For feds, more get 6-figure salaries

[FAB1]

I pull out of my driveway onto a gravel road and the nearest mega-marts are 60 miles one way, 100 miles the other.

- Approx. just where you? North Dakota...Montana? What agency / position (im a bit jealous, want a new neighbor?)

 

[burrocrat]

Approx. just where you? North Dakota...Montana? What agency / position (im a bit jealous, want a new neighbor?)

when you see any news report with a map that shows just how bad unemployment, housing foreclosures, state budgets, crime, etc. are, look for the lighter shaded areas, that's the spot. "put the debt down and step away from the coast".

just bring your own culture and relationship, it's pretty slim pickins out here, but that's what trips to the city are for right? actually just the opposite on the relationship end, lots of hearty choices, pack it on like expecting a long, cold winter or something (and not often wrong about that), it's all good.

most folks wear more than one hat and plenty of work to be found, especially if you count farming/ranching on the side, fills the freezer nicely too. just keep your head down and your mouth shut at first, it can take a while to assimilate, and don't ever mis-deal or mis-lead. bonus is you just don't hear much complaining, that doesn't get the job done, and those type that don't really want to be here don't stick around long anyway.

If you don't know much about agriculture but don't mind pitching in, you'll learn real fast. try USDA - NRCS, FSA, or ARS, jobs in nearly every county in the U.S.

come on in the prairie's fine.

 

[fabijo]

Sounds like good ol' living. I want it. I'll tell my kids they are Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

 

[Silverbird]

The workforce is getting older, at least where I work. Very few people under the age of 50. Many have reached their terminus pay. Very few people in their forties, and almost no one younger than that.

In addition, there's no such thing as an office secretary anymore - the pay is below the poverty line so good luck getting someone. They usually last about a month then are out to the private sector. When we had our last "early retirement" offer about 5 years ago, almost all of the experienced secretaries left, which was rather hard on people who couldn't type. :toung: What is left of the secretarial pool now does budgeting and adminitrative/editting work, which pays much better - and they are mostly as old as the general workforce so they are also close to their terminus pay, if not already there.

Mail delivery, cleaning, computer tech, and other lower wage jobs are all contracted out.

 

[ChemEng]

Hitting $100k is pretty common in the area of DoD where I work. (I'm still not there, but very close!). I'm guessing 2-3 more years until I cross that threshold.

As a point of comparison, I am 30 year old with these credentials (and associated relevant progressive work experience):
BS Chemical Engineering
MBA
Registered Professional Engineer
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Working on PhD in Applied Math

 

[burrocrat]

... choose not to move into a significantly higher housing/cost-of-living area just to get the next grade ... what benefit ... downgrade in preferred low-key lifestyle ...

well it's a lifestyle and financial trade off, but i've seen some do it temporarily after kids are stable on their own before retirement to pump up the high-three. probably a net-zero financially with additional rent/lease and expenses in the short-term, but then retire back to home turf with a bigger retirement benefit, might pay off over the long term. i'm a long way from those type of considerations.

 

[burrocrat]

Hitting $100k is pretty common in the area of DoD where I work. (I'm still not there, but very close!). I'm guessing 2-3 more years until I cross that threshold.

As a point of comparison, I am 30 year old with these credentials (and associated relevant progressive work experience):
BS Chemical Engineering
MBA
Registered Professional Engineer
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
Working on PhD in Applied Math

Wow, sounds like you're off to a great start, and have earned it, hang in there and you're in great shape. I sometimes wonder if i wasted, oh twenty years, in other pursuits, but's it's who i am and i wouldn't change the past, still working on improving the future though.

More than one way to skin a cat, just don't try herding them, learned that the hard way, a few times.

 

[ChemEng]

More than one way to skin a cat, just don't try herding them, learned that the hard way, a few times.

I just bought a motorcycle (Honda VTX 1300R for those interested). I intend to invest a growing amount of time in its saddle in the near and far future. The cost of future credentials is too high relative to their potential gains compared to feeling of a good ride on a warm day through country roads...

 

[alevin]

I just bought a motorcycle (Honda VTX 1300R for those interested). I intend to invest a growing amount of time in its saddle in the near and far future. The cost of future credentials is too high relative to their potential gains compared to feeling of a good ride on a warm day through country roads...

Ah, you're young yet. Plenty of time still to get your priorities all messed up. :toung: Very pretty bike, I was thinking about buying an electric bicycle for commuting for awhile when gas prices went so high last year. They're expensive tho!

 

[CountryBoy]

Groups claim data on federal employees' salaries is misleading

According to federal workforce advocates, the numbers are misleading. "The data presented by USA Today is incomplete in many ways," Jessica Klement, legislative director for the Federal Managers Association, wrote in an e-mail. She said the data did not indicate how or why federal employees earned those salaries, and taken in context, the figures aren't as alarming as they seem at first glance.

"The USA Today article also disappoints by failing to recognize the growth in the number of highly paid political appointees and senior managers at the federal level and the far greater degree of professional jobs performed by the men and women of the federal workforce when contrasted with the private sector," Kelley said in a statement.


http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=44246&printerfriendlyvers=1

 

[alevin]

too bad they don't rebut by way of USA News editorial, so that the same readership has opportunity to get the "rest of the story". Who reads govexec except feds? Not John Q. public.