New Graduate soon and potential employee???? (attorneys, contractor, salary)

[akorosdc]

Originally Posted by bungalowmo

Well, for me, I have my own home...but no spouse or kids.

I just thought those #'s were interesting...what they pay for what you bring to the table.

Just an observation...that's all

Yeah, it is very interesting, it looks like (again, for some positions, not all) your experience is more valued than education. Sometimes you need both, but given the initial choice of one over the other it seems like work experience wins. I'm trying to get the both of best worlds now and work while getting a graduate degree.....we'll see how well this goes...

The budgeting info was more in a general response to the "you can't live here on less than $90k/year" comments I see all over the place, not so much towards anything you said.

[mlv311]

Juniperblue's statement regarding grade qualifications are pretty accurate. The reason for this is that many jobs in the federal government under the professional/administrative series do not require a college education per se. Bottomline is that with no prior experience, an undergraduate degree in your field qualifies you for a GS-5 or GS-7 (depending on your GPA) and a graduate degree (Masters) qualifies you for a GS-9. If you get hired in an agency with pay bands, HR will have more flexibilities in starting salaries/promotions, but it's not a huge difference. If you live by a budget, perform well and get promoted in a career ladder, you'll be able to make it.

Regarding money laundering investigations, I would check out different parts of the Department of Justice (DEA, FBI, etc.) and the Department of Treasury. Your language skills may be an asset in this field. As far as intelligence jobs, every federal law enforcement agency and DOD has them. But choose a place where you are challenged. Some agencies will require a mobility agreement (i.e., you have to be willing to go where you are needed).

Once you are in the government, you can move around easily without losing benefits. But keep in mind that not all agencies are equal. The reputation of the agency and the caliber of its staff vary.

[Nemesis15]

Alot of great advice and responses from all parties. You guys have definitely opened my mind to new possibilities. From my knowledge, I think most people are signed up for the 5-7-9 or 7-9-11 GS pay upgrades (GS 5 for social sciences/liberal arts majors and GS 7 if you have a GPA of 3.0 or higher) meaning you upgrade 2 latters a year until you are at full performance and then can only go up by 1 at a time.

I find it quite dismal that even with the locality of 20.89 for DC the pay grades are:

5-31571
7-39330
9-48108
11-58206

Call me a skeptic, but I was expecting atleast $50k to start fresh from college. I always figured my knowledge of Thai, seeing as how there are only 150,000 or so Thais in America according to the 2000 Census, would definitely allow me to obtain a job, but I guess their presence isn't as felt diplomatically as I wanted.

It makes me become more intrigued of possible joining the military as an officer, and racking up all the benefits and clearance at the same time.

[mlv311]

Originally Posted by Nemesis15

Alot of great advice and responses from all parties. You guys have definitely opened my mind to new possibilities. From my knowledge, I think most people are signed up for the 5-7-9 or 7-9-11 GS pay upgrades (GS 5 for social sciences/liberal arts majors and GS 7 if you have a GPA of 3.0 or higher) meaning you upgrade 2 latters a year until you are at full performance and then can only go up by 1 at a time.

Just to clarify, if you get hired as a GS-5 in a job with a promotion potential to a GS-13, for example, and you perform satisfactorily, you will be promoted noncompetitively every year as follows: GS-7, GS-9, GS-11, GS-12, GS-13.

I remember when I started in the government, how many of my friends took jobs in the private sector with starting salaries a lot higher than mine, but two years later, I was making more than them. Money wasn't the motivating factor for me. I truly wanted public service. If you find something you really want to do and you are good at it, the money will follow.

[barryhussein]

I'm currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and a person with a degree, who is fluent in English makes about 3 USD per hour.

I agree with the poster on Page 1, who gave you the hard truth. Your degree is way too general, and people like you are a dime a dozen in DC. My nephew just graduated with a degree (high GPA) in English Literature. Does he have a job in his field? No! Did his thoughtful, loving parents bother telling him about the real world four years ago? No. He scored a 31 on the ACT, and won the Physics competition for his school district. But, English Lit.? 150,000$ later, no trabajo.

[Nemesis15]

^ Just wondering what would be fluent in English have anything to do with making more money in Thailand? Like 60% of Thais speaking wise can already hold their own over there. The most you can do with a English degree, assuming that's what you have, is be a English teacher. Which has a potential of 100,000 baht maximum if you do a private institution.

