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laxbro posted:I have applied for a vacancy that has been canceled 3 times within the past 24 hours (initial vacancy posting on 3/15). Very bizarre. I am not even that interested but I'm going to keep on reapplying just in case they are trying to sneak someone in through the announcement. Would their punishment for whatever sketch/incompetence be hiring you? “I have seen through your...whatevers, so now you must hire me!”
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Mar 17, 2021 21:56
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So I think my agency, or a specific part of it rather, may be abusing the DHA and violating veteran preference laws in a way that also makes it difficult for current federal employees to advance and I'm looking for another opinion. What they're doing is basically posting near all open positions straight to the public under the Direct Hiring Authority which makes veteran preferences meaningless and also negates any preference to hire current employees. A great deal of the positions in the organization, likely fair to say a significant majority in fact, are full time teleworking positions that allow the employee to live nearly anywhere in the country as long as they're within a certain distance of an agency location, which is near everywhere. The result is the effective hiring pool is the entire country in this not at all niche industry and this not surprisingly means the positions get a LOT of applications, so many in fact that the majority of the postings include language stating that only the first 50-100 applications received will be looked at. I know for a fact that these positions often hit those quotas within 24-48 hours, I know this because I've received rejection notices saying I was not one of the first 50 when I've applied the same or next day the position posted. I also know there are thousands of existing employees in the agency for whom moving into positions like these is one of the only real paths of advancement available internally. To use the DHA it's required the there either be a critical need or that there is shortage of candidates. According to what I can find the OPM says that even if using a critical need as the reason it still needs to be explained why other hiring authorities, like the various veterans authorities or the regular internal federal ones, could not be used. It's absurd to think theres any lack of candidates if the postings require quotas that are filled with 48 hours or that there would be any actual difficulty finding qualified applicants through the normal hiring method. Right?
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Mar 18, 2021 06:14
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Elem7 posted:To use the DHA it's required the there either be a critical need or that there is shortage of candidates. According to what I can find the OPM says that even if using a critical need as the reason it still needs to be explained why other hiring authorities, like the various veterans authorities or the regular internal federal ones, could not be used. It's absurd to think theres any lack of candidates if the postings require quotas that are filled with 48 hours or that there would be any actual difficulty finding qualified applicants through the normal hiring method. Right? This is a tough one. I think this would be really hard to challenge because OPM supposedly approves each agency's DHA but there's still some things you could do. You can try to see if you can get your union involved. You could also hire an employment lawyer to represent you. If you're a veteran (or part of another protected class) you might have an easier time fighting this. I believe there are also ways to appeal hiring decisions. So if you apply and are rejected you still have recourse if you can show that HR did not follow the laws, regs, and agency guidance. I'm not sure if we have any HR goons here - they would know this stuff better than me. Your agency should probably have HR policy documents posted somewhere. Find the ones that deal with competitive hiring and DHA.
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Mar 18, 2021 13:00
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You could also contact your agency's inspector general through the whistleblower hotline.
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Mar 18, 2021 17:12
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Mar 22, 2021 19:09
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Is USCIS seriously still not hiring Come on, guys, we have a president again, you can stop pretending there is no money (O.K. there probably really is no money) I need to get rehired so my father no longer sends me news clips of the dozens of "ASYLUM RESOURCES DESPERATELY NEEDED AT BORDER" stories
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Mar 22, 2021 21:54
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We have Joe Biden who is just as racist as Trump, but since he’s on the other team everyone is pretending things have changed.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:08
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Actually my last post was in error.  at the idea that Joe Biden even understands where he is most of the time. He’s in no shape to set policy.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:12
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That feel when a GS 9 detailing as an 11 and moving into a 12 role by week's end. gently caress me.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:36
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Forward_Bee posted:That feel when a GS 9 detailing as an 11 and moving into a 12 role by week's end. gently caress me. Nobody Fucks Ya Like Uncle Sam That’s a saying, isn’t it?
