Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
$59K is the household income for just the District of Columbia, not the DC Metro area; That's a huge difference. DC has a perpetual underclass that drags down its income figures; many recieving public assistance (subsidized poverty). Meanwhile young professionals may start off living in DC; then as they get promoted and start families they move to MD and VA. Here's the median household income in the neighboring counties:
Arlington County: $95
Montgomery County: $91K
Prince George's County $72K.
Furthermore the starting wage for college educated professionals in the Federal government is GS-9 = $52K. Many will move up to GS-12 within the first few years to ~$75K.
don't confuse your tech related agency with the rest of the fed government. most kids fresh out of college won't qualify for a gs-9. hell most barely qualify for a gs-5 in TODAYS economy. for every fresh out of college gs-9 in dc, i can show you 5 fresh out of college gs-5's. i guess it's all relative. you see and notice what you want to. i don't work for the government, i work with them. i know a little something about how this works fella
I will agree that most fresh out of college professionals don't start at GS-9. But it's not hard for someone with a bachelors to get in at GS-7. All you need is superior academic achievement (SAA), which has a very generous definition of "superior" in my opinion. All you need is a 3.0, OR honor society membership, OR place in the top third (I think), OR one other criteria that escapes me at the moment. I understand that some might suffer through as a GS-5 to work their way up, and I think that's a good idea if it's what you have to do.
I do wonder if maybe the abolishment of the federal career intern program will have an adverse effect on the hiring of fresh grads. It seemed to me that those jobs always started out as GS-7 and went up to 9/11 and often 12.
i know a little slow pony - but $29k is around the pay of an entry level hill staffer - and plenty of them live in the city. You just need to decide what you do and don't need, and cut costs accordingly.
I will agree that most fresh out of college professionals don't start at GS-9. But it's not hard for someone with a bachelors to get in at GS-7. All you need is superior academic achievement (SAA), which has a very generous definition of "superior" in my opinion. All you need is a 3.0, OR honor society membership, OR place in the top third (I think), OR one other criteria that escapes me at the moment. I understand that some might suffer through as a GS-5 to work their way up, and I think that's a good idea if it's what you have to do.
I do wonder if maybe the abolishment of the federal career intern program will have an adverse effect on the hiring of fresh grads. It seemed to me that those jobs always started out as GS-7 and went up to 9/11 and often 12.
i can say that it definitely has. i have seen a dramatic increase in younger folks applying for jobs at my firm. since i am a federal contractor they see it as a way to get a clearance, get a foot in the door and then try to gain full time fed employment since fcip shut down.
[/u][/b][/color] i don't work for the government, i work with them. i know a little something about how this works fella
Well, I do work for the Federal government, as a hiring manager. I know A LOT about how this works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by (-)
i can say that it definitely has. i have seen a dramatic increase in younger folks applying for jobs at my firm. since i am a federal contractor they see it as a way to get a clearance, get a foot in the door and then try to gain full time fed employment since fcip shut down.
We *loved* FCIP until it got killed because it let us balance our new hires with non-military personnel. Not that I don't love the military, but a variety of backgrounds and experiences is healthy in a work environment. We're now seeing a steady stream of veterans coming off their 4- and 6-year commitments and taking advantage of VEOA/VRA to fill entry and mid-level jobs. The one exception is job series with Direct Hire Authority (DHA) to fill critically short positions. DHA lets us ignore most of the non-competitive appointment authorities and lets us hire the 'best qualified' instead of the 'most special' candidate. These career fields include:
Information Technology
Acquisitions
Medical
Veterinarians
i know a little slow pony - but $29k is around the pay of an entry level hill staffer - and plenty of them live in the city. You just need to decide what you do and don't need, and cut costs accordingly.
Most of these kids probably live in a 4-5 bedroom house though (if that's even possible?).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
