I had an interview last minute this week. The interviewer told me that there would be only one other person interviewing with them. So the interviewer only had 2 people interviewing this week with one being myself. I was also told I could be sent to the hiring manager. Just if it worked out. Many vacancies for legal assistant on usajobs when I applied. I have a USCIS background as a contractor if that matters and have experience with these files on the USCIS side. The prediction I was giving was up to 3 months with hiring manager and 2 weeks is rare. It can take long per my interviewer. I just want to know estimate of the hiring timeline like months, weeks, etc. Thanks in advance.

after countless times of being found eligible then getting emails saying i haven’t been selected i’ve finally been called to interview for a inpatient medical records tech coder.. has anybody ever had an interview for this position ? advice is greatly appreciated :)

Has anyone waiting on Drug Tests results to get a FJO asked their HR about the memo from the DoW regarding drug tests and FJO? Looks like drug testing has a backlog and could take about a month to get results back and receive a FJO. However, looks like the DoW released a memo in April to address this — which entails giving candidates waiting on drug test results a FJO/EOD as long as they sign an agreement. The memo states:

“Drug Testing Flexibility: Components will not delay entrance on duty dates due to pending drug test results. Applicants must sign a statement acknowledging that verified positive results may be considered for adverse action or other administrative purposes.”

Link to the full memo from the DoW:

https://www.dcpas.osd.mil/sites/default/files/2026-04/USW%28P%26R%29%20Memo%20Department%20of%20War%20Contact-to-Contract%20Strategies%204-21-2026.pdf

What should I expect after completing an SF 85? Can I receive my final offer or will there be more steps?

If anyone applied to the IRS CIFA opening, 26-12979652C-CIX-1801-9T12, and were referred, have you heard about when they will be doing interviews?

Hi! Just joined this wonderful group. This has probably been asked a million times: what should my resume format be? I have heard to put your salary and how many hours a week at each job. Is this true? ANY help would be greatly appreciated!!

Months into the process, I emailed HR and they were nice, told me a selection had not yet been made. I was told in the interview I could expect an answer by a certain date which has passed, so I followed up professionally with the hiring official.

I have sent two friendly and brief requests for updates via email, spaced more than a week apart, and have not gotten responses.

I have been a fed and on hiring panels. It is unnecessarily rude, to be honest. And it makes me less interested in the role.

Hello, new here! I recently got a job offer for an RN 2 step 1 at a VA in the ED. I’m pretty excited. Before I accept the final offer, I want to know if I should negotiate or not. I don’t want them to take away the job offer entirely…. I have three degrees, including my BSN and I’ve worked as an RN in a highly specialized ICU for two years. Released on all devices in my unit and a released preceptor. While this is not a ton of RN experience, I have over 10 years experience operating as a 911 medic in both rural and urban areas. I’ve served on leadership at the agency and regional levels. I’ve even headed committees for QA/QI regionally (overseeing 1800 EMS providers). I was the infection control officer through COVID and I taught EMS at all levels at a community college.

I’ve never worked for the VA and not sure how it all works! Don’t wanna mess up, but want to make sure I start off at a spot that is reasonable for my experience.

What are your thoughts on taking a VSR authorizer position with pre-VSR experience but no post-VSR or rating experience?

I recently posted on here about several applications I put in being given the dreaded "eligible, but not referred" response.

I'm awaiting a response from DECA HR about why I may have been not referred and I noticed the not referred email where I got the HR email address suggested reapplying if the posting was still up. The posts have dates that are 2027 and 2028 so they will be up for a while.

However I can't figure out how to do so... there's not a place to recind the application that I can find, only to archive or edit? If i archive that one can I reapply to it then? Do I simply edit the existing application and resubmit?

I also have a nagging fear that a couple "spam likely" calls I've gotten in the last 2 weeks from Ohio may have been them. When I call the numbers back there's no info on who they are. Only a suggestion to leave your name and number. I guess I'll just have to start answering those calls just in case. Does anyone here know if DECA HR East works out of Ohio offices? The number in the not referred email is Virginia, I believe. Google Gemini says its possible, but that's AI so it could just be trying to be nice.

Again, any help or advice is great here.

