Anonymous wrote:Fed here. It sucks so much these days that I'm not sure why you'd want to be a fed. I'm doing 2 jobs these days because they can't replace people and I'm not the only one in my section doing so. I'm likely leaving in the coming months. Maybe it will get better with the new budget if it passes, but I'm not waiting around to find out.

Another Fed here. Really wouldn't recommend it. Morale is low and "do more with less" has gotten very old. I know the popular assumption is that everyone sits around doing nothing and still gets paid a "lavish" salary with all kinds of perks. I'll leave others to quibble over the perennial "feds get paid better then the private sector" - which given the bonus thread is a bit rich. But, putting all of that aside, many people actually do go into public service to accomplish something for the U.S. public. Not only does the ongoing budget mess make it difficult to do much more than lurch from cr to cr, but starving the beast really means that one has little ability to accomplish much of anything. When you add the constant vitriol from Congress and the general public, there's not a lot of job satisfaction. Good luck though.

My husband is finishing his fellowship in a year at an agency that is over headcount and new fed hires are few and far between.

He has networked a lot and let people know he is looking and now people call him BEFORE a posting goes up. This has allowed him to have discussions with people on the hiring manager's staff before the posting went up - and to get specific advice on making it through the HR screen so he can at least get to an interview.

Now he had 2 things in the "waiting for HR screen phase" when it seemed 6 months ago like this would never happen.

Fed here. It sucks so much these days that I'm not sure why you'd want to be a fed. I'm doing 2 jobs these days because they can't replace people and I'm not the only one in my section doing so. I'm likely leaving in the coming months. Maybe it will get better with the new budget if it passes, but I'm not waiting around to find out.

Anonymous wrote:Another good way is to become a contractor that works onsite at an agency. You get a feel for the agency and supervisors/managers get to know you and appreciate your skills.

I worked at a place where several contractors eventually got federal gov't jobs, and some civil service employees went to work for contractors.

About how long did it take for the contractors to get federal jobs?

Another good way is to become a contractor that works onsite at an agency. You get a feel for the agency and supervisors/managers get to know you and appreciate your skills.

I worked at a place where several contractors eventually got federal gov't jobs, and some civil service employees went to work for contractors.

Fed Biz Opps has personal service contracting opportunities and at USAID, a lot of the positions are not direct hire, so if you want to work there, you should definitely be checking them out.

For the PMF program, your initial contract does cap out at a 12/13/14 (if you're lucky) but you obviously have to stick around long enough to get to highest GS level available on your contract, which is usually a year or two after your fellowship ends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for feedback. I am a status candidate with masters and various other accreditation and don't see anything out there. I keep hearing lots of people are retiring, but that's not translating into opportunities.

That's because we are under a hiring freeze.

Tons of people are retiring in my agency. We simply aren't filling the positions, which is super fun for those of us left behind. We've hired one person into my group in the last 4 years and he got in under some special hiring authority. In that same time, we've lost 5 people. (Small group, was 15, now 11.)

Ditto on the hiring freeze. We have to get special authority even to fill positions left vacant by retirement or other attrition. Once we have a budget (fingers crossed), things should loosen up.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for feedback. I am a status candidate with masters and various other accreditation and don't see anything out there. I keep hearing lots of people are retiring, but that's not translating into opportunities.

That's because we are under a hiring freeze.

Tons of people are retiring in my agency. We simply aren't filling the positions, which is super fun for those of us left behind. We've hired one person into my group in the last 4 years and he got in under some special hiring authority. In that same time, we've lost 5 people. (Small group, was 15, now 11.)

OP here. Thanks for feedback. I am a status candidate with masters and various other accreditation and don't see anything out there. I keep hearing lots of people are retiring, but that's not translating into opportunities.

Anonymous wrote:You could get some lame masters degree (even if you already have one) so that you could apply for the PMF Program. But, even that has slowed down for job opportunities. It's one of the last doors in for non-vets.

Our PMFs don't last very long. Most only stay a year or two and then move on. Young people are extremely dissatisfied with government careers and the pmf program tops out at a gs 11 (or 12?).

OP I don't know of anything else other than USA jobs. I know the CIA recruits off their website though and not usa jobs, but they're the only one. They don't have to go through the bs hiring like the rest of agencies.

You could get some lame masters degree (even if you already have one) so that you could apply for the PMF Program. But, even that has slowed down for job opportunities. It's one of the last doors in for non-vets.

USAJobs is the way to go for most agencies, though some post announcements on their own websites (CIA is one).

Yes, it is extremely difficult to qualify unless you are a veteran or in a very specialized field. Excepted service does absolutely nothing for you, whether you are past or current.

Only other way I know is the go to a specific agency's website. But the jobs listed there are likely the same as USAJOBS.

Also want to know. It has gotten exceedingly difficult to qualify unless you have permanent status (my previous job was Excepted Service and my permanent status job was more than 3 years ago).

Thanks!