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Im a male in my late 30s, single, and wanting to go from private tofederal. I received a tentative offer from the Navy in DC.
Currently, I make $76K as an environmental engineer in Orlando. I earn23.33 hrs per month of PTO (includes vacation, sick, and holidays). 401K is25% match per dollar, up to 20% of salary. Company covers 85% ofhealthcare. Im able to walk to work, nice downtown office, friends and familylives here.
The Navy initial offer is GS-12, step 1 ($76,368). I am intending tonegotiate with them for higher salary due to cost of living. Before you think im crazy to accept thisoffer (assuming they wont negotiate), I have been with my current company for12 years, and I am so STRESSED! You have to be billable nonstop, and when you useyour PTO, it affects your billability goals.
With the Feds, I don’t have to worry about none of these. When Im onvacation, I don’t feel stressed to make up for it. The Feds pension seems temptingtoo. And I have live in Orlando most my life, so moving to DC, albeit expensive,will be good for personal growth.
Any words of wisdoms will be appreciated.
PS. I co-op with NASA during college for 6 years (reporting to work everyother semesters), ending with GS-7 when I left. Will this count towards my FERor anything? thanks
Don't assume a Fed job will not be stressful. People have a lot of misconceptions. Certainly some may be easy days, but that's no different than anywhere else in anything that involves people. Also don't assume the Fed pension is what people hear on the street. The good pension system ended 30 years ago. Even the FERS system which is essentially a 401K like system is changing. The dollar match and percentage is dropping. Though, depending on how you left the NASA position, you might get that version of FERS. Suggest you really research the current FERS to see how it stacks up against your current 401K. May or may not be better.
Healthcare looks probably about the same cost share, give our take. PTO also looks about the same for a new hire.
Biggest difference might be actual pay. Cost of living in DC is going to be higher than Orlando, and at least in my opinion, quality of life lower than Orlando (Couldn't pay me enough to live in DC).
I worked in long past in a Federal job, pure civilian and not navy or anything so no knowledge of that aspect. But I lived and worked in DC metro. A GS-12 in DC metro area will be tough. If you have no kids or anything you might be ok on a GS12 type salary. Nothing I have ever seen beats federal jobs for job security and benefits, at least in my experience and everyone's experience varies.
DC is so expensive though, and the traffic, wow and there are people there buying a 1 BR condo for what you can buy a 3,500 sq foot upscale home in Orlando. There are definite plus and minus on both sides. All about what you want at this time in your life. Factor in what your costs might be, how much job security counts, if you have kids and associated costs, your desire to buy a good home, etc. We all vary on that.
As tuff mentioned above, do not expect the job to be stress-free. Some people have the idea that Federal jobs are "cushy," low-stress jobs. With budget cuts, many employees are overworked, performing jobs that were, until recently, split among several people. Every permanent Federal position has an "other duties as assigned" clause, so, if a person retires and the position is not filled due to budget constraints, that person's duties are reassigned to other staff (without additional compensation) as "other duties as assigned."
That said, if you are competent and responsible, you will essentially have job security for life after your first full year in the Federal position (during the first year's probation period you can be fired for any or no reason). In your current private position, if you take sick leave or vacation time and, as a result, you do not meet billability goals, you could be fired. In contrast, if the same were to happen in the Federal job, then you may not receive a year end performance bonus (i.e., a cash payment or early salary step increase), and it could affect your future mobility or promotion potential, but you will not lose your job or see reduced pay.
Once you get your "foot in the door" with the Federal Government, you dramatically improve your ability to compete for other Federal jobs, particularly if you are not a veteran. Once you get your foot in the door, your reputation, the relationships you build, and your recent performance reviews will largely dictate your movement and promotion potential. You'll want to work your butt off for the first year, during which you can be fired for any or no reason, and you'll have to continue to work hard if you want to have any chance at a promotion (outside your job series). The DC area is incredibly competitive, and, on average, workers are far more ambitious than in other areas due to the high cost of living and the thirst for power and influence.
As others have suggested, the cost of living will be a shock, especially when it comes to housing. Traffic in the DC area is brutal, probably the worst in the nation. Depending on where you are and which direction you are traveling, commuting via car can take as long as 5 minutes per mile. Given most people detest stop-and-go traffic, housing and rental costs are exorbitant in the areas that provide shorter commutes with easy/quick access to public transportation, groceries, restaurants, etc. To live in a safe, walkable area with easy access to amenities and a <30 minute commute, one must typically pay >$2000/mo for a 400-600 square foot efficiency apartment, or $3000+/mo for a 2-bedroom apartment. It is common for younger professionals in their 20s and 30s to split an apartment or house with roommates (e.g., three-way split of a $3500-4000/mo 3-bedroom apartment or home). If you want to buy, a 1200 sq.ft. condo or townhouse can run $700-800K.
Im a male in my late 30s, single, and wanting to go from private tofederal. I received a tentative offer from the Navy in DC.
