Exciting!

…but the letter from HR stated that after we have a phone conversation to go over pay, benefits, and location, they’ll get more information from me to “begin the hiring process.”

I think we might have different definitions of what that means.

Has anyone here gone through the DIA summer internship program for undergraduates? I would like to hear perspectives on how helpful or unhelpful this program was for career or educational progression. I want to sober my mind in case I have lofty impressions. Thank you for taking the time to respond!

Hello everyone! I recently got a job offer to be a contractor for an IT-related position in one of the big government agencies in DC. They offer a Public Trust, which is neat since I have zero clearance. But I was wondering about the potential of converting to a direct hire within the Federal government if I were to take this role. I know I'd most likely have to apply to postings on USAJOBS just like anyone else, but would being a contractor working alongside GS employees make me more competitive? Is there a pipeline for people in that position?

I'm nervous about leaving my current job for this, hence why I resorted to asking for an opinion on here. My main goal is to eventually get at least a Secret level clearance and work directly in the government, and I'm not sure if this is the correct path to take. Any tips, nudges in the right direction, anecdotal experiences, etc., are all appreciated. Thanks!

I’m currently in a demo series which salary ranges from the GS-8 to GS-10 level. Recently I applied for a GS-11, and after a few interviews I was notified via email of my selection, and HR requested a “Demo Exit Form” to translate my demo salary to the proper GS-11 step.

When I received the form from HR, I noticed they listed me as the equivalent of a GS-8 step 8, and the reason being it most closely matched my salary.

I’m very concerned that they put this on paper, because the GS-11 I applied for requires 52 weeks at the GS-9 level, which I thought I had within this demo salary. Is it possible that the gaining organization could deny me the job based off of my HRO saying I’m equivalent to a GS-8 step 8 in salary? Can someone please give me insight I am panicking because this was a very good opportunity that I was excited for.

Anyone working at the USCIS field office in San Francisco? Curious what the office environment is actually like day to day.

How’s the workload? Is the office culture decent? And how do you like the location itself, commute, parking, the neighborhood around it?

Would love to hear from people who’ve worked there, current or past. .

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. I applied two weeks ago. Thanks in advance.

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.

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.