Heather R
angelaknigge
Initial Thoughts on Civil Service
Posted by Heather R on August 16, 2009
Well I’ve been amiss at keeping up my blog (and other online “social media” activities) during my first two weeks on the job at NAVFAC, so here’s some catch up.
It’s been a very good experience so far. I really like the people I’m working with, and although the job itself is going to take me a while to learn and feel comfortable with, I’m already jumping in and helping make some of our processes more efficient with my MS Excel knowledge that I’ve picked up over the years from being so darn curious (“Hey – that’s cool! How does THAT work?”), and overheard myself being referred to as an Excel Goddess! (Why thank you, YES I AM!).
So here’s my deep insight into Civil Service — it’s so freaking CIVIL! We really only do work 40 hrs a week, and if we do have a business need to work longer to get something done (e.g., year-end close is fast approaching), we get paid overtime. This is such a mind-shift from working 50, sometimes 60 hrs a week as a matter of course in the Fortune 500 world. The significant cut in pay compared to my last two jobs really isn’t that significant if you work back to what my effective pay rate was based on a 50 hr work week. And of course the healthcare benefits and long-term stability are a large non-monetary compensation, given the several years of the constant spectre of layoffs in the corporate world I’ve lived with (and accepted).
The personal / professional growth opportunities are certainly very present and encouraged, so it’s not like I’m going to be bored (me having a very HIGH “learning” motivation).
IT security and protection of personal information are taken extremely seriously, given the loss of a VA laptop a few years back. As was the case at Allstate, Big Brother in IT does not allow you to check your personal commercially available web-based email accounts (e.g., Yahoo, Google) from work in order to put up a wall against some of the viruses that go around the Internet. Also no use of USB-port “Thumb Drives” for the same reasons. I had to read through & get certified on about 3 hrs of IT security and protection of personal information training, which makes me feel very good that our government agencies are taking this all very seriously.
But here’s the coolest part of starting up as a Federal Civil Servant — us newbies were sworn in on our first day. Honest! We stood up facing the US flag, raised our right hand, and did a “I, (state your name), do solemly swear….” At first I thought it was kinda hokey, but when it was over I felt like something really important had happened — I swore to uphold & defend the Constitution of the United States, not help Kraft sell more cheese, or Sprint sell more cell phones. How cool is that?!
And I’m working in an internal “company” (NAVFAC) that is helping to support the young men & women of our nation that put their lives on the line to defend the rest of us. I really do feel that I’m working for a greater cause. I never felt this inspired in any of my previous jobs.
(And here’s my rant — to that relative of mine in NE who shall remain nameless and holds very different political views than I, and who went on a rant about me being “part of the problem” now that I’m a government employee, rather than congratulating me on finding a job or being glad to have me helping to watch out for how our federal funds are being spent, Dude, all I can say is that you just don’t freaking get it.)
Betsy Smith said
Heather
So glad to hear things are going well with your new gig! Long time no talk to…….call me sometime! Hope you are still shaking it up!?
Betsy
Job Seeker said
Hi Heather,
I hope you don’t mind the rant, but I’ve been seeking federal employment for some time now and I haven’t been to crack it yet. If you had any suggestions or comments, I’d love to hear them and would be highly grateful too.
Applying for federal employment has been one of the most frustrating and maddening experiences I have ever endured. After reading through many help sites on federal employment, I don’t believe they sufficiently cover the complexity of the process, and just how different it is from private industry.
The process appears simple enough; search for a position using USAJobs, fill out your resume and personal details, submit, and voila you’ve embarked on a government career.
Well, it’s not that easy, not at all. I have tried for months to get through the highly-muddled process of obtaining employment with government departments and the armed services, and it is anything but straight-forward.
First of all, if you have a highly detailed profile at USAJobs, good for you, though chances are you’ll have to recreate it elsewhere. If you apply to a job with the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, State Department, USAID, Treasury, etc, etc… you’ll have to use their own HR websites, recreate your profile there, answer many many tedious Knowledge, Skill, and Ability (KSA) questions (particularly for ApplicationManager.gov and Avue Central. Note that these are separate often from specific KSA statements which are also often required.
