6 ms·

Unfortunately the GS salary bands are pretty below market for everything and the quality of people that is resulting in shows. I recently got offered a GS-11 (

Unfortunately the GS salary bands are pretty below market for everything and the quality of people that is resulting in shows. I recently got offered a GS-11 (with promotion to GS-12 after a year) position and it's just not worth it. This wasn't for tech either; this was for a rather odd skill set.

giantg2 5y ago
"This wasn't for tech either; this was for a rather odd skill set." Well this sounds like a story.
- CobaltFire 5y ago
  Security Manager. I deal in Personal, Physical, Communication, and IT Security as an Active Duty member, and since I'm retiring they wanted me to shift to a Personal/Physical SecMan that handles thousands of clearances and multiple TS assets spread around a couple sites. Odd, but not that exciting. :)
  - giantg2 5y ago
    So what I'm hearing is that you're Sam Fisher and this is your cover story.
pclmulqdq 5y ago
I was offered a GS-15 a while ago and even that was a lot lower than a starting FAANG salary for a new grad. I would happily work for the USDS or a TLA for a 20% pay cut, but the process of getting anywhere near that is a nightmare. It seems like the path is generally to work your way to GS-12 or higher, then quit and become a contractor for the same group.
- CobaltFire 5y ago
  Essentially yes. Lockheed already has jobs posted for higher pay than was on offer for that skillset and has asked me if I'd be interested in talking to them. Since that skill is odd but required by every single contractor that does classified work there's a whole lot of opportunity out there I wasn't aware of until recently. The lack of quality people doing it in the GS ranks now makes a whole lot more sense to me. Prior to me understanding that it was just an annoyance.
- giaour 5y ago
  GS-15 salaries top out at $176,300 in the DC metro area. (Most (all?) USDSers get exactly that salary.) That is certainly more than I made as a new grad at a FAANG!
  - pclmulqdq 5y ago
    I should have said starting TC, not salary. When I looked at it years ago, GS-15 salaries capped out at the average salary of a Google L3. It looks like it may be a little above L3 salary today (moving in the right direction!), but still far below L3 TC, and a Google L3 job is not even remotely comparable to a GS-15 job. IMO if the government had a separate band of GS pay for highly competitive job markets which paid 50-100k more, they would be a lot more successful.
  - paulmd 5y ago
    You wouldn't get hired at GS-15 as a new hire. You might reach that after 20-30 years, and you'll need to get a Ph.D. Also, DC Metro is an extremely high CoL area (not SF levels but probably around Seattle levels). Normal GS-15 pay is $112k-146k and you'd trend towards the bottom of that in most areas. So, $112k average at the peak of your career, with a required Ph.D. More realistically as a new hire you might be GS-12 (which only takes a master's) which is $68k-89k, so you make $68k in most areas. That's certainly not great as far as competitiveness with tech salaries, that's pretty close to the bottom of the market these days for a new hire working entirely remote, not even highly-desirable talent.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - onaworkcomputer 5y ago
      USDS may only get away with this because their roles are term-limited excepted service, but pretty much everyone comes in as a GS-15-10, regardless of education.
      - devman0 5y ago

giantg2 5y ago

"This wasn't for tech either; this was for a rather odd skill set." Well this sounds like a story.

CobaltFire 5y ago
Security Manager. I deal in Personal, Physical, Communication, and IT Security as an Active Duty member, and since I'm retiring they wanted me to shift to a Personal/Physical SecMan that handles thousands of clearances and multiple TS assets spread around a couple sites. Odd, but not that exciting. :)
- giantg2 5y ago
  So what I'm hearing is that you're Sam Fisher and this is your cover story.

pclmulqdq 5y ago

I was offered a GS-15 a while ago and even that was a lot lower than a starting FAANG salary for a new grad. I would happily work for the USDS or a TLA for a 20% pay cut, but the process of getting anywhere near that is a nightmare. It seems like the path is generally to work your way to GS-12 or higher, then quit and become a contractor for the same group.

CobaltFire 5y ago
Essentially yes. Lockheed already has jobs posted for higher pay than was on offer for that skillset and has asked me if I'd be interested in talking to them. Since that skill is odd but required by every single contractor that does classified work there's a whole lot of opportunity out there I wasn't aware of until recently. The lack of quality people doing it in the GS ranks now makes a whole lot more sense to me. Prior to me understanding that it was just an annoyance.
giaour 5y ago
GS-15 salaries top out at $176,300 in the DC metro area. (Most (all?) USDSers get exactly that salary.) That is certainly more than I made as a new grad at a FAANG!
- pclmulqdq 5y ago
  I should have said starting TC, not salary. When I looked at it years ago, GS-15 salaries capped out at the average salary of a Google L3. It looks like it may be a little above L3 salary today (moving in the right direction!), but still far below L3 TC, and a Google L3 job is not even remotely comparable to a GS-15 job. IMO if the government had a separate band of GS pay for highly competitive job markets which paid 50-100k more, they would be a lot more successful.
- paulmd 5y ago
  You wouldn't get hired at GS-15 as a new hire. You might reach that after 20-30 years, and you'll need to get a Ph.D. Also, DC Metro is an extremely high CoL area (not SF levels but probably around Seattle levels). Normal GS-15 pay is $112k-146k and you'd trend towards the bottom of that in most areas. So, $112k average at the peak of your career, with a required Ph.D. More realistically as a new hire you might be GS-12 (which only takes a master's) which is $68k-89k, so you make $68k in most areas. That's certainly not great as far as competitiveness with tech salaries, that's pretty close to the bottom of the market these days for a new hire working entirely remote, not even highly-desirable talent.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - onaworkcomputer 5y ago
    USDS may only get away with this because their roles are term-limited excepted service, but pretty much everyone comes in as a GS-15-10, regardless of education.
    - devman0 5y ago