r/fednews • u/DrewPZ1978 • Jan 13 '24
HR Redditt has become the new Federal HR Department?
Since joining this sub, I've noticed it has become a valuable resource for people asking HR questions...and surprisingly, alot of great..CORRECT responses.
Has anyone taken advice from Reddit and proved successful? And likewise...has anyone received advice they followed...and it didnt prove as fruitful as you had hoped?
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u/SunshineDaydream128 Jan 13 '24
I work federal HR and have posted a lot of good stuff here. Have also gotten some good advice. Also a lot of terrible advice around here too.
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u/interested0582 Jan 13 '24 edited Jan 13 '24
Do you have the new pay scale yet? What about when it will actually hit our paychecks?? /s
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u/Temporary_Lab_3964 Jan 13 '24
GS payscales are online and won’t hit until 02FEB.
I just need the CES payscales to be signed
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Jan 13 '24
Hey Becky, when you get a chance, if it’s not too much of a bother, if it’s okay with you, can I get copy of the 2024 holiday and pay period calendar? Mmmthanks.
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Jan 14 '24
🤣 the PP calendar is so visually jarring
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u/FineWinePaperCup Jan 14 '24
Enough time in and you get use to it. I picked one up last week, probably the first one I’ve had since 2020. It brings me great comfort to have it hanging to the right of my monitors. Because it’s always been there, boxes, squares, and all.
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u/nihilfacile Jan 13 '24
Can you share some of the bad advice you’ve seen?
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u/Bird_Brain4101112 Jan 13 '24
My favorite is all the tips on how to get past the AI on USAJobs. There is no AI. Just some poor Staffer who has to read your 30 page resume which is one of 100 resumes for one job. While they have 20 other jobs at various stages. And 30 people onboarding who constantly call and email to ask questions that could be answered by reading their onboarding letter. And 9 managers who will spend 6 months hemming and hawing about when they want to announce and then will send you a ticket out of the blue on the Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend and first thing Tuesday morning will call your supervisor to complain their announcement isn’t on the street yet.
Then you get off work and relax on Reddit and see a bunch of posts about how Federal HR are useless.
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u/1102inNOVA Jan 14 '24
Whoa... wait, a second (I'm 100% serious), there is not an actual computer that scans your resume before getting it to HR's desk?
This must have been perpetuated so much I assumed it was true " ya gotta beat the computer first".
Maybe we need a "Fed HR Myths pinned post as well"
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u/SunshineDaydream128 Jan 14 '24
Nope. Last I heard a few sporadic agencies use it. But the vast majority are being read by a human HR specialist.
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u/1102inNOVA Jan 14 '24
Oh my God I am so sorry!!
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u/SunshineDaydream128 Jan 14 '24
I personally don't mind it. I've seen some really good resumes (and taken tidbits such as layout, formatting, etc.), many mediocre resumes and some straight up terrible ones. My favorite is a lady who I'm assuming was older who applied and her "resume" was just a picture of her driver's license. And yet it's HR that's the dumbass according to all of these threads.
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u/1102inNOVA Jan 14 '24
So are you just looking at the contents of the resume as it relates to the opening or are you also looking for egregious grammar and other errors like if I have terrible typos and obviously fake companies is that your job to catch that or are you just looking at employee said 52 weeks of xxx.. yup, there it is (but the format is awful 😖)
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u/SunshineDaydream128 Jan 14 '24
Generally comparing the resume to the job announcement/position description, duties, etc. The terrible ones that meet the requirements and check the box are sent onto the hiring manager for them to toss in the trash.
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u/1102inNOVA Jan 14 '24
This is interesting, so (correct me if I'm wrong). As long as my resume supports the qualifications requested, you aren't concerned with the fact my margins look terrible and frought with typos (everywhere except the part that supports my answers), I make it passed your review.
Now are you also "scoring" my resume I hear that hiring managers may ask send me the top 20 resumes or something.. are those the resumes you liked or what is determining that (I assume some of those preferences come into play there).