When searching for a position at USAJobs or any other federal job site, you have to play close attention the position’s listed series and grade. Many people think that government jobs are only part of the GS or General Schedule (competitive) series, but in fact there are many other series types, such as GG (general schedule, excepted), FS (foreign service), WG (wage grade), IA (Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System), SV (Department of Homeland Security), AD (Department of Defense), and the Y series (YA, YB, YC, YD, YE, YF, YG, YH, YI, YJ, YK, YL, YM, YN, YP) that are used by the National Security Personnel System. Each of these series will have specific application to a type of position (security, medical, administrative, etc), and carry with that specific requirements.
The issue of Veterans preference and the 5/10 point system is well covered at OPM, and in essence it means that if during the application review your skills and experiences are graded at the same level as another person, who happens to be a veteran (disabled or not), OR a spouse of a veteran (deceased or living), OR a mother of a veteran (deceased or disabled), then assuming they have met the requirements, that individual will receive up to 10 addition points and will be offered the position. The preference is in recognition the “economic loss suffered by citizens who have served their country in uniform, restores veterans to a favorable competitive position for Government employment”.
Perhaps more importantly, is the issue of status. For many government positions you must be a ’status eligible’ to apply and be considered for that position. The other type of position is referred to as ‘public’, and can be applied to by anyone, with a few caveats, such as citizenship. For example, with Army jobs, many many openings are available only to status eligibles, such as; Army Civilian eligible, 30 percent Disabled Veteran, VRA eligible, VEOA eligible, EO 12721 eligible, Defense Contracting Management Agency (DCMA) civilian eligible, Transfer Eligible, Reinstatement eligible, ICTAP eligible, Person with Disabilities eligible, DCIPS/CIPMS Interchange eligible, NAF Interchange eligible, DCIPS employee applying for DCIPS, Student Employment, Summer Employment, Military Spouse preference eligible, Family member preference eligible, Family member no preference eliglible, Reemployment Annuitant, Other Interchange Agreement. In addition, if you want to apply to a job overseas for one of the military branches, you either have to be a military family member residing in the local area of that foreign country, but you cannot be just a US citizen residing in that foreign country.
Another issue is security clearance level, and many many positions require clearance, whether it is an intelligence analyst position or a custodian. It is necessary that you read in-depth about the process and requirements of obtaining a security clearance before applying for a position that will require you to obtain one. Also note that different departments, agencies, and defense organizations have their own clearance levels and standards, such as a DOD clearance versus a State Department clearance.
Lastly, keep in mind that almost all applications are created and submitted online. There are times when you can fax information in, but it becomes a real pain as you have to attach specific cover pages and wait several days for the details to be processed. In most instances, you will have access to an application status system, depending on which agency or department HR system you’re using. Every now and then you are allowed to send in applications by email, which is nice because you know you’re sending it to a human, and it is not necessarily being examined only by a database system looking for specific keywords and rejecting those that don’t fit that exact profile.
Most often (but not always) when submitting applications by email you are highly ‘encouraged’ to use the OF612 Optional Application form. The form is a nice fill-able PDF file, which is convenient until you get the work experiences section. In the work experiences area, you are allowed to reference only TWO jobs, and the field where you supposed to describe your ‘duties, accomplishments and related skills’ allows for ONLY 150 characters (including spaces). You are allowed to add a separate page if you require more space (which you will), but you are also told not to only write “see resume”, or “see attached page” in that highly limited field in the PDF, but what else can you write? The form is also secured, meaning that you cannot change the PDF except in the approved text fields, which is fine except there is also a place for a signature at the bottom. Most often, if sending the application by email, the HR personnel want a completed OF612 form, which the instructions say you must sign. But you can’t add a signature graphic to the PDF because it is secured. What do you do? You could print the document, sign it, scan it, and turn it back into a PDF to be email… though the file size will be significantly larger and the clarity will be reduced. Another option would be to sign the document digitally, using Adobe’s digital signature process. When asking HR officials if that is accepted, most likely they will have no idea what you’re talking about. The solution, when asked further about the signature requirement, HR personnel will probably say, “oh, don’t worry about that, it’s not necessary.”
All in all, it is a very complex and time consuming process, which sometimes often makes little logical sense and requires significant learning about what is and what is not acceptable. From my experience, it is clear that looking for a federal position when you’re already working for the government is infinitely easier than coming in from private industry. As you can tell, I’ve struggled with this process, particularly given my background which includes a deep academic foundation and highly desirable skills… not that it has made much difference. I have created a site which has documented some of those struggles and issues mentioned here, which can be viewed at – http://whatdoesittaketogetajob.com/.
Thanks Heather, and sorry for the rant,
Job Seeker