I am so happy that someone else shares this agony with me.
My agency uses what is called the D-Band pay scale. This is not quite entirely unlike the GS scale. Most federal job applications want you tell them where your experience is equivalent to the GS scale. And you just sit there. Stare. Blink. And then make something up. I think I am equivalent to a GS-5. But no one I work with really knows for certain. Maybe contacting OPM (http://www.opm.gov/) will help you? I only call them when I forget one of my 800 passwords, but they are generally very friendly and helpful. If anyone in the government knows what's going on with all the pay scales, it's those people. I think it is their job to make it understandable. Kick their ass.
Otherwise, every federal application takes me a minimum of two hours to complete. I spend most of that time swearing. Not particularly because of the lengthy KSAs but because in the end I realize I don't have my most recent SF-50 to attach... and then I forget which of the 800 sites I have to log into to find it... fumble through my government for it... and then I forget my login... then my password... and then I find out that I'm trying to log into NASA's EOPF-or whatever... Then I call the help-people and figure all that out... then the site won't load... then I open the thing and it's completely different than last time... until finally I'm screaming HOW DO YOU DOWNLOAD THIS FUCKER???!!!
My agency uses what is called the D-Band pay scale. This is not quite entirely unlike the GS scale. Most federal job applications want you tell them where your experience is equivalent to the GS scale. And you just sit there. Stare. Blink. And then make something up. I think I am equivalent to a GS-5. But no one I work with really knows for certain. Maybe contacting OPM (http://www.opm.gov/) will help you? I only call them when I forget one of my 800 passwords, but they are generally very friendly and helpful. If anyone in the government knows what's going on with all the pay scales, it's those people. I think it is their job to make it understandable. Kick their ass.
Otherwise, every federal application takes me a minimum of two hours to complete. I spend most of that time swearing. Not particularly because of the lengthy KSAs but because in the end I realize I don't have my most recent SF-50 to attach... and then I forget which of the 800 sites I have to log into to find it... fumble through my government for it... and then I forget my login... then my password... and then I find out that I'm trying to log into NASA's EOPF-or whatever... Then I call the help-people and figure all that out... then the site won't load... then I open the thing and it's completely different than last time... until finally I'm screaming HOW DO YOU DOWNLOAD THIS FUCKER???!!!
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