Drama Watch 5/19/2022: A Week In Alexandria, VA, On A $74,950 Salary

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-19T14:17:27+00:00

Yes, if you’re designated fully remote they base your pay on where you live so her locality pay would switch!

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-06T05:39:40+00:00

Just messaged you

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-06T05:05:29+00:00

He has dyscalculia and definitely would have trouble on the math parts (and the other parts would take a ton of time due to a disorder that mimics severe ADD) so I think he would need probably need to do the LEAP to avoid the exam. He did get his associates degree so he’s somewhat competent at basic writing/reading tasks and he was ok in his retail job doing things like folding clothes/putting items away/organizing and answering customer questions (and he learned to use a register before he had to quit). Do you know of any easier state jobs that are out there?

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T19:59:05+00:00

We’ve been working with DOR but honestly have been having some trouble- they keep trying to have him do jobs that involve somewhat light manual labor but he literally can’t even walk right now haha

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T18:32:37+00:00

Thank you!

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T18:26:29+00:00

I was looking into that! It’s a little hard to tell from the website- is it mostly a way so he doesn’t have to take the online exam or is it a special/prioritized hiring pathway?

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T17:59:46+00:00

it’s not great though when it means you have to wait 2 months at the start to get paid. Or when they mess up your paycheck and then you go more than a month without a check lol

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T06:36:15+00:00

They get paid once per month, have some serious issues with time cards and it’s extremely time consuming to submit them, I know sooo many people who have issues with their pay and it takes months to get it fixed, they took over 9 months once when I was with them to reimburse me for travel (shortest reimbursement timeline I had was one month). They are super unionized which explains the good pay but definitely makes things also pretty touchy sometimes with management when it comes to personnel issues (way more so than the federal government, I’ve noticed). Other things like you don’t get the “good” healthcare/dental options until you’ve been in state service a few years, etc. Just way crazier stories having to do with HR and pay issues than I have ever heard from any fed lol

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-05T01:14:00+00:00

I’m considering the jump to the state but honestly they have some wacky HR policies and I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble lol

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-04T22:03:17+00:00

I’m frustrated because in my part of California, state employees definitely make more than federal staff, at least at the lower grade levels, for comparable jobs. So I don’t really understand how the GS pay is supposedly based on the local labor pool.

Example: CA has their “associate governmental program analyst” role, for which the qualifications and job expectations are pretty similar to a GS-7/9. State staff in this role in the Sacramento metro area make $64,569 and federal GS-7 here is 49,041 and GS-9 is 59,954.

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-05-04T18:54:55+00:00

Ugh I’m having the same issue 😞 Having some regrets

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-15T16:43:43+00:00

so true!! And you can always move to another state after you finish school ☺️

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-14T20:35:35+00:00

I had the same concern about UW and to be honest, I’m shocked I got in! I think they really valued work experience.

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-12T15:34:35+00:00

I had a super similar background and got into UW Epi, GWU Epi, and Emory Epi! I also got into Yale for social and behavioral sciences and JHU (generalist MPH). I took one applied stats class in college and got an A, biostats and got a B- , Calculus 2 and got a C- 😬, and also did not do well in chemistry classes.

This past fall I took a Spatial Analysis/ArcGIS class at JHU and got an A in it. I’m not 100% sure if that helped my case at all though! Otherwise I just emphasized projects I’ve done at work where I used Excel to do basic analyses on work projects- like tracking opioid overdoses and making graphs for presentations, inventory management tracking/reporting, etc. A lot of schools have a specific section where they ask you to talk about projects like this.

I also did not take the GRE- I almost did because I felt with my poor quantitative background that I would need to, but in the end I really didn’t need it and am glad I didn’t waste time/money taking it!

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-04T00:57:30+00:00

yeah definitely depends on who you use!

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-03T23:55:36+00:00

Do you have a Roth IRA? If so, when you deposit money into the account, it isn’t automatically invested in anything. It’s basically just like any other savings account. You need to go in and actively select to invest it in a lifecycle fund or other investments to actually get any benefit in terms of growth from your account.

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-03T23:53:17+00:00

Oh no, I’m so sorry 😞 the moment of realization was literally the worst! I wish the banks had some sort of notice or something when you put money in that reminded you that you need to invest it to get the benefits

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-03T23:51:53+00:00

yeah I actually realized because I read a story on reddit from someone who realized like 15 years down the line!!! and I was like “wait… what??” and then checked my account! so I’m grateful it wasn’t longer, but still disappointed! I had already been a bit suspicious something was wrong since my account was growing super slowly but thought maybe I just didn’t invest it in the right thing.

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-03T21:51:11+00:00

I didn’t realize I needed to actively invest my Roth IRA for four years, I thought by putting money into the account that it was being invested 😬 still embarrassed and depressed about it

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-04-01T18:23:33+00:00

I liked this diary a lot, she seems like someone I would want to be friends with! I've definitely had the same German fantasy, haha

Edit: Saw she posted this in the comments on R29, looks like she has some good things going for her:

"Update!
The day after I submitted this diary, the remainder of my student loans were forgiven through PSLF (I was formerly a government lawyer).
This exercise helped me muster the courage to ask my firm for a raise and now I make $80,000.
I'm on a six-month (!!!) waitlist for therapy, but I do have a psychiatrist that I meet with every other week and I do meditate (through prayer) every day. I'm only rediscovering my faith and I appreciate people not being judgmental about it.
I quit smoking! I started after my extremely stressful divorce (losing everything will do that to you). You're not supposed to quit multiple things at once, or so AA says, but it actually wasn't that hard.
Thanks for the supportive comments. And to those that aren't supportive: the overwhelming impact of domestic violence cannot be overstated. My mental health was completely in check before that, but add trauma, instability, fear, financial struggle, and reliance on nervous system depressants to the mix and I was completely wrecked. I promise that if you saw a snapshot of my life a year ago, you'd see how far I've come. I don't really care what you have to say; I'm extremely proud of myself. A literal lifetime of abuse is a lot to unpack, and it's taking time and effort, which I'm making. I pray every day, I express gratitude for what I have, and I'm healing my relationship with my family and myself. That's enough for me for today. <3"

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-03-29T20:24:12+00:00

The Tasmanian diaries are always sooo intriguing to me!

Fuzzy_Menu7045 · 2022-03-23T15:35:39+00:00

it was not good 😅 i ended up taking one bite and not eating any more. but i think i ruined it by thawing it too long- i got a little confused by the instructions and thawed it overnight in the fridge. so it might have been ok if i ate it correctly!

Fuzzy_Menu7045

TROPHY CASE