| Author | Message | ||
     F_skinner |
Here is the situation. My position, like many, is being converted to civil service. The Government did a By Name Request and I applied for the position. After I applied the position the job listing does not show up on the USAJOBS site anymore however it still shows that I applied for it and my resume and DD214 was downloaded. Does this mean anything to anyone? I asked the only civil service guy in my shop and he had no idea why it disappeared. The close date is not until 1 June. I found the whole site (both of them) to be cumbersome and difficult to use. What we in the business call "user brutal" vice user friendly. The hard part was telling my CEO that I applied for the job but being with a small company (15 employees) there is no way they can keep me on overhead until we win another contract. It is really too bad because I like my company and I will be taking a cut in pay but choosing between and paycheck and no paycheck I will choose the paycheck every time. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Frank- I can't understand why the job would have disappeared before the closing date. Did you try searching for it by announcement number? If you're able to log in and check your status it should show all active applications you have on file and the status of any positions you've applied for and whether a selection has been made or not. You are definitely right that it is NOT user friendly. Of all the inefficiencies in the Federal government, HRO must be the worst. If you can get a phone number for an HRO person at the agency you'll be working for, you MAY be able to get some information from them. [BEGIN RANT] USAJOBS is the latest in a long line of roadblocks to applying for federal jobs. Way back when, you used to have to fill out 8-1/2" x 14", two-sided form called an SF-171. It had a tiny space for you to describe your work experience for each job you'd held, and had to be typed or filled out in ink. Royal PITA. You were forced to attach supplemental sheets to provide adequate room for work experience. It was a completely different mind-set from writing a resume. You had to list EVERYTHING. Then along came personal computers and DOS SF-171 programs. You entered all your info on your computer and saved it. You could "build" as many SF-171's as you wanted from a "base" job application, and print them out as needed. No need for pre-printed forms; massive improvement. Easy to generate a new one and edit it to apply for a new job at any time. Then along came Al Gore. IMHO the one good thing he did during his tenure was to FORCE the civil service to use plain old resumes like the rest of the free world in the name of "paperwork reduction". For ~6 years, you could apply for a civil service job with just a resume. No sooner was Mr. Gore out of office than job applications moved to the internet. Massive improvement, right? WRONG!!! All that crap you have to fill out in USAJOBS is the EXACT same crap you used to have to fill out on an SF-171. We're right back to where we were 20 years ago. Worse yet, many jobs require you to provide additional info in the form of answering KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities) questions. It all boils down to they're trying to make it possible for a ~25 year old clerk in an office who has utterly no idea about the job you're applying for to be able to read your stack of papers and say "yes" or "no" as to whether you're qualified for a job. You leave out one buzz word (never mine if you used a different word that means EXACTLY the same thing) and you're rated "unqualified". [/RANT OFF] Good luck with the job. If you come up with any specific questions I'll be glad to try to help. | ||
| F_skinner |
Hughlysses, thanks. I went and searched by job the job number and nothing. I went and checked my status and it says "closed, no more applicants are being accepted for this job". I am not sure why they would do that when it was supposed to be open till Monday. I am wondering if they were waiting for me to apply and then turn it off. That would not be fair to others in my opinion. The job actually opened internally for a week before it went external and only one person applied but they were not qualified, according to the gov. So there it sits. I am sick as a dog and had to leave work early and doubt I will make it in tomorrow. I need to get well before the ride to WI but I do not know what is going on in the office. Everyone else seems to be getting new contracts with the bigger companies and I have been the only one to apply for one of these jobs since my was the first to come up. I am really hoping the gov moves slow on this so I can burn my leave up this month. This was not suppose to happen until the end of the contract in Oct so I was surprised when the Col sent me the job number. Frank | ||
| Hughlysses |
Frank- I know that an agency can advertise a job internally without putting it on USAJOBS, depending on the grade (GS-12 or less IIRC). Once it's on USAJOBS I'm pretty sure what you're saying is correct about them having to leave it open so other people can apply. Since your job is being "converted" to civil service, maybe your guess is correct that they already picked you. Believe me, it will be a miracle if they do anything other than move slow. In my last civil service job, we had 2 openings in my section, my boss was trying desperately to fill them, he had already interviewed and picked the people to fill them, and it took SIX months for the national HRO people to do the paperwork. Hugh | ||
| F_skinner |
Hugh, 6 months would be nice. It would give me all summer to ride.  Thanks for the help. I may have to drag my sick ass into to work tomorrow just to see what is going on. Problem is once you have been seen by the Boss it is hard to get out of there.  | ||
| Ourdee |
Puke in the bosses trash can. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Sometimes gov't agencies will place job listings on USAJOBS- usually for promotions- that'll have a ridiculously small window for application. These are to reduce the appearance of impropriety when they hire the person they'd handpicked long before the application was posted. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Sometimes gov't agencies will place job listings on USAJOBS- usually for promotions- that'll have a ridiculously small window for application. These are to reduce the appearance of impropriety when they hire the person they'd handpicked long before the application was posted. +1 to that. Let's just hope F_skinner was the guy they picked this time... |