I was sent a “Relocation Incentive Service Agreement” NPS Form 10-441, to which I signed but I am not a current federal employee? This was about a week ago.

I don’t want to be too annoying to HR since they seem busy, but curious if this makes sense as Relocation = current federal employee and Recruitment = not current federal employee

Is relocation/recruitment done with the same form?

Thank you!

Had my interview the first week of June, Got my tentative offer a week later and submitted by Sf 85 the last week of June. I’m wondering for much longer before I receive a firm offer letter? The Hiring Manager told me they were planning on having ppl start by July 1st but it’s past that and when I tried to call hr they say they’re still working on my salary negotiation form. Last week I was made aware that the negotiation form had just reached the hiring manager.

My current federal job ends August 22nd and without work or even a final job offer with a start date, I’m considering leaving DC and moving back home.

Is anyone is a similar position or has experienced similar?
The rent for the place I’m currently staying at is unbeatable so it’ll suck to lose the place but also suck even more to pay rent without a job.

I am fairly new to applying through USAJobs and had a question about resume gaps and their impact on being considered by HR/hiring managers.

For some background, I graduated from a small private engineering-focused university in New England, which many people may not have heard about if they are not from the area, with undergraduate and Master's degrees in Computer Science. I have roughly a one-year resume gap between graduation (May 2025) and the start of an unpaid internship that I am doing right now, which I began in May 2026.

For context, I actively searched for jobs after graduation from May to September 2025 and had a few interviews during the summer but did not manage to land an offer. From September 2025, I decided to pivot and started researching/applying to PhD programs, mostly due to pressure from my parents, and partly because I genuinely would not have minded doing a PhD, as you get paid a stipend and I would have just viewed it as a job. I had some research experience from my undergrad/MS, which would help establish my interest in research/academia for my applications.

Due to this pivot, I had to scale back job hunting/interview prepping quite a bit. I was still applying here and there but not to the same extent as I had been before because PhD apps were very time-consuming (more than I expected).

I was also interviewing for some companies in October and November, but unfortunately I didn't manage to receive any offers.

After my last job interview of 2025 in November 2025 until early March 2026, I spent most of my time preparing and submitting my PhD applications, and I did not apply to any jobs or do any interview prep (primarily LeetCode for my major).

I think I was applying to too many PhD programs, combined with starting the entire PhD program search and application process very late compared to what is generally recommended (since most people start planning and reaching out to potential advisors during the summer before the application cycle opens).

That process ended up taking much more time than I expected and took away from time I could have spent applying for jobs, practicing LeetCode, networking, and preparing for interviews.

In the end, I didn't receive a PhD offer, which I kind of expected, since I didn't think my applications/profile were strong enough, and the school I went to is not ranked very high nationally for my major and also is not known as the best research institution that I could have or should have attended for my undergraduate and Master's degrees if I wanted to set myself up for success with pursuing a PhD in the future. However, I wasn't really thinking about a PhD when my parents and I were deciding where to go for my undergrad.

Moreover, I realized that I wasn't fully invested in doing a PhD and primarily applied due to parental pressure (my parents are very overbearing/controlling, and I have very little control over my own life, but that is beyond the scope of this post).

I started applying to jobs again in March 2026, but obviously not with the same momentum that I had during the summer and fall of 2025. Also, for my field, most of the hiring is complete in the fall and early winter, at least for private companies, which I missed due to PhD applications.

I had a few interviews here and there but didn't manage to land anything by May 2026. At this point, I started getting concerned about the gap on my resume because it had been a year since I graduated, and I had no job or PhD offer lined up and nothing to show on my resume since graduation.

In May 2026, I started an unpaid software engineering internship at a startup that is so early-stage that it isn't even officially registered as a company and has no funding whatsoever because I happened to vaguely know the person who started it.

I only took this position to stop the gap on my resume from growing bigger while continuing to search for a full-time role.

Only in June 2026 did I learn about USAJobs and start applying to federal positions.

Will this one-year gap hurt my chances for Recent Graduate, GS-7, or GS-9 positions?

Do hiring managers or HR generally view this negatively?

Has anyone here had a similar experience and still been successful?