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Mar 22, 2021 22:41
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Loucks posted:We have Joe Biden who is just as racist as Trump, but since he’s on the other team everyone is pretending things have changed. This. Never forget that Joe Biden is a career politicians since his 20s. He is far removed from the concerns of average americans.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:53
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REMEMBER SPONGE MONKEYS posted:Nobody Fucks Ya Like Uncle Sam It is now at least. The deal isn't so bad b/c obviously the detail gave me higher pay. What I'm trying to wrap my noodle around is if this upcoming role assumption will be matched with a pay jump, because unlike the 9 to 11 jump in my world, this one will actually make me work more, not less.
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Mar 22, 2021 22:54
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Dr. Quarex posted:Is USCIS seriously still not hiring USCIS is my dream job, but after all the fuckery they're going through now? It has me full on reconsidering on jumping in because holy poo poo those backlogs would drown out the new folk and I could imagine they would be rushing the gently caress out of training just so they could put a dent in that pileup. Oddly enough when they do break out the mass hirings, it might not take long to get in.
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Mar 23, 2021 01:32
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It’s getting a lot better already, frankly. I miss my overtime though.
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Mar 23, 2021 01:59
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Forward_Bee posted:That feel when a GS 9 detailing as an 11 and moving into a 12 role by week's end. gently caress me. I feel the pain. I'm a GS 9 doing a GS 11's job (along with mine) and I'm not even detailed because I don't have time in grade 
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Mar 23, 2021 03:10
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Delorence Fickle posted:USCIS is my dream job, but after all the fuckery they're going through now? It has me full on reconsidering on jumping in because holy poo poo those backlogs would drown out the new folk and I could imagine they would be rushing the gently caress out of training just so they could put a dent in that pileup. I even technically have interview experience now thanks to my brief Census job, which is relevant for Asylum Officer postings, since having specifically interviewed people when working for the government was a specific requirement for the postings in 2016 or 2017.
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Mar 23, 2021 03:48
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laxbro posted:This is mostly true. There is at least one non-stem patent examiner role: Design Patent Examiner: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/590866400. I'm actually looking at applying for this, but I don't really know how to phrase things for resumes for this or what they're looking for. To be honest, I haven't applied or looked for jobs since I started my current role, like 6 years ago. Does anyone have experience with design patent examiner roles? It seems like the resumes they want you to make for these are way different than corporate world resumes, and totally different than how I applied for design roles (eg, no portfolio??? or are they expecting me to submit my portfolio too at some point?) I feel really lost in applying for this, but I don't really know how to find what they're looking for, outside of the obvious basic qualifications there. I have 6yrs working in corporate as an industrial designer, and a bachelor's in industrial design, so I'm not lacking there, at least, but to be honest I don't have much experience with design patents as a whole. Or does that mean I'm just not qualified for this at all?
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Mar 24, 2021 19:09
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Gnossiennes posted:I'm actually looking at applying for this, but I don't really know how to phrase things for resumes for this or what they're looking for. To be honest, I haven't applied or looked for jobs since I started my current role, like 6 years ago. Does anyone have experience with design patent examiner roles? It seems like the resumes they want you to make for these are way different than corporate world resumes, and totally different than how I applied for design roles (eg, no portfolio??? or are they expecting me to submit my portfolio too at some point?) Just apply. Make sure you use all of the keywords used in the USA Jobs posting in your resume. Maybe try to lookup design examiners on linked in to see if anyone will answer any questions you have.
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Mar 24, 2021 19:28
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Starting next week I am the only remaining staff member on my team (apart from my supervisor). There were 5 staff when I first joined 6 years ago. I think now is a good time to see if I can ask for a full time telework agreement for post COVID. I would love to move to Baltimore or even Richmond. Otherwise its time to find a different job at another office or agency.
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Mar 24, 2021 20:19
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Had an interview on MS teams a few weeks ago. Apparently they made a spreadsheet of the five candidates and they just left a copy in their chat. Their chat which included me. I found out that I was the alternate candidate, rated as high as the first place. 🥲 But really people, that should not have been so easy for me to find. It was a DOD interview.
