The flip side of that is as a fed hiring manager, I would not give anyone (especially those that are highly marketable) too much leeway. During those months, what prevents the candidate from getting a better deal elsewhere and backing out on me?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

Are you the OP? I've never had a federal job offer that let me negotiate a start date 3 months out. That's excessive! Every single one of mine gave me 2 weeks, even when I was moving cross country. My first fed job hired me on a Thursday and I was expected to show up to work on Monday, even though I lived 1000 miles away. I stayed in a hotel on my own dime until I had housing.

I've had two fed jobs and both of them gave me a ton of flexibility on my start date. For my present job, I had an offer in April, and started in September.

+1 - when I relocated for my current fed job, I received an offer in May and started in August. I had a relocation package with some great benefits too. As a fed hiring manager, if I really want a candidate - I'll be flexible on their start date, especially if they are moving. To me, it's more important to get that candidate that I think will be best for the position, than to hire whoever can start soonest.

Anonymous wrote:I think this is very agency and department specific. I accepted a position and had to move from out of state, and was only given a max of 4 weeks before I had to report. I had to leave my family behind to sell the house, finish the kids' school terms, etc. I asked for a 3-month window before starting and was told in no uncertain terms I had to start by XX date, they needed the position filled fast.

Of course they said that. They want the position filled rather than not. If you had said you needed another month, I guarantee that they would have made it work. There is no way that if the position needs to be filled badly, that they want to go through the entire process again.

I think this is very agency and department specific. I accepted a position and had to move from out of state, and was only given a max of 4 weeks before I had to report. I had to leave my family behind to sell the house, finish the kids' school terms, etc. I asked for a 3-month window before starting and was told in no uncertain terms I had to start by XX date, they needed the position filled fast.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

Are you the OP? I've never had a federal job offer that let me negotiate a start date 3 months out. That's excessive! Every single one of mine gave me 2 weeks, even when I was moving cross country. My first fed job hired me on a Thursday and I was expected to show up to work on Monday, even though I lived 1000 miles away. I stayed in a hotel on my own dime until I had housing.

I've had two fed jobs and both of them gave me a ton of flexibility on my start date. For my present job, I had an offer in April, and started in September.

Pp here: that should have been as long as I was onboard.

I was hired in late Jan and asked for a March start date. They said as soon as I was on board by the end of the fiscal year it was fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

Are you the OP? I've never had a federal job offer that let me negotiate a start date 3 months out. That's excessive! Every single one of mine gave me 2 weeks, even when I was moving cross country. My first fed job hired me on a Thursday and I was expected to show up to work on Monday, even though I lived 1000 miles away. I stayed in a hotel on my own dime until I had housing.

I did. I got offer in August. Didn't start until November. No way was I jumping through hoops when they had strung me along for so long. They told me I was going to be hired in February. And they accepted it. Because their only other choice would be to start the process over and wait another 9 months to hire someone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

Are you the OP? I've never had a federal job offer that let me negotiate a start date 3 months out. That's excessive! Every single one of mine gave me 2 weeks, even when I was moving cross country. My first fed job hired me on a Thursday and I was expected to show up to work on Monday, even though I lived 1000 miles away. I stayed in a hotel on my own dime until I had housing.

I did. My offer was sometime in early July and I had to start by the fiscal year (Oct 1st).

Anonymous wrote:Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

Are you the OP? I've never had a federal job offer that let me negotiate a start date 3 months out. That's excessive! Every single one of mine gave me 2 weeks, even when I was moving cross country. My first fed job hired me on a Thursday and I was expected to show up to work on Monday, even though I lived 1000 miles away. I stayed in a hotel on my own dime until I had housing.

Let's say you have a final offer and you negotiate a start date 3 months out. Is there a danger then that the job will be recalled in those 3 months, like I've heard can happen btw tentative and final offers? Or at that point, with a final offer, would they at least owe you damages or something?

I would not underestimate your leverage. They may not be happy to hear that, but when I was at that point in the process my thinking was, that if you made me wait for months that I could do the same thing if it suited my needs. Since they had made me wait so long, it had come around time for my yearly bonus. So I stayed at the current job 3 more months to get that. At that point the long process is your friend. Because if it falls through with you, they have to start the whole process over again. I assure that process would have taken longer that three months (at least in my case). I was a GS-14 at the time.

I hope this is a GS-15 or above... That's a lot of hassle for anything less than $150k.

Ultimately, it's going to depend on your supervisor, the workload at the agency, and their budget. If they are already in the weeds and needed your position filled yesterday, they may not be thrilled when you tell them that you can start 6 months from when your background check clears.

If this position is in preparation for a future need or project or there is overlap with existing employees' tasking, they may not mind.

Like PP said, do NOT sell your house or make any kind of commitment until the offer is IN YOUR HAND.

Do not make any moves for you or the kids until everything is final -- offer + background check. Bc this is federal, I think it's unlikely that you'll be in your new location by August/Sept so your kids can start the new school yr there. So prep your kids for the idea that it will be a mid school yr move. Unless the process is SO slow that you're not hired and ready to start until Dec/Jan -- in which case do you have a spouse who could stay back and let them finish the school yr in their current location in May/June 2017?

I'm in the final interview process for a federal job which would require a cross country move with school-age kids. How do other people make the tentative nature/background checks/unknowns about start date work when you have to sell a house and move kids, potentially in the middle of a school year? Is it worth it? Any btdts?