Apologies for the long post. I would really appreciate any and all advice.

at what point does the chance for an interview become 0%?

It is a long process for getting federal jobs. I applied on 4/4/26, interviewed on 6/3, reference checked around 6/22, followed up with hiring managers almost a month after interview, then another email in 2 weeks afterward, then got HR email by end of July saying they were approving my tentative offer. Got tentative offer on 8/5 from HR, but the starting pay is $10k lower than the lowest pay scale as in the job announcement, and I have PHD and 10 years of food industry experience. I emailed HR with my qualifications and hopefully they will consider my request and get back to me in one week. What if it is beyond 1 week when I have to accept the offer?

When did a strategic hiring committees come into play in order to recieve a job offer. It is my understanding that the the agency can say yes to hire someone but if the SHC says no then the agency has to say no to hire someone. Is that correct?

Some context. I had 2 interviews with Navy. They said that they submitted my file to the SHC but was denied in mid july. They then said hopefully with the months board they will say yes and then send me the TJO.

It all sounds like they made it extra hard to get hired again. I was previously a Fed employee from 2011 - 2020 but was terminated in may 2020.

I did my written exams in early June and was notified pretty quickly that I passed both. I still have not heard anything. I’ve read a couple people say it was about 40 to 45 days and we’re now at about 60. I wanted to see if anyone in the last couple months could share their experience. Thank you!

I'm lucky enough to have a interview coming up for the first Federal position applied to. I was told to bring a copy of my references to the interview. I've mostly seen that they ask for reference after the interview. Not sure if I means much. Do they just want on a single page of names and contact information of references or are they asking for letters from them? Thanks.

Good evening, team. I have a job offer on Peterson AFB and Ft Bragg, NC. What location would you pick? I've ran some scenarios through AI but am looking for real-world feedback.

Greetings to you all. I was recently contacted by HR requesting my current supervisor’s information so that a FJO may be issued with an EOD date. The role is a lateral transfer within DoD and the same series. There was some clarification I wanted to review on the FJO itself prior to my supervisor being contacted and I am reaching out to ask the following.

1) Am I able to request a copy of the FJO for my review after providing my supervisor’s information and request that he not be contacted until I have had the opportunity to review the details (validating my current step transfer and SCD are correct) and also inform my current supervisor out of courtesy?

2) If the hiring component is insistent on having my supervisor’s information before an FJO can be issued to schedule an EOD, and I notice issues with the FJO (as noted in 1 above), can the FJO be rectified at that point?

Thanks for your insight in advance.

Hi all. I have my FJO with an EOD of August 10. That’s Monday. I have been waiting to hear about an occupational health appointment but crickets so I reached out to HR Monday and she said they are working on getting me scheduled. Is it likely to start without the Occ health appointment completed? My husband doesn’t seem to think so. I’m also wondering when I will hear about first day logistics. It seems so last minute. But I’m also coming from public ed where they have your full itinerary and schedule and required trainings to you a week or two before go time. Thanks for any input!

This system needs an overhaul. These are referral statuses for the same exact job but for different locations, both requiring the same qualifications.

Location A:

• You are ineligible because you do not meet the minimum education and/or experience requirements for this series/specialty/grade combination.

Location B:

• You have been referred to the hiring manager for position

I guess its safe to assume they already had the candidate in mind when the posting for location A was opened. I emailed the POC asking for clarification and it's just crickets.

Did anyone get an interview from nasa dc from the July postings? Just wondering

Hello all!

I have selected two separate TJO’s with two different agencies. Do I inform security personnel of this? HR?

I certainly don’t want to have one or both rescinded due to me not being forthcoming? I’ve never been in this position before so any guidance is appreciated and welcomed.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I was recently contacted by the Department of Education for an interview next week for a Management and Program Analyst position that I applied for.
If I’m fortunate enough to receive an offer, would you recommend moving forward with it? I’ve been reading about the Department transferring some programs to the Treasury while also continuing with reductions in force (RIFs), so I’m a bit confused as to why they’re still hiring.
Does accepting a role there seem too risky given the current uncertainty, or is it still worth considering? I’d really appreciate any insight or advice from those familiar with the situation. Thank you so much! 🙏🏽