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Mar 24, 2021 22:41
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Dr. Quarex posted:I am honestly banking on all of the things you are saying as to helping increase my chances of getting back in, haha. They have to figure any former USCIS employee is going to be the safest bet for catching on quickly for clearing the backlog Unofficial chatter is that finances are still not great, and they really over-hired in the areas you would expect under Trump (i.e. fraud investigation type stuff, not positions that actually adjudicate and complete cases to bring in $). Not really something you can quickly unwind/reverse, even by government standards of "quickly." Even the positions we have a dire need to fill (were strongly advocating for exemptions to the hiring freeze while it was in effect, because we were at 1/3 of the positions filled) still haven't been posted on USAjobs. I expect the positions to start trickling in, but wouldn't hold my breath for the "Multiple Positions Available" at multiple locations you saw a few years back, especially for those open to general public positions.
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Mar 24, 2021 23:27
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Manifest Dynasty posted:Unofficial chatter is that finances are still not great, and they really over-hired in the areas you would expect under Trump (i.e. fraud investigation type stuff, not positions that actually adjudicate and complete cases to bring in $). Not really something you can quickly unwind/reverse, even by government standards of "quickly." Even the positions we have a dire need to fill (were strongly advocating for exemptions to the hiring freeze while it was in effect, because we were at 1/3 of the positions filled) still haven't been posted on USAjobs. I expect the positions to start trickling in, but wouldn't hold my breath for the "Multiple Positions Available" at multiple locations you saw a few years back, especially for those open to general public positions. Sad to think I might have gotten my previous USCIS fraud analyst job due to the administration in place though
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Mar 25, 2021 00:45
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Some kid less than 2 years out of undergrad got an SK-12 position and I’m irrationally upset beyond measure. Like how did he make it past the HR screen?
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Mar 25, 2021 06:38
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Anyone know if FSAFEDS will up the dependent care FSA limit to $10,500 in response to the relief bill? I can't find any news on the topic.
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Mar 25, 2021 16:27
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Josh Lyman posted:Some kid less than 2 years out of undergrad got an SK-12 position and I’m irrationally upset beyond measure. Like how did he make it past the HR screen? I’ve seen a couple of babies make it to bizarrely high grades. Unfortunately I’ve never had justification to look at their files to figure out how they managed it. I’ve always assumed they just lied more egregiously than most and got away with it.
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Mar 25, 2021 16:45
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Counterpoint: it’s annoying as gently caress when coworkers don’t take talented people seriously because they haven’t worked here for 30 years. I’d rather have the 24 year old gs-13 who was hired with me on my team because they are both qualified and can run a meeting without fumbling around with technology for 20 minutes.
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Mar 25, 2021 17:09
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AtomicSX posted:Anyone know if FSAFEDS will up the dependent care FSA limit to $10,500 in response to the relief bill? I can't find any news on the topic. I just called FSAFEDs and the customer service person said she has no idea. I'm guessing they will but who knows.
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Mar 25, 2021 19:46
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It was all basically the same to me, since if someone is good at a job I do not care about their background, but anyone mad about a fresh college graduate already at a 12 position should go to my old Vermont office and see how many 13s only have a high school education (I do not think any 14s had never gone to college, but I do not know that for sure)
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Mar 26, 2021 00:27
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If any of you feds speak Spanish, i saw this government-wide detail opportunity today: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/596318100 Basically, you're going to the southern border for 30-120 days and helping HHS reunite migrant kids with their families. They pay you whatever your current salary is, plus travel/living stipend. I think your agency/management needs to agree. I'd do it if I didn't have family obligations. Spread the word to any colleagues that might be able to assist.
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Mar 26, 2021 22:37
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Thesaurus posted:If any of you feds speak Spanish, i saw this government-wide detail opportunity today: drat, I speak Spanish but have already been away from the family for 6 months, I don't think my wife would sign off on me extending that.  But I'm sharing it. Thanks.
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Mar 27, 2021 13:22
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Anyone ever work at CBP HQ in DC? Wondering about the culture. I know their mission is politically sensitive but I'm curious from a day to day internal culture perspective.
