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I'm looking for advise on how to proceed with a job application. Back in May I applied for a federal job. I went through a phone interview followed by two more onsite panel interviews. The last of those interviews was on Thursday 8/11. At the end of that interview, the director of the department told me "This was a very good interview, you'll probably hear back from us soon". That made me very excited about my chances of getting the job. The next day I sent a thank you email and the HR rep replied asking me for three references. I sent them and I know they were contacted on 8/16 and 8/17.
The one thing I didn't do though, and which was stupid, was ask during the final interview when could I expect a decision.
Since it's been one week since my interview, I was wondering if it would be appropriate to send out an email asking when they expect to make the decision? I know it's only been one week, but I feel that not understanding what the expected timeline is going to be i causing me a lot of anxiety.
Thanks for the advise! I ended up sending out the email and the HR rep replied telling me she completed the reference check and forwarded the results to the hiring manager and that she thinks he'll make a decision in the next week or so and also told me that until then I should feel free to check in with her anytime I wanted. Of course now that I have a sort of timeline to manage my own expectations I will try not to be pesky and I will not reach out to her until at least 8/29.
I guess my lesson here is to always ask when to expect a response during the interview.
I agree, the process is slow. I was just offered a job with the federal government, and although from the last interview until they call and offered me the job was only 2 days, it has been over a week and I haven't received the formal written offer. My start date isnt until over 3 weeks away, but I was hoping to put in notice as soon as possible instead of the standard 2 weeks.
It will take patience The whole process took about 2 months
I have a happy update to this thread, I ended up getting the tentative offer yesterday. So it took almost three weeks from my last interview until I finally got the offer.
Now I'm in the same position as you Nikko12...I would love to put in my notice as soon as possible because I know my current employer is planning on starting a new project with a new client and has told me it'll be assigned to me, but I really can't do that until I get the formal offer.
Congrats on being offered the job! I'm a proud fed of 8 years.
I remember my interview. The director loved me and said she was going to write HR and say she would like me to be offered the position, but also mentioned "the final decision is not up to me", which kind of worried me.
I waited a good three weeks before sending an email to the director asking about the status. She replied back saying that these things take time and I should hear something soon. Well, a week later I got a call from HR. It started out sounding like they were going to give me bad news. In a very low voice, the HR rep said something like, "Hello, Mr. MyName, thank you for applying for job X. After reviewing your application we would like to OFFER YOU THE POSITION!"
I was very happy, as that was when the job market sucked and every fed job had hundreds and even thousands of applicants.
Congrats on being offered the job! I'm a proud fed of 8 years.
I remember my interview. The director loved me and said she was going to write HR and say she would like me to be offered the position, but also mentioned "the final decision is not up to me", which kind of worried me.
I waited a good three weeks before sending an email to the director asking about the status. She replied back saying that these things take time and I should hear something soon. Well, a week later I got a call from HR. It started out sounding like they were going to give me bad news. In a very low voice, the HR rep said something like, "Hello, Mr. MyName, thank you for applying for job X. After reviewing your application we would like to OFFER YOU THE POSITION!"
I was very happy, as that was when the job market sucked and every fed job had hundreds and even thousands of applicants.
Anyway, congrats and good luck!
I enjoyed being a Fed, and there are many things I miss about it now that I'm in the private sector. But I definitely don't think the government is as stable as it used to be. It seems like every few months there's a threat of a shutdown. I just read that another one is looming:
To the OP- good luck, but I would caution you to go for the position (assuming you get an official offer) because it's a good position for your career, and not just for the benefits/lifestyle. I worry that with the current political environment, that the federal government stability of the past may not be that way for much longer.
I enjoyed being a Fed, and there are many things I miss about it now that I'm in the private sector. But I definitely don't think the government is as stable as it used to be. It seems like every few months there's a threat of a shutdown. I just read that another one is looming:
To the OP- good luck, but I would caution you to go for the position (assuming you get an official offer) because it's a good position for your career, and not just for the benefits/lifestyle. I worry that with the current political environment, that the federal government stability of the past may not be that way for much longer.
Still way better than the private sector. Even if they shut down all it means is a vacation with out pay that you will most likely be reimbursed for and even if you are not its still infinitely better than a full blown lay off where you are searching for a new job for months or over a year.
I could totally absorb a 2 week vacation without pay.
Now if the feds started doing mass lay offs that would be a game changer and it would destroy their credibility and people would not put up with the USA jobs games anymore if they were no better than the private sector.
A 2 week govt shut down vs being unemployed for 6 months to a year are apples and oranges. One is playing video games for 2 weeks and hanging out with the family and the other is feverishly revamping my resume and applying for jobs until 1am in the morning. Not the same thing.
I am actually in the process of apply for fed jobs to get out of the private sector but it is not easy and a lot of the jobs will require a pay cut that I am not ready for yet. But the oil and gas markets are no where close to being stable yet so I have to apply to any fed job to make sure my game is on enough to get interviews even for a pay cut because I may not have a choice in a year if things continue to deteriorate and oil becomes worth less than gravel.
Still way better than the private sector. Even if they shut down all it means is a vacation with out pay that you will most likely be reimbursed for and even if you are not its still infinitely better than a full blown lay off where you are searching for a new job for months or over a year.
I could totally absorb a 2 week vacation without pay.
Now if the feds started doing mass lay offs that would be a game changer and it would destroy their credibility and people would not put up with the USA jobs games anymore if they were no better than the private sector.
A 2 week govt shut down vs being unemployed for 6 months to a year are apples and oranges. One is playing video games for 2 weeks and hanging out with the family and the other is feverishly revamping my resume and applying for jobs until 1am in the morning. Not the same thing.
I am actually in the process of apply for fed jobs to get out of the private sector but it is not easy and a lot of the jobs will require a pay cut that I am not ready for yet. But the oil and gas markets are no where close to being stable yet so I have to apply to any fed job to make sure my game is on enough to get interviews even for a pay cut because I may not have a choice in a year if things continue to deteriorate and oil becomes worth less than gravel.
True, but the "smaller government" and cutting government spending sentiments have definitely been becoming more pervasive over the years. With the current political divide and republicans dead set on reducing the size of government, I can definitely see it downsizing in the future. It may not be as volatile as the private sector, but I definitely don't think it's as stable as it once was. Congress has started to use partial funding plans and threats of government shutdowns as a way to leverage. That's why every few months we are now hearing about threats of a government shutdown.
True, but the "smaller government" and cutting government spending sentiments have definitely been becoming more pervasive over the years. With the current political divide and republicans dead set on reducing the size of government, I can definitely see it downsizing in the future. It may not be as volatile as the private sector, but I definitely don't think it's as stable as it once was. Congress has started to use partial funding plans and threats of government shutdowns as a way to leverage. That's why every few months we are now hearing about threats of a government shutdown.
Yea but I would bet money that the majority of the cuts will be due to attrition and retirements (not good for someone trying to get in). But once you make it in its highly unlikely they will do draconian lay offs putting late 20 to early 30 something families out on the streets like a private company would do in a heart beat if it meant a second summer home and they could get away with it without damaging the company.
THAT is the major difference, it is how they do the lay offs and who is getting laid off, getting an early retirement package is a far different thing from being laid off 5-10 years into a career and have to pack up the family and leave the state with what ever you have managed to save.
Also in a shut down you just take an unpaid vacation. The consequences are FAR different between what the fed govt does and what private companies are within their rights to do (ie at will). Could the fed govt start getting as draconian as private companies, I suppose but its never happened ... ever where as companies do it all the time ... put people out on their a$$ with no parachute.
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The whole process took about 2 months
Government Shutdown Looming