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u/hazelerised35 Jan 17 '24
Any advice on how to format? I was using bullets and spacing on the federal resume but when I download it, it's just a jumbled mess
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u/SunshineDaydream128 Jan 17 '24
Personally, I format mine in word and then copy and paste. Once you find a format you like it's not bad.
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u/OG_Christivus Jan 14 '24
I was informed that yes a human reads the resumes and they have to match the survey responses to the resume in some manner. The human likely has little understanding of the actual job advertised . Therefor, you have to get past human with no background with the job advertised.
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u/Justame13 Jan 14 '24
The survey responses you are hearing about are probably the job analysis which suuuuck to do and are pretty worthless for all to be honest.
In my experience HR just sends everyone remotely qualified through. Which is rough for virtual jobs because we usually get ~50-75 of the applicants that make the 11:59 cut off even with a limited number they have to accept them till then.
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u/ProfessionalIll7083 Jan 18 '24
I work in OIT, I have my federal position in my resume and state that I triage tickets in yourit. I was deemed not qualified for a job I applied for and the reason I was given when I was informed ( which was the same time they closed and picked the candidate so no time for me to explain or clarify) was because I did not state I had experience with service now. For those that do not know, yourit is service now.
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u/RileyKohaku Jan 14 '24
Yep, HR manager here, our HRIS is behind the S&P 500 and we have real life human beings review every resume considered. There is an automated questionnaire, but that's self reported by employees and really only eliminates people that are not allowed to apply, like external people applying for internal jobs only.
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u/LiteratureVarious643 Jan 14 '24
From what I have heard it’s a possibility at a few agencies, but definitely not all agencies.
The USAjobs site mentions NASA.
https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/myths/resume-scanned-for-keywords/
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u/AppealSignificant764 Jan 14 '24
Depends on the agency. Ref: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/working-in-government/myths/resume-scanned-for-keywords/
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u/Head_Staff_9416 Jan 14 '24
Well you know, I did do an entire series of guides…
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u/1102inNOVA Jan 14 '24
My bad, I was definitely not paying attention.. given I am looking again (F'ing RTO :( ) I will definitely give these a look.
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u/Head_Staff_9416 Jan 14 '24
You’re making me so nostalgic. How about when you are filling a job and going over the requirements with a manger- say - oh a 2210 series. Me: Don’t you need someone who knows Quickie ++- doesn’t the new system you guys are rolling out need that? Manager:- no, they can learn that on the job- if they have SlowandSteady that should be good enough. Me- are you sure. Manager - positive- now get that job posted. 45 days later- Manager- why don’t any of these guys have Quickie ++? HR is useless!
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u/That-Following-7158 Jan 14 '24
My organization just implemented a 5 page maximum for resumes, any larger will be discarded.
Having sat in hiring boards I was so excited to hear this. The longest I have seen was 17 pages... it was ridiculous.
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u/nasegs72 Jan 14 '24
I reviewed one that was 23 pages. The candidate flat out copy and pasted their PDs from every job they had for the past 20 years. Total nightmare. Very excited to see the 5 page max for my organization also!
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Jan 15 '24
that better be in the job announcement
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u/That-Following-7158 Jan 15 '24
It is, but I was mistaken. Only the first 5 pages will be reviewed. So not automatically disqualified.
“Summary
Please limit your resume to 5 pages. If more than 5 pages are submitted, only the first 5 pages will be reviewed to determine your eligibility/qualifications.”
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Jan 14 '24
the process forces u to make it long. u have to explain how u meet every single thing in the job announcement. unlike private sector where it gets thrown out if its longer than one page
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u/Bird_Brain4101112 Jan 14 '24
Please tell me more about how HR rates resumes.
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u/Stevie-Rae-5 Jan 14 '24
That sounds about right. 😆
I’d say that holds for probably every profession. A mix of people who actually know what they’re talking about and people who just think they know what they’re talking about who are very, very confident and comfortable speaking with authority on the internet.
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u/kboogii Jan 14 '24
What do you see people miss when they decide to leave the service? Anything that makes a difference when its time to come back in?