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Apr 2, 2021 14:50
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Howard Phillips posted:Anyone ever work at CBP HQ in DC? Wondering about the culture. I know their mission is politically sensitive but I'm curious from a day to day internal culture perspective. Reagan Building is ok, culture is more dependent and what part of CBP you'd be at. Generally it is kinda a militarized cop culture. Mission is good but CBP tolerates grinding employees to dust to accomplish it. If you aren't a LEO you will generally be second class employee. As an example all LEO were able to sign up for COVID19 vaccination but non-LEO, even if doing the same job, were not. Overall it isn't a horrible Agency, probably middle of the pack in Government.
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Apr 2, 2021 21:28
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Terror Ninja posted:Reagan Building is ok, culture is more dependent and what part of CBP you'd be at. Generally it is kinda a militarized cop culture. Mission is good but CBP tolerates grinding employees to dust to accomplish it. If you aren't a LEO you will generally be second class employee. As an example all LEO were able to sign up for COVID19 vaccination but non-LEO, even if doing the same job, were not. Thanks, and yeah I definitely would not be a LEO if I worked at CBP.
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Apr 3, 2021 00:15
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For what it is worth, I believe CBP HQ was also directing the kidnap-and-release domestic terror program under the last administration, from what my friend who used to bang a CBP HQ guy told me. So yeah, that made me into a permanent "hard no" for CBP as well as ICE (though I already should have been there with ICE before 2016 if I were being honest with myself) I realize this advice may not impact you at all; in fact Lovecraft would surely have approved of that mission!
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Apr 3, 2021 01:28
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Howard Phillips posted:Thanks, and yeah I definitely would not be a LEO if I worked at CBP. I work for USCIS HQ and back circa 2008-2010 (holy poo poo I've been with USCIS for a long time...) I used to frequently interact with non-LEO CBP HQ employees. They were in internal controls type roles. Really nice people, but overworked compared to similar roles at USCIS. However, they were also higher graded than the same roles at USCIS, so there's that.
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Apr 4, 2021 03:07
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I have 1.5 years as a GS13 and received an average review last year as is apparently customary for all new employees. I have experience in the private sector that I believe qualifies at the GS14 level. I’m kicking myself because I realized I just missed the cutoff date for an internal GS14 position on my team. How are internal performance appraisals weighted vs external experience when it comes to promotions? I’d like to think I had no shot, because I didn’t apply!!!
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Apr 6, 2021 19:33
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Mush Mushi posted:I have 1.5 years as a GS13 and received an average review last year as is apparently customary for all new employees. I have experience in the private sector that I believe qualifies at the GS14 level. I’m kicking myself because I realized I just missed the cutoff date for an internal GS14 position on my team. How are internal performance appraisals weighted vs external experience when it comes to promotions? I’d like to think I had no shot, because I didn’t apply!!! That may be dependent on where you work, but if you've been around for at least a year and a half they're going to be much more interested in what you're doing for them than they are what you did in a previous job. Most of your "prior experience" leverage goes away once you've accepted an offer.
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Apr 6, 2021 19:45
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From my experience your eval ranking is critical to promotion. “Exceeds expectations” is almost necessary, and “Outstanding” is, of course, ideal.
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Apr 7, 2021 02:41
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Mush Mushi posted:I have 1.5 years as a GS13 and received an average review last year as is apparently customary for all new employees. I have experience in the private sector that I believe qualifies at the GS14 level. I’m kicking myself because I realized I just missed the cutoff date for an internal GS14 position on my team. How are internal performance appraisals weighted vs external experience when it comes to promotions? I’d like to think I had no shot, because I didn’t apply!!! If it were a lateral to another agency that external experience might matter a bit. An competitive application to another agency and it 100% would matter. An internal to the same team would likely put more weight on internal ratings.
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Apr 7, 2021 04:25
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Heck yes, USCIS made its first job posting I am massively overqualified for; time to apply and find out if you still have to live within 4 hours of the office even in these challenging times
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Apr 7, 2021 05:11
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