My estimated numbers:

1 out of every 4 Thais can speak English fairly well
150,000 Thais in America ( what percent do you think are in the govt. field?)

[barryhussein]

You obviously haven't seen much of Thailand. About 1 in 50 are fluent in English. Many do speak enough to give taxi rides, etc.. You graduated from a third tier national University, with a liberal arts degree. Why don't you keep us posted on your search for 50K; it should be worth a few laughs.

150,000 Thais living in America? Might be a little low. There are 50,000 in LA, alone. That just tells you there is not much of a demand for people, who speak Thai. FYI, a Thai, English Teacher (fluent in English) makes no more than 20,000 THB per month in Thailand. An American English Teacher, with experience, and a B.ed. can make up to 100K, but that number is usually closer to 50K. Most foreign English Teachers make less than 40K THB per month (about 6 usd per hour).

[Darksword]

Originally Posted by Nemesis15

Alot of great advice and responses from all parties. You guys have definitely opened my mind to new possibilities. From my knowledge, I think most people are signed up for the 5-7-9 or 7-9-11 GS pay upgrades (GS 5 for social sciences/liberal arts majors and GS 7 if you have a GPA of 3.0 or higher) meaning you upgrade 2 latters a year until you are at full performance and then can only go up by 1 at a time.

I find it quite dismal that even with the locality of 20.89 for DC the pay grades are:

5-31571
7-39330
9-48108
11-58206

Call me a skeptic, but I was expecting atleast $50k to start fresh from college. I always figured my knowledge of Thai, seeing as how there are only 150,000 or so Thais in America according to the 2000 Census, would definitely allow me to obtain a job, but I guess their presence isn't as felt diplomatically as I wanted.

It makes me become more intrigued of possible joining the military as an officer, and racking up all the benefits and clearance at the same time.

Hm, those look low to me. Are those you listed all Step 1 for those GS levels?

[Nemesis15]

Originally Posted by barryhussein

You obviously haven't seen much of Thailand. About 1 in 50 are fluent in English. Many do speak enough to give taxi rides, etc.. You graduated from a third tier national University, with a liberal arts degree. Why don't you keep us posted on your search for 50K; it should be worth a few laughs.

150,000 Thais living in America? Might be a little low. There are 50,000 in LA, alone. That just tells you there is not much of a demand for people, who speak Thai. FYI, a Thai, English Teacher (fluent in English) makes no more than 20,000 THB per month in Thailand. An American English Teacher, with experience, and a B.ed. can make up to 100K, but that number is usually closer to 50K. Most foreign English Teachers make less than 40K THB per month (about 6 usd per hour).

Considering that I am, I'd say I have a brief understanding of what happens there from my visits and stints. 1 in 50 is absurd sir. English is incorporated into most of the schools when they are little. Thais realize the potential of being capable of speaking the global language, yes call me ignorant but it's true, and continue to do so in their educational system. And those are close to the same numbers I listed.

I think your logic is alittle off. It's usually the languages that are scarce in the United States that are the one in high demand. For instance, Arabic, Korean, Urdu, etc. If that was the case with your mindset, then every Spanish speaking person, me included, will be linguist for the FBI, CIA, etc., making $60k, and $10,000 bonuses out of college. Not only is Thai considered a growing and almost vital language, but due to the Malay population who are said to have ties to some of the Middle East, and the bordering country, Burma, the presence of qualified people are drastically needed.

Hope that clears things up, and thanks for the input barryhussein.

Darksword, yes these numbers are all step 1s.

[barryhussein]

Knowing how to count and being fluent are two entirely different matters. I've spent two of the last three years here, and I've met one Thai person, who speaks native English. Turns out, he is a graduate of William & Mary. Right now, I am in one of the wealthiest cities in Thailand, in a room of 50 Thais. Zero are proficient at English. There is a 6% Muslim population in Thailand. Most of them are on the Malaysia border, and yes there has been an icreased focus on them regarding Al Queda, and terrorism. The only US Consualte in Thailand (other than the Embassy) is here in Chiang Mai. They employ about 50 Americans, half of them being DEA employees. Most of the work, running the Consulate is done by low paid Thais. There are zero Englsh speaking TV networks. English news is broadcast at 10:30 pm, M-F, on a Thai station. You have to pay an Indian Company to get satellite broadcasts in English, or buy your own FTA system to get Bloomberg, BBC, Aljazeera.