Posted on Feb 19, 2015
GS Employees - Were you able to negotiate your step within your grade when first hired?
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I have a question for any current/former GS employees that also had military experience.
Were you able to negotiate your starting salary (step within a grade) when you were first offered a position or did you just take a Step 1?
I have been told that I should be able to negotiate my step based off previous experience within an equivalent grade and based on experience with the job I am being hire to perform.
My situation - I've just been tentatively offered a GS-1101-13 position and I'm scheduled to separate from the Air Force as a Major on 30 Apr 15. I have 3 years as a Major and I've been tentatively hired under the expedited hiring authority for acquisition program managers as a by-name-request hire for this position. It is also for a job I just recently held as a Major that has been vacant since I left that office about 6 months ago. They received a new GS-13 billet from HQ to hire against the position and that is the main reason I was by-name-requested for the job.
I've also been told I should use my current salary as part of the bargaining discussion, to include BAS and BAH since it can show that I am currently getting paid $XX and that they are trying to hire me for the exact same job/position, but are currently offering me less than $XX.
Does anyone else out there have experience doing this when they were hired? Any success getting hired above a step 1 within the grade you were offered?
Were you able to negotiate your starting salary (step within a grade) when you were first offered a position or did you just take a Step 1?
I have been told that I should be able to negotiate my step based off previous experience within an equivalent grade and based on experience with the job I am being hire to perform.
My situation - I've just been tentatively offered a GS-1101-13 position and I'm scheduled to separate from the Air Force as a Major on 30 Apr 15. I have 3 years as a Major and I've been tentatively hired under the expedited hiring authority for acquisition program managers as a by-name-request hire for this position. It is also for a job I just recently held as a Major that has been vacant since I left that office about 6 months ago. They received a new GS-13 billet from HQ to hire against the position and that is the main reason I was by-name-requested for the job.
I've also been told I should use my current salary as part of the bargaining discussion, to include BAS and BAH since it can show that I am currently getting paid $XX and that they are trying to hire me for the exact same job/position, but are currently offering me less than $XX.
Does anyone else out there have experience doing this when they were hired? Any success getting hired above a step 1 within the grade you were offered?
Posted in these groups: 
DoD Civilian
Transition
DoD Civilian Transition
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 12
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CW5 (Join to see) Capt (Join to see) SSgt Kevin Chavez CDR (Join to see)
FYI for anybody that is looking for a job with the Air Force, if you are a new hire, don't expect anything other than a Step 1.
This is what I finally got after several back and forth rounds with AFPC and the local Civilian Personnel Flight:
From AFI36-802:
"1.2.3. New Appointments. Pay for a new appointment may be set in one of the following ways:
1.2.3.1. Minimum Step (Step 1). Pay is usually set at step 1 for a new appointment. Step 1 is the minimum rate for General Schedule (GS), Federal Wage System (FWS), special rate, or other types of pay systems (e.g., AFI 36-1101).
1.2.3.2. Higher than Step 1. In rare cases, an employee’s pay may be set beyond step 1 for a new appointment. The approval must be documented on the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action.
•Chapter 5 authorizes the setting of pay beyond step 1 for a GS position based on superior qualifications."
Basically, they will only use the "Superior Qualifications Assessment" to hire people with exclusive skills that almost no one else has and to almost serve as a "hiring bonus" for people like that. In no uncertain terms, I was told that won't work in my situation and I would only be offered a Step 1.
I took it, despite the 23% pay cut. It gets me into the system as a GS-13 and I'll get the first three step increases in the first three years, no problem. I'll also be able to start looking for GS-14 jobs after a year. With a ton of retirement age people in the GS-14 and GS-15 positions right now (last estimate I saw was 61%), I'm hoping that will work in my favor since I'm only 35 right now.
Only two weeks left in the blue suit now until I transition to my civvies.
FYI for anybody that is looking for a job with the Air Force, if you are a new hire, don't expect anything other than a Step 1.
This is what I finally got after several back and forth rounds with AFPC and the local Civilian Personnel Flight:
From AFI36-802:
"1.2.3. New Appointments. Pay for a new appointment may be set in one of the following ways:
1.2.3.1. Minimum Step (Step 1). Pay is usually set at step 1 for a new appointment. Step 1 is the minimum rate for General Schedule (GS), Federal Wage System (FWS), special rate, or other types of pay systems (e.g., AFI 36-1101).
1.2.3.2. Higher than Step 1. In rare cases, an employee’s pay may be set beyond step 1 for a new appointment. The approval must be documented on the SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action.
•Chapter 5 authorizes the setting of pay beyond step 1 for a GS position based on superior qualifications."
Basically, they will only use the "Superior Qualifications Assessment" to hire people with exclusive skills that almost no one else has and to almost serve as a "hiring bonus" for people like that. In no uncertain terms, I was told that won't work in my situation and I would only be offered a Step 1.
I took it, despite the 23% pay cut. It gets me into the system as a GS-13 and I'll get the first three step increases in the first three years, no problem. I'll also be able to start looking for GS-14 jobs after a year. With a ton of retirement age people in the GS-14 and GS-15 positions right now (last estimate I saw was 61%), I'm hoping that will work in my favor since I'm only 35 right now.
Only two weeks left in the blue suit now until I transition to my civvies.
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SFC (Join to see)
I am in that boat right now. I was Active Duty 2000-2003. I received an honorable discharge. 6 months later, I started a GS position in 2004. I was a GS employee (GS11) until Nov 2014 (resigned) so I can get activated in the U.S. Army Reserves. I was active duty from May 2015-Dec 2017. I got a a job offer at a lower GS grade (GS6). I was hoping that they would max me at that GS grade; however, they informed me because I was out of the federal service system (more than 2 years), they are unable to accommodate my GS11 match pay. I'm still losing money but I'm trying to get it as close to what I can get from what I had in the past. With that being said, they offered me a step 1. Does anyone know how I can use my military experience to negotiate?
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Sir, when I first started as a GS civilian (2006), I was able to bring in an offer from industry, from a contractor, in writing, and the Army matched that offer. So, I started as a GS-13, step 5. Things seem to have tightened up in this regard though. A guy I work very closely with left the contractor world about one year ago. He was making way more than GS-13, step 10, but the best he could get was GS-13, step 5, and that took a lot of wheeling and dealing.
It never hurts to negotiate for the best deal you can get, especially since you are a by-name request hire. I think you should be able to get steps, but I'll bet it depends on your location, your specialty, etc. I think the by-name deal might help you. Good luck!
It never hurts to negotiate for the best deal you can get, especially since you are a by-name request hire. I think you should be able to get steps, but I'll bet it depends on your location, your specialty, etc. I think the by-name deal might help you. Good luck!
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Under the now terminated NSPS guidelines one would be able to negotiate their pay, however under GS rules it comes down to the hiring program that you where hired under, i.e., By Name Selectee, which means that for salary purposes they must comply with the applicable laws under this hiring authority. I suggest you go to the OPM website and review the differences between hiring authorities. Good luck.
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