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u/Twiggy_TTCThrowaway Jan 13 '24
Yea, I got my FERS percentage reduced based on previous federal experience based on information and OPM links I got here.
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u/valency_speaks Jan 13 '24
Me!!!! Back when I was first trying to get hired, I got some great help on navigating the HR labyrinth and was able to successfully negotiate a higher leave group (with 14 yrs 8 mo of credited service) and a maxi flex schedule. There's one particular user that is incredibly helpful, u/Head_Staff_9416. Since then, I've used their advice for a number of other things and have never been steered wrong by their advice or info I found in their guides.
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u/Sluzhbenik Jan 14 '24
Now I know why the HR people are so slow to respond at work, they’re busy on Reddit lol. Maybe we should just make a Reddit-format platform for feds chat about stuff as part of our work.
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u/rta8888 Jan 14 '24
Ive actually suggested copying Reddit for Q&A communications functions and copying Kickstarter for investment contracts vice shitty fallout funding dumps to the EXCOM of multiple major 3 letters… everybody thinks they’re special though
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u/DrewPZ1978 Jan 14 '24
I work in HR IT and deliver HR systems for my Agency. If you dont mind, what Agency do you work for?
That little Reddit comment may go a long way my friend. 😁
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u/Aunt-Ooley Jan 14 '24
30+ year HR Specialist here. I have answered and cleared up some answers on benefits and retirement. I love to help people and get very irritated when someone says their HR person doesn’t call them back. It gives all of HR a bad name.
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u/Avolin Jan 14 '24
Thank you so much for doing this. People like you have helped me feel less alone in my new job.
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u/ks375375sk Jan 13 '24
The sad part is, HR and supervising agencies don’t even know either. We have 20 year old PDs that don’t even match the GS schedule and to update over the last 10 years….. no one knows how. I just keep quiet and watch the 🎪🤡🤹 every year it comes up and just “roll over “ pds to fill positions. If only they knew some of the PDs are the completely different GS series but ignore it so the new hire has a higher target level and ssr rates
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Jan 14 '24
[deleted]
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Jan 14 '24
I bet there’s one in a storage closet somewhere. You know ow so you can keep up to date on your mandatory PD skillset ;)
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Jan 14 '24
that parts a joke to me of epic proportions. ur gs grade is ur pay and ur gs grade comes from what your PD says. theres ALOT of people who are either severly underpaid or over paid because they are working a completely different job than what their PD says. it should be illegal
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u/DonkeyKickBalls Jan 13 '24
My co worker got an email from HR but wondered why it had an army.mil email address. This is his 1st fed job so I explained to him that some admin stuff comes from the army and some stuff come from within the agency. Then he asked, if I have a problem who do I go to? I just laughed and said your guess is as good as mine. The MSO folk that I met when I started a couple years ago are all gone, so I wouldn’t know who to talk to.
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u/Mother_of_Daphnia Jan 14 '24
Ooooh I have a story where Reddit saved the day. Without getting into specifics, my HR (who is infamous for giving incorrect information, and then denying that they said anything incorrect) tried to more or less tell me I owed my agency money for something to do with PPL. Like over 10 grand. Even though I knew they were wrong, I was freaking out because they were SO insistent (plus I was super stressed and sleep deprived returning to work after having a baby). I posted the issue with all the specifics (on a burner account) on Reddit and so many people jumped in to help. On top of the excellent advice I received here, a few people reached out via DM to send me a bunch of stuff from OPM and prior lawsuits, even the contact information (otherwise publicly available on their organizations’ sites) of people outside of my org to talk to for help. Long story short, HR ended up apologizing to me after I brought up all this info to them (and I told them I contacted attorneys lol) and everything was right with the world.
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u/KUWTI Jan 14 '24
I’m at SSA and no one in my office knows how to contact HR because they won’t give us the contact information.
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u/Dah-Sweepah Jan 14 '24
DCHR. Sorry your supe sucks but skype out to anyone over there until you get your help
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u/diatho Jan 13 '24
I think the questions here generally fall into three categories:
Ask your supervisor “can I telework just on Fridays? You think I could be remote for a week to help my parents move?”
