fed top performer - best time of year to ask for promotion/raise?

[Anonymous]

Is there a best time of year to ask for a promotion within my current position? I'm in an alternate pay system without steps, and my position is outside the merit raise system (ughh!).

I know that for many other things in the gov, when during the fiscal year makes a difference. Especially, just before the end of the fiscal year is a good time to ask for stuff. However, I'm thinking that after I ask for a promotion to the next band my manager will need time to make it happen. Anyone out there know when the process would need to begin to get it done by the end of FY? Or should I target the beginning of the next FY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a best time of year to ask for a promotion within my current position? I'm in an alternate pay system without steps, and my position is outside the merit raise system (ughh!).

I know that for many other things in the gov, when during the fiscal year makes a difference. Especially, just before the end of the fiscal year is a good time to ask for stuff. However, I'm thinking that after I ask for a promotion to the next band my manager will need time to make it happen. Anyone out there know when the process would need to begin to get it done by the end of FY? Or should I target the beginning of the next FY?

I used to be in a pay-banded position and I've never seen anyone moved to a new band without going through the competitive promotion process. You can tell them you want it, but you'll likely have to compete for it. Occasionally, they will find the money to open the higher-level position and make the posting and then the person they intended to hire doesn't make the cert and they hire someone else. Sometimes they close the opening and open another one (but I see that happening less often now because if people get approved for an opening, they really want to get that person in while they can, even if it's not the person they expected). If they think you're likely to leave, they sometimes will still raise your pay within your band. The easiest way I've seen people get raises is to find an outside offer and ask it to be matched. Try getting a job in the private sector and then bring the offer back to your supervisor. You can do that at any time of year. It's a little squirmy, so not everyone likes to do it, but honestly, I think the vast majority of people who do it are legitimately wondering what they're worth in the Private Sector and going out interviewing sometimes tells them they're worth quite a bit more and they do leave. So, even if you have no intention of leaving in reality, that doesn't mean you won't get an offer you find difficult passing up. Also, when this tactic doesn't work, people sometimes leave when they realize that they aren't necessarily as valued as they once believed.

[Anonymous]

BTW, just so you know: Your position is classified as a certain level. Just because you're good at it doesn't mean the job is then more difficult. You can sometimes be "desk audited" and they find that you are doing work far beyond your current position description. Then they raise your salary. This happened to my husband. It was WITHIN his band, though. This band has an artificial stopping point between equivalent GS grades, so they essentially allowed movement to the next level based on the desk audit. It took many months, but I think actually maybe 18 months or something. It was a very long process. You can't just be doing a really good job. You have to be doing work outside of the scope of your job description at an extraordinary level. And you have to have been doing it for an amount of time that HR believes it.

[Anonymous]

Even for a desk audit, you gotta start with your management. If you are a top performer, you should have no problem telling them (at year end when discussing performance eval) to keep you (via promotion) or lose you (you will find a better job)...

I have received several QSIs one way, and promotion the other way (self-promote by landing new jobs) several times in the past.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even for a desk audit, you gotta start with your management. If you are a top performer, you should have no problem telling them (at year end when discussing performance eval) to keep you (via promotion) or lose you (you will find a better job)...

I have received several QSIs one way, and promotion the other way (self-promote by landing new jobs) several times in the past.

Pay bands don't work like GS levels. Moving to another band is exceptionally difficult without a competitive announcement. It's hard enough in GS levels, but it's even more difficult in pay bands.

[Anonymous]

^ I have been in pay bands. That's why I said the best way to move up is to find another job once you hit the ceiling...

[Anonymous]

Maybe I've been in government too long, but it just seems crazy to ask your boss for a promotion.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I've received a promotion to a higher pay band in my current position already. I was hired in at the top of the advertised pay band and the hiring manager agreed to try to boost me after my first year, if things worked out. There was no competitive announcement. I was just promoted.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm thinking to ask for a QSI (or equivalent for my pay scale) without making a threat to leave, but I'll wait until a high profile project I am leading is nearing completion. I'll post an update when I take an action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I've received a promotion to a higher pay band in my current position already. I was hired in at the top of the advertised pay band and the hiring manager agreed to try to boost me after my first year, if things worked out. There was no competitive announcement. I was just promoted.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm thinking to ask for a QSI (or equivalent for my pay scale) without making a threat to leave, but I'll wait until a high profile project I am leading is nearing completion. I'll post an update when I take an action.

Okay, well, I posted about the pay bands already. Honestly, if I were your manager and you were asking me for ANOTHER pay band raise after I already got you one (which is no breeze), but which you essentially negotiated prior to being hired, I'd be pretty annoyed. Unless this was forever ago or something. I was promoted between bands also early in my career, but it was part of the ladder. Once I got to the 12/13 band, it was hard to get to 14/15, so I moved on to another agency when I was ready. I don't know what your current grade is, but maybe that is part of this equation that hasn't been asked.