direct politicals …aka the President’s folks. And we have a 15 ladder but not every year, there are certain steps we need to hit first before we can be considered for a GS increase. Oh and we’re pretty freaking motivated by civil service and our mission but who isn’t

I have never met anyone at OMB who was trying to not interfere. That seems to be the only thing they're trying to do.