Return to Article: Senator pitches federal employment to congressional interns
-
5534
Reply to "Waiting to Retire" - It's unfortunate that you feel the way you do about federal employment. Your butt kissing comment is unfortunate and untrue in my case. I don't think I'm the one in a fantasy world: I go to work on time, put in a full day, give 110% to my job and Yankee work ethic has paid off for me. I have no buddies looking out for me. To answer your question, yes many of my coworkers have also been afforded the same positive experiences as me. I suppose this makes us fortunate but believe me - there's no buddy system. I believe that private sector has many flaws too and no protections for the employee that federal employment has in place. Wishing you well in your retirement. I know if I was in the private sector, I would not have as good a retirement as I will have. Think "IBM."
-
5525
In response to Jacksonville FL--many of the long-term disgruntled have been in the non-public sector and we know it is not all better. We also are bound by the golden handcuffs of leave category 3 and retirement benefits. That does not mean we should not seek imoprovement of the federal government workplace.
-
5524
In reply to Scott-I was with you until your AWB comment. Show me an "average" minority that gets ahead. Why should an "average" anybody get promoted to the exclsion of others?
I have a degree from a top-tier school, many masters degree credits as well, along with a professional designation in my career field and extensive and varied experience. My office mate is the same grade as I, yet has only a two-year degree from a nondescript school and no masters degree credits or any other qualifications. Plus, he has been out of the acquisition career field for over a decade. Why are we at the same level? White male and black female, guess which one I am?
-
5523
In reply to "Legacy INS"-well good for you, if all that you say in your post is true. It sounds like a fantasy to me, I don't know one person who has had such an ideal situation as you have. I ask this-did you notice others receiving the same blessings as you? This is the problem with federal service. In addition to lousy benefits, career progress is not based on merit but on who you know and how much butt you kiss. I stand by my thumbs down for federal service.
Waiting to Retire from VA
-
5486
Perhaps, someone should tell the interns that after devoting their life to public service, their jobs can be outsourced right out from under them and they can be RIFed. After 24 years of service, I have a whole new perspective on public service.
-
5473
I have been a Federal employee for over 30 years and have never regretted joining and staying with my agency. I've always been afforded opportunity for promotions, job growth, training, resources and equipment. I have received recognition for my contributions to the agency and been mentored many times. My supervisors always considered my personal life as well as my professional life and have always accommodated my needs. I don't have a sense of entitlement but I am grateful for my experiences within my agency - Legacy INS.
-
5468
I find the comments from the current, longterm federal employees interesting, but a little like "the grass is always greener". My own federal job search experience has been that the system is very broken, ill designed and the selection process often defies reason. As to public vs. private sector, the only "real" advantage to the private sector from my perspective is speed of decisionmaking and adrenaline, and that comes from someone who has worked in the private sector for 12 years. All the little vagaries of management (quotas, favoritism, management fads, etc.) are in the private sector just as in the public sector - it's just that it is glazed with the icing of "what's good for the business". First, private sector workers are not only in it for the money - this is a common myth in public affairs, just like business is only about profits (they're important but not the only reason). Study after study within the private sector show that individual worker priorities organize themselves around (1) geography (proximity to family), (2) interest (type of work), (3) compensation (not necessarily only money, healthcare, childcare, schools, etc.), etc. Second is the adequacy of pay. Truth is your pay schedule is not that different from similarly situated private workers, except at the executive ranks - your executives are vastly under-compensated and the compensation methods are too restricted (pay for work, pay at risk, etc.). The downside in the private sector is that your benefits including pay can be reduced relatively easily - they do not require and act of Congress, literally, or approval by any oversight boards, and your retirement benefits can be changed after you retire (see American Airlines). Third, private sector employment is generally "at will" even in unionized locations. You can be let go for a whole host of reasons, none of them directly related to your job performance, and there are almost no "due process" requirements. Lastly, there is affirmative action (or inaction). If you think that private sector does not have issues created by "perceptions" about minorities, you are dead wrong. At the company I last worked for they used to talk about AWB disease (average white boy). The implication was simple, if you were white and male you had to be extraordinary to be promoted. It's the same game on a different football field.
-
5466
Curious that there is SSSSOOOOOOOO much negativity by a workforce that has self-admittedly hung around for decades on the public dole. If it is that bad, and the private sector pays SSSSSOOOOOOO much better, go get another job!
I've compared the pay and the GS tables pay better for the most part up to about GS 7 or 9, depending on your series. Get above the 9 or 11 levels and they seem to pay less. Might only be a "fair haired son" syndrome, but it seems to me that those who leave usually are getting a better pay deal. But talking to them, with less guarantees of continued employment in the private sector, they end up working harder. Is it possible to have both?