Currently, I make $76K as an environmental engineer in Orlando. I earn23.33 hrs per month of PTO (includes vacation, sick, and holidays). 401K is25% match per dollar, up to 20% of salary. Company covers 85% ofhealthcare. Im able to walk to work, nice downtown office, friends and familylives here.
Match for TSP, the Federal Government's version of the 401K, is essentially 1:1 up to 5 percent of salary.
Permanent Federal employees hired after 1983, with between 5 and 19 years of service, receive a "FERS" defined benefit (aka pension) that is equivalent to 1 percent of the employee's "high-3" salary (i.e., average of the 3 highest paid years) for every year of Federal service, starting at age 62. Work 10 years, and you get 10 percent of your "high-3" salary in retirement after age 62, plus Social Security.
The percentage jumps to 1.1 percent per year after 20 years of Federal service, assuming you retire after age 62 (retire at 61 with 20+ years and you only get 1 percent). Work 20 years, and you get 22 percent of your "high-3" salary in retirement age after age 62, plus Social Security. Work 30 years, and you get 33 percent of your "high-3" salary after age 62, plus Social Security.
This "pension" may sound great, but it isn't "free." Federal employees hired after 1/1/14, which have less than five years of prior experience in a permanent Federal position, see a mandatory 4.4% pre-tax salary deduction to pay for this benefit. Republicans in Congress are proposing to increase the mandatory salary deduction for all Federal employees to 6.4%. This is in addition to the standard 6.2% payroll tax deduction for SS. Of course, employees are still taxed on their "full income" even though they never actually see that income.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tennis32801
PS. I co-op with NASA during college for 6 years (reporting to work everyother semesters), ending with GS-7 when I left. Will this count towards my FERS or anything? thanks
Prior experience only counts for retirement and leave accrual calculations if you were previously classified as permanent employee (terms and temp/seasonal experience do not qualify).
Thanks all for the awesome insights. Yes, been looking for rentals in Navy yard area and a 1/1 around 650sf is around $1900/month. I already own a condo downtown Orlando and is paying a bit over $2K/month for mortgage+HOA, so I am use to that monthly cost. Obviously my condo is bigger. I plan not to having a car and the place referenced above seems walking distance to Navy Yard.
Some of you guys mentioned possible bonuses in Fed, that's good to know. Are we talking about couple hundreds dollars or a paycheck worth?
I think this will be a good change for me, a new vibrant city, and new job, much less in the federal government. If I was moving for another private company, that's a different story.
Some of you guys mentioned possible bonuses in Fed, that's good to know. Are we talking about couple hundreds dollars or a paycheck worth?
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Can't say for the Navy, but AF bonuses are nothing that would motivate anyone. AF allocates only a very small percentage toward bonus payments (forgot what it was last year). Then they tend to peanut butter spread it to avoid complaints. That or rotate around the office on who's turn it is this year. One year all us engineers in the office got together and voted for the boss to give it all to the secretary. That way it meant something to her and if he'd peanut spread it to us, it would have been about enough for dinner at Red Lobster.
Some of you guys mentioned possible bonuses in Fed, that's good to know. Are we talking about couple hundreds dollars or a paycheck worth? .
I assume your question relates to performance bonuses / awards.
In the Federal Government, there are three basic types of performance awards: time off (typically an extra 40 hours of vacation time that is tracked separately and never expires); monetary awards (up to 5% of annual salary); and unscheduled step increases, which increase your annual salary faster than otherwise scheduled. The last is the most highly sought award, and is supposed to be given only to the highest performers. The time off award can be combined with any other award.
If you are in a GS12 position with no promotion potential, you would automatically receive one step increase after the first year for acceptable performance (step 01 -> 02). If you are identified as a top performer, and you receive a step increase as a performance award, then you would be promoted from step 02 to 03 after the first year, making $81,471 instead of the starting $76,378.
If you are in a GS12 position that has GS13 promotion potential (which would be mentioned in the job advertisement), then you could be promoted from GS12 Step 01 from GS13 Step 01 after one year, if your supervisor believes you are performing at a GS13 level. If you are also identified as a top performer and you receive a step increase as a performance award, then that would take you from GS13 Step 01 to 02, and you would be making $93,851 after one year instead of the starting $76,378.
Again, the performance-based step awards are only supposed to be given to the highest performers. The typical award for someone that performs good (well above average) work is probably a cash award in the amount of 2-3% of salary; the cash award for someone that performs excellent work might be 5% of salary.
Since the sequestration, most agencies now cap their total cash awards at 1% of total salary payout, which means that for every person that gets a 3% cash award, there are several other people that get nothing (or a time-off award). Some agencies "use up" much of their award money by giving the maximum allowable amounts to senior executives; other agencies reserve most of their award money for the "rank and file."
Thanks all, very helpful stuff. I receive an email with the tentative offer, and it says I have 5 business days to respond. Is that just to "respond" and different from acceptance? You guys seems to know a lot about how the fed works. The job post had a salary range, whats the chances of me negotiating higher? I researched this topic also and the consensus is it doesn't hurt to ask. Figure you may know something more, and the process/steps I should be expecting in the upcoming weeks, thanks again.
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