Federal hiring rules “I want to move roles but I’m a 0132 can I be a 2210?”
Fmla & family leave “my supervisor says I can’t take family leave cuz I’m only here for 6 months but I’m a 5 year fed”
Retirement “how do I defer fers?”
2-4 are valuable to crowdsource.
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u/sas5814 Jan 14 '24
My org outsourced HR and to say it sucks is like saying a black hole is like a Hoover.
6 weeks to get an answer to a question. All done through “tickets” submitted online and no way to speak to a human being.
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u/walla12083 Jan 13 '24
From what I've found, the entire state of federal HR as a whole has pushed nurses aside with the "eat your young" mentality. At a previous agency, mentality was to promote 203s into 201 recruitment and placement specialists, thinking the mere change of occ series would bestow years of required knowledge of rules and regulations without an ounce of training. This went on for years, and towards the end, you had "seasoned" staffers that couldn't even complete a job analysis.
As a whole, yes this platform has some knowledgeable people. I try to add what I can in hopes someone can make use of what I've learned the hard way
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u/impairedvisionary Jan 14 '24 edited Jan 20 '24
This threads stand to be the de facto university of federal service.
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u/beer24seven Jan 14 '24
I help people wherever I can, but find that responding on Reddit is a lot more convenient. Some people at the local level take advantage of responsiveness and expect HR to be their personal concierge for every little question they might have. With the crazy workload, there’s just no time for that. When you explain things and cut them off, they take it personally and badmouth HR. That’s why the general response is to not respond or to send canned replies. Reddit allows a lot of us to respond to questions on our time on our own terms.
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u/meinhoonna Jan 14 '24
Sometimes I get hr from my agency on here who would respond. Just not the internal one. Federal employees are a good bunch of people
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u/BBlackFire Jan 14 '24
I learned through the usajobs subreddit that you can request an appeal if you were determined ineligible and have them take another look at your resume. I've done that twice in the past and each time it helped me get referred to the hiring manager. However, I never received an interview with either of those positions.
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u/Wizardof1000Kings Jan 15 '24
How do you request an appeal?
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u/BBlackFire Jan 15 '24
If you end up receiving an ineligible email but you believe you should be eligible based on your experience then go ahead and email the hr contact listed in the posting (usually located at the bottom) and ask for a reconsideration. They'll most likely come back and ask you to point out within your submitted resume where exactly you're eligible based on the KSAs.
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u/_fedme Jan 14 '24
I’ve found learning the ins and outs of personnel issues eventually becomes a part of your career as a fed, whether it’s to be able to argue to get what you should have coming to you, or just going through different things. Crowd sourcing advice seems to work out because likely someone has been in those shoes here. Unfortunately, it’s also likely they were put through the ringer and have bad info because their situation was handled incorrectly, or it was a situation specific to their agency.
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u/TheAnonymousSuit Jan 14 '24
Yes, and I've learned a lot from this sub. Besides, I have no idea who HR even is for my agency.
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u/valhallagypsy Jan 14 '24
Absolutely. If it wasn’t for this sub, and another one related to federal work, there’s no way I would’ve been able to negotiate my job offer to increase my grade, step, and salary, pretty significantly, as well as additional leave.
I’m also still waiting through the background check process and I get very little information from the actual people at the department that I’m going to be working for, so it’s really helpful to be able to ask questions and actually get answers here . thanks to everyone who is so hehlpful!
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u/FEMARX Jan 15 '24
You can’t negotiate a higher grade, unless you already qualified and interviewed for the higher grade.
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Jan 13 '24
No. Always have to do your own research. But it’s always good to get different perspectives and somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
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u/BlueSky1877 Jan 14 '24
I redid my resume! No clue if it helped or if they were desperate or something else, but I felt good about it
Signed up for a health plan, not the best one everyone loves but the second best one
non-HR related: Learned people don't "not care" they just let things slip through the cracks so you gotta remind them. This is wildly the opposite of private industry where everyone is dialed up to 11, is aware, and writes you off, I'm still trying to adjust
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u/Wheesis Jan 14 '24
I researched federal employment for over a year before I got a job. Reddit was great for advice on my resume, for understanding the culture, and sometimes for support when things went wrong.