As to the A-76 program - you're right. We have to prove that we're more effective than private sector businesses, but have you completely ignored that government has won roughly 90% of all the studies conducted? Doesn't that strike anyone else as surprising considering we're always being told by AFGE that they're outsourcing us left and right? Facts DO NOT back up the doom and gloom bunch.
-
5457
Having been in the federal service since 1987, I would never recommend a career position to anyone. Our insurance sucks, we pay too much for it. The only decent benefits we have are the TSP and an advance notice of reductions in force.
However, I must disagree with the gentleman who asserts that being a white male has limited his career opportunites. As a Black female, I have been confined to the GS-12 midlevel ghetto nearly 17 years, despite my degrees and experience. I see no great number of Blacks in management, maybe White females, but not Blacks. The Government talks a lot of crap about promoting minorities, but like mostly everthing else, it is just that, a bunch of crap.
-
5453
I am a federal employee and have been since 1981 and every time I see an article about the agency wanting talented college graduates, it leaves me speechless. My daughter is a recent college graduate with a degree in Software Engineering with emphasis on troubleshooting. She is currently employed with a private industry but she has had her resume on the government website for 2 yrs and no one has made an attempt to contact her.
-
5451
Why would anyone want to work for the Federal Government when we are systematically being replaced by contractors who are only in it for the bucks? Can anyone say A-76?
-
5450
Force Mgt. Officer -
Don't feel bad! I had 2 degrees - B.A. and M.A. - when I came to the government over 20 years ago. I quit after being told that they don't want no educated trash, but had to return for practical reasons I won't go into here. Because I stupidly accepted a low-graded job just to get in, I'm not even allowed to apply for things I've been qualified for for decades. At least you were able to get past the flunky grade-level, from the look of your title. Furthermore, my agency pays for other employees to get degrees they don't need, then pays them for having gotten it! In the meantime, the Flunky population receives only low-level training, grudgingly given, and sometimes not even that.
-
5444
Sad to say I cannot agree with this story. I tried punching all the right tickets - Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, Army schools, volunteering to work special projects, etc. However, as a white male, things often do not work for us. Early in my career I was tripped up by not enough African Americans in upper grades. So I stood by while many junior and less educated African Americans were promoted. It hurt, but I somewhat understood. During the next decade there was a "federal" need to promote women to get the quotas correct. Again I stood by, understanding but less than before. Now in the 3rd decade of my career, it's promote the retired military officer. Civil servants are ignored in favor of 'old buddies.' I cannot promote Federal Government service to the young bright stars coming out of college. They will be subject to every whim the bureacracy can come up with. Civil service does not mean much to many of us, any longer. Have no idea what descrimination they will throw at SAWBs in the future. Perhaps in several more decades we will become a minority, then we'll be able to get promoted. Additionally, this new personnel system will be the bane of all current civilians. The Good Ole Boys return.
-
5443
It seems that people are talking out of both ends. The government is hiring contractors at an extreemly high rate, paying more than government workers are paid. At the same time, federal employment is being touted as the job of choice. Why would someone work for the government when they would then have to compete for their job against contractors. My experience is contractors work usually has to be re-done and they have no loyalty to the agency they are working for. Federal employees are grossly underpaid compared to private industry, the prsident will not offer a decent raise nor has he shown any respect for the federal employee. Those fedaral employees who have made the government a career are dedicated, and have a loyalty to their employer far greater than anything you'll see in private industry. Give the federal employee a wage comparable to private industry and the respect they truely deserve and you wil have a workforce unmatched anywhere.
-
5441
I like John McCain but this dog won't hunt. He is trying to put some lipstick on a pig and sell it as a good looking woman.
If you have ever worked for the government, you know how really bad they treat you and how they cheat and bend the rules to fit their agenda. They hire their friends and those who are their clones and the process is self perpetuating from then on.
I am so happy to be able to retire soon. I will never recommend the government as a good job. It is a bad job and getting worse. All of this is unfortuanate but management likes it this way and wants to keep it going.
If you work as a Senator maybe it is good but not down here where the real work takes place.
PROMO RIGHT: EVENTS
UPCOMING WEBINARS
NOVEMBER 18
Speed bumps for Teleworking: What are they and how to avoid them?
DECEMBER 3
Achieve Program Success: Unlock the Management Information in Your Data
DECEMBER 10
Practical Transparency: Applying Exchange Networks for Mission Results
PROMO RIGHT: DIRECTORIES
Post a Comment
To post a comment, you must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. Messages must be limited to 400 words. By using this Service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Government Executive does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.