Anonymous wrote:A friend referred me to a position with her agency. She works from home 4 days per week and her job is pretty "easy". I applied and made it on the hiring list. She called today to tell me the salary. It's $30k less than my current job. My current job is high stress and will always be that way even if I move to a different othanization.

We just had our 3rd baby and we need every penny for childcare. I still need to interview and get an offer but I'm wondering if I should even bother? Long term I think it would be a great move short term we'd be committing financial sucidice.


Thiughts?

You will always be offered Step 1 of the GS level that you qualified for. If you currently make more than that, you need to ask for a Salary Above Minimum (SAM) adjustment. It will take more time and the HR people will try and talk you out of it because it's more work for them, but it is do-able. You will need to send them your most recent pay stub. You can also negotiate for more leave (you will start at accruing 4 hrs per pay period and can negotiate for 6 or 8 per pay period) but you need to ask at the same time that you ask for the SAM. The highest salary you can get is Step 10 of the grade you were offered (assuming your private industry pay is at least that). You cannot be offered a higher GS level than the one you qualified for (though you could always apply to another posting for a higher grade level, but it is unknowable when one will go up).
Signed, a fed employee who has been involved in hiring (and who negotiated Step 10 of my grade when hired).

Anonymous wrote:

4 days a week? That is unusual for a fed job, at least from people I know that are in it.

It may be AWS situation (Alternative Work Schedule) where you work longer hours four days per week.

Did you get an offer? My agency matched my private industry salary but it was within the GS level range.

Although your base salary may be less, the value of the additional vacation, employer share of health insurance, and work flexibility will make up part (not all) of the difference in the short term. In the long term, most jobs do not offer a pension like a Federal job does, so that is a serious consideration.

As a former contractor now working for the Feds, I took a slight pay cut but the benefits and pension more than make up for it. I've been at several agencies, and while the government does have more slackers than private industry, the vast majority of the people are hard working - I'm sure this varies by agency / department / team. No regrets for me.