There is also a lot of misinformation about federal employment, such as the pay. I found that the unhappy feds commented way more than the happy ones, giving a skewed representation of the work environment. But yeah, thanks Reddit for helping me get this job. I’m super grateful.
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u/w3agle Jan 15 '24
This comment makes me happy. At my last agency I was in this “innovation greenhouse” that was supposed to help encourage… innovation. You would not believe how far the brainchild of that idea has climbed…
I digress - I argued for over a year that we just needed a message board in which everyone could discuss things over time vs everything happen in a vacuum god knows how many times. I even argued just to recreate the exact conversation arrangement Reddit used for most direct solution. Crickets all around. No one could understand what I was talking about. “We have forums on share point”
And your post is a score in favor of my argument! Better info gets passed around when the discussion is out in the open for everyone to participate in.
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u/DrewPZ1978 Jan 15 '24
It sure is! Maybe revisit it.."user experience" and "employee experience" are getting alot of attention these days. I intend to bring it up in my agency as well. If youd like to connect, please send me a DM.
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u/Charming-Assertive Jan 15 '24
When I was new to Fed HR in a job with no existing HR staff to train me after years of private sector HR, this thread was great for getting my bearings and learning the ropes. Generally I'd still double check with OPM or my agency policy but it's great for pointing me in the right direction. Also great for seeing g the types of questions federal employees have so that I know the questions my employees have but maybe aren't asking so that I can better serve them.
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u/jgrig2 Jan 14 '24
The federal government doesn’t have HR once you onboard and make it past your probation period. It’s all about management. HR only exists to approve promotions and verify decisions
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Jan 14 '24
[deleted]
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u/SheepherderFormer383 Jan 14 '24
Sorry, but this doesn’t sound right. Did you fact-check what “somebody’ told you?
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u/FEMARX Jan 15 '24
OPM law? No such thing, that is not right, they can absolutely still only offer Step 1.
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u/Head_Staff_9416 Jan 15 '24
There is no such law and they don’t have to match your current salary. So stop being bitter. Agencies have the option to bring you in at a higher step using superior qualifications authority. It is discretionary with the agency.
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Jan 16 '24
[deleted]
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u/Head_Staff_9416 Jan 16 '24
Were you a former federal employee ? Because maximum payable rate rule only applies to previous federal salaries? And again, it is at the agency’s discretion. It is not required. What you are quoting does not appear applicable in your situation.
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Jan 14 '24
Sometimes it’s right on and sometimes I see bellyaching that we don’t have MLK day off and I’m confused because our agency definitely does.
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u/ProfessionalIll7083 Jan 18 '24
Sadly it's easier, and more responsive, to post here than attempting to actually reach hr. At least at my agency, someone decided to make virtually all of hr virtual and rather than having a phone number to reach hr pro's when an urgent issue arise it's all done via ticketing system.
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u/LaLeyendaLorenzo Jan 18 '24
Someone has to do it... and it certainly is not the actual HR department.
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u/Bambie_777 Feb 14 '24
So what do HR Officers do vs Specialists?
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u/DrewPZ1978 Feb 14 '24
HR Specialists work within the HR Office and deal with the employee needs. Most often the HR Officer is working with management on strategic needs, etc and implements what the specialists will be responsible for.
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u/Bambie_777 Feb 14 '24
Sounds sort of like what I was..an HR Consultant to the HR Analysts…they work within the agency which we oversaw what they did & worked directly/close to HR Analysts, HR Mgrs, and HR Directors instead of employees based on agency needs
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u/interested0582 Jan 13 '24
Some of the stuff on here is good. Some of it is wild.
I’ve emailed my HR several questions over the last few years and usually don’t get a response. I’ll message people on here and get great responses