Telework is governed by agency policy, many state you must be an employee for 1 year to be eligible to telework.

I don't know if my experience applies to most. I am an attorney so I am in the excepted service (versus most Fed employees who are in the competitive service). I believe the position I applied for was a GS-11 with promotion potential to 14. I clerked for a year, and many other positions I applied for stated you would get credit for your clerkship year and could start as a 12. When I got my offer I asked if I could get a 12. My boss was hesitant but was able to make it happen. Around the same time another new attorney started. He didn't ask (although he had clerked for two years) and they started him as an 11.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a higher prior salary in a lower COL, and was still unable to negotiate a step increase. It took nearly 3 years to get back to my prior salary level.

Is this the norm? I may be close to an offer for a federal job and couldn't accept my current private sector salary (lower COL area) in DC. Is it possible to negotiate a higher than current private salary due to high COL in DC metro? Anyone know if it has been done and how?

Most federal offices already offer higher pay to employees in DC or NY.

How much additional leave is reasonable/possible to negotiate?

You can argue for a higher salary due to a higher COL, but you don't know if you'll get it. It depends on the Agency, and I think it's normally an HR function and not a decision made by the people offering the job. They can push for more, but that doesn't always mean much.

Anonymous wrote:I had a higher prior salary in a lower COL, and was still unable to negotiate a step increase. It took nearly 3 years to get back to my prior salary level.

Is this the norm? I may be close to an offer for a federal job and couldn't accept my current private sector salary (lower COL area) in DC. Is it possible to negotiate a higher than current private salary due to high COL in DC metro? Anyone know if it has been done and how?