Forgot to add, ask staff how you can help them achieve their goals - they should have some. Ask them how you can help them develop. It's a two way street.

Supervisory gs 15. Its worth it. If you can be direct, honest, authentic, empathetic, listen, you will engage your staff. Set expectations and communicate those regularly. Update your senior leader as to overall goals, and see if they have any others. Be a sounding board for those you supervise, share knowledge and be even keeled and don't micromanage. They'll be happ be loyal to you and your boss will appreciate your management of people and programs. Stay away from gossip and complaint.

Anonymous wrote:State Department here. I’m a non-supervisory 14 and generally like the work because I have a lot of freedom and independence without the micromanaging. That will soon change because the chief is retiring. Management has been mentioning my name and I generally seem to want the supervisory 15 gig. Seems like a lot of front line managers regret signing on for their gigs. What am I missing? What sort of daily bullshit do frontline supervisors deal with?

All sorts of things. It's like being a father/mother to 10 misbehaving kids except 1) they are not kids; 2) they don't do or listen to you; 3) you can't get rid of (or replace) them; and 4) your boss STILL expects you to get the job done (and more)... You are f-ed no matter what

Anonymous wrote:State Department here. I’m a non-supervisory 14 and generally like the work because I have a lot of freedom and independence without the micromanaging. That will soon change because the chief is retiring. Management has been mentioning my name and I generally seem to want the supervisory 15 gig. Seems like a lot of front line managers regret signing on for their gigs. What am I missing? What sort of daily bullshit do frontline supervisors deal with?

I'm interested in hearing this as well. I'm a non-sup 14 in a RUS area and my job isn't challenging to me at all. I like the job, easy and flexible but I'm annoyed by a self appointed "team lead" who is just another non-sup 14 on the team and our manager lets him run wild simply because the manager is an idiot and doesn't comprehend what we do. I'm ready to progress and am starting to apply for GS-15, but none of them I want to actually do based on the job duties. I'm 2210 and honestly I think I just want the title of being a 15 and the slight pay increase. But I know I honestly don't want to manage anybody nor do I want to move to a higher paying area such as DC. Non-sup 14 or 15 in a lively RUS area with low cost of living is the life!

State Department here. I’m a non-supervisory 14 and generally like the work because I have a lot of freedom and independence without the micromanaging. That will soon change because the chief is retiring. Management has been mentioning my name and I generally seem to want the supervisory 15 gig. Seems like a lot of front line managers regret signing on for their gigs. What am I missing? What sort of daily bullshit do frontline supervisors deal with?

My husband is in the same boat. Frankly I’d rather have his time and sanity and be in a decent mood with our family and lose the pay. He has been horrible to live with since he became a 15. Worse was when he was acting after his boss resigned and he had ALL the supervisory responsibility but was still a 13 doing a 15’s job for a whole year.

Anonymous wrote:I know someone who did this. Hated being a supervisor and went down to a non-supervisory 14. Eventually our agency got non-supervisory 15s and so he went back to a 15. Do what is best for you, OP. Life is too short to be that miserable at your job.

+1 to this -- you'll adjust to making less money, just as you previously did to making more. Life is too short.

I know someone who did this. Hated being a supervisor and went down to a non-supervisory 14. Eventually our agency got non-supervisory 15s and so he went back to a 15. Do what is best for you, OP. Life is too short to be that miserable at your job.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is so hard about a federal supervisor position? You just sit around until the second line tells you to do something.

People that you supervise are often crazy and do no work or provide poor work product. Then, you are responsible for fixing it. People above you often have unreasonable demands, or won't listen to good advice. I did it in an acting role for four months when my supervisor had a health issue, and it was just horrible. Not worth the small amount of additional money. At all.

Yep, this.

But is that any worse than being on the bottom of the totem pole where your managers won't listen, senior managers won't listen and people just expect you to do work?

I think a lot of this stems with bad hiring practices, inability to move people around without going through usajobs and political senior managers. The career staff are so much better than politicals.

I am a 15/10 non supervisor. It really is the best job in govt. just recently a few SES in the program got moved/transferred with new boss... some had to move their families. another reminder it's not worth the risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow does it differ by agency. It's very rare to get above 12 or 13 without being supervisory in mine.

@ CIA you can get into their version of the senior exec service (Senior Intelligence Service) in the DI. They did it to keep great analysts that just wanted to do research, write, and work on products without the managing bullshit and realized it wasn't worth seeing people with built up knowledge leave if they didn't want to manage but their level was being capped due to that.

That's what my manager told me. It was a big selling point when I went through recruitment there.

New poster, I thought SIS was like SES for the CIA? I didn't know they were non supervisory.

The vast majority are supervisory. Sorry I wasn’t clear - what I was trying to say is that there are non-supervisory SIS positions in the DI.

I don’t know how common they are though or how competitive they are. My thesis advisor helped start that type of position when he was deputy director there.

Non-supervisor promotions to 15 and higher are crazy competitive from what I hear, and the supervisors (even bad ones!) get promoted MUCH faster.

There are two tracks to 15 in the DI:

1. Becoming a senior analyst (Senior Analytic Service or SAS -- equivalent to SES). VERY difficult and competitive. We liken it to getting tenure as a professor. If you get it, it's a non-supervisory gs-15 role.

2. Getting promoted to 15 as a manager. I'm not sure if this automatically grants you SIS, but I don't think it does. That's a separate promotion. This is a much easier path.

It's very rare/essentially unheard of to go from being a gs-15 manager to gs-15 analyst. People have gone the other way (senior analyst to manager), but usually people who have been managers don't have the track record necessary to successfully apply to the SAS.

Alternatively, people who don't want to be a manager or can't get promoted to senior analyst (or don't want the responsibilities that come with it) can stay as gs-14 analysts. It's a great salary and usually they slow down their work pace and work on complex, long-term projects.

Anonymous wrote:

What is so hard about a federal supervisor position? You just sit around until the second line tells you to do something.

People that you supervise are often crazy and do no work or provide poor work product. Then, you are responsible for fixing it. People above you often have unreasonable demands, or won't listen to good advice. I did it in an acting role for four months when my supervisor had a health issue, and it was just horrible. Not worth the small amount of additional money. At all.

Yep, this.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a non-supervisory GS-14, and I have been actively shunning becoming a GS-15 for about 8 years. In my series at my agency, I would have to be a supervisor, and I think that gig looks like a really bad deal. I have tons of autonomy and flexibility in my current position, which I would lose if I took a promotion. No thanks, it's not worth the few extra bucks in my paycheck.

You are totally right to make this decision. And it's hard to go "back" once you are there - as OP is discovering and I also feel the same.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - this is no way to go through life. Any chance of transferring to a different department or agency?

I'm mid-40s myself and was extremely stressed in the same way (no therapy or meds - just b*tched a lot to my DW). I was responsible for hiring, firing and managing staff who reported to me. Likewise, I had to manage up a lot and deal with backstabbing colleagues who were looking to undermine me in order to take over my team (which had the reputation of being the best in the department).

Not OP, but this my life right now AAUUUGGGGHHH

Another poster, and yes... I can totally relate!!!

Heh, we have lots of non sup GS 14/15 in our agency. Must be sweet.