"U.S. Digital Service salaries are set in accordance with the General Schedule Pay Scale, which is capped at $160,300."
That's not bad, but not great for really high talent employees. I wonder how many people get that rate though.
That's not bad, but not great for really high talent employees. I wonder how many people get that rate though.
That's right. The US Government is probably not going to win on compensation - salary limits, no stock options, no lunch. However, while it's not a money making enterprise, it's enough to do just fine. I recognize the sacrifices that many of my colleagues have made to be here, not to mention the sacrifices that federal employees and contractors have made (some who are very good and could be making more in the private sector) and that makes this even more worthwhile.
The thing that government can offer is impact. I've always known that government has a big impact on people's lives but not sure if I could personally make an impact. That's what USDS, 18F, a number of other opportunities are offering.
This is not a job for everyone. But if you're a certain type, there's nothing quite like it.
Since we have no power to adjust salaries, we're looking at other avenues, such as doing more "direct from community college" in-training hires as well as non-traditional employment paths.
Unlike USDS and 18F, we don't even have exciting projects, a shortcut around bureaucracy, or cutting edge technologies to sell with. The only sales tool we have for candidates is "if you complete your 6 months probationary, you can essentially never be fired or laid off." Sometimes, that attracts the wrong sort of candidate, as you can probably imagine. :)
[Disclaimer: I work at 18F.]
Admirable intent, I'm suspicious of its prevalence.
Also (slightly biased of course) I bet you get a bit addicted to the mission and that provides a non-monetary incentive to stick around a bit longer :)
It's referred to as a tour of duty because most of us are on 2 year appointments. At the end of that 2 years, there's an optional 2 year extension. These orgs haven't been around long enough for anyone to run out their second two years yet.
Personally, I love this format. It never would have even dawned on me to consider applying for a career position in the federal government, but when the job is time-limited, there's some decision making bug in the brain (even though I could have applied for a normal career position and then just left after 4 years!).
It's a great way to entice people to apply who never would have before.
We also need people in for the long haul. But lets solve one problem at a time!
The thing that bugs me is more pedantic. Calling it a "tour of duty" immediately draws a comparison to a military tour of duty undertaken by our military which implies hardship, sacrifice, etc. I get that some people might be taking pay cuts to join or that it might require leaving your comfort zone, but I'd prefer that some sort of sacrifice on the level of heading to Iraq for a year without your family is not implied in the naming.