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SPC Joseph Topping ,

I utilized my military experience and was brought in as a GS 12 then promoted to a GS 13. I left Federal service and have now rejoined as a GS 12.

I felt like I was fairly and adequately evaluated. I have an undergraduate and graduate degree related to my field plus experience and all of that helped.

There is negotiation room with the hiring official; however, the personnel specialist who makes the position offer, may not be willing to offer a step increase. Ensure when you have your salary evaluation conducted your military pay is adequately evaluated.

Thank you,

SFC Joseph M. Finck USA (Ret)

I recently (a few months ago) started as a Dual-Status Technician, which is a SM whose federal job is dependent on them maintaining a position with the National Guard of the state you are working in. I started as a GS-09. That is what I was offered, and what I accepted.

Positives:
- You will accumulate leave at a decent rate, particularly if you have prior federal service time (which adds to your calculated time in service, and includes federal active duty in any branch of the military). If you are in the Guard you get the additional benefit of 120 hours of military leave per year, which is paid leave and allows you to double dip while doing annual training, schools, etc.
- It's dependable work, with great potential for movement (both upward and lateral) within the organization, something that most civilian employers no longer offer.
- It offers both a pension plan and a 401k equivalent (TSP), so retirement is pretty nice, especially if you can get the dual retirement of a federal position and military.
- As a dual-status tech, I'm working mostly around others in uniform, so it is a very familiar and comfortable environment.

Negatives:
- You will probably not start out making what you did in the military.
- You will start out at step 1 of your grade, regardless of your previous active duty time.
- Retirement has recently been increased to 30 years in service (although this is reduced by any federal active duty you had before starting).

Note that the above is a simplification, and there are more details to consider when calculating retirement in particular.

Good questions! Here's my answers.

"If you are a Federal Employee, what GS grade (or equivalent) did you initially enter service as?" I started and retired as a GS14, which was roughly equivalent to my retired military grade (O-5).

"If you came immediately from the military into Federal service, and factoring in entitlements, did you take an overall pay cut (not including retirement income) or get a raise?" I came to civil service (Department of the Army Civilian -- DAC) from the private sector. I took a very small pay cut (see below), but the benefits were better. Civilian employer had only 401k with matching. GS offered TSP (like 401k) with generous matching plus civil service retirement program. Health insurance was about the same. Job stability was much better. In private sector consulting industry your job is only as stable as the current contract.

"Did you feel like you deserved a higher GS grade than you initially started at based upon previous military service?" No. I was hired to be a program manager. The work was similar to what I was doing in the private sector. It was also similar to the work I did in my last staff job as a Lt Col 16 years earlier.

"Did you negotiate to a higher initial step due to demonstrated experience or knowledge?" Yes, but this may be rare. I asked my prospective boss if the Army could match my current salary. I gave him a copy of my last private sector pay statement. He said he would try. A couple of days later he came back with an offer of GS14 step 8. It was about 2K/yr less than my private sector salary, so I took the job. My experience and knowledge were directly related to the GS position. I had over 12 years experience as a project manager in the Government contracting environment and was a Project Management Professional.

"Anything else that might be relevant to service members seeking initial employment in the Federal Government?" I've said this before in other strings, but your resume must be customized for every job you apply for. The resume will be reviewed by a computer first, so read the job announcement carefully and pick out the key words. If the announcement says the job requires "knowledge of the DOD surface transportation system," then make sure "DOD," "transportation," and "surface transportation" are in your resume IF you can honestly claim that experience. Once through the computer screen, a real person will read your resume and score it against factors the hiring manager provides. The factors, like experience, knowledge, education, or technical skills, must be directly linked to the announcement. Show your responsibilities and accomplishments for each job you've had in your resume. I reviewed many resumes and came away saying, "what did this person actually do for two years in that job?" Hard to score high. In the interview, expect to be asked questions about your job experience in your resume. I always did this to confirm the applicant had not embellished his or her experience too much. If you say you were, "leader of a project team that met corporate and client goals on time and quality." You can bet I was going to ask you to tell me about the project, the team, and the goals. Be ready.