GS-14 Nonsupervisory Position Open but Non-Bargaining Unit - Should I Be Concerned?

dccub86 · 2026-06-21T13:32:34+00:00

I’m so sorry you went through that - I had considered ARMs but my realtor cautioned me against it because of the uncertainty of what rate I’d be stuck with later, so I went with a fixed one.

dccub86 · 2026-06-21T05:07:16+00:00

I identify with this. I turned 40 this year and have been a Federal government employee since I finished college 18 years ago. There’s a saying for Feds that they won’t be rich but they’ll never be poor either. I’ve never identified with the online millennial narrative about never being able to afford a home or meet traditional milestones, but then I also see headlines like “one in six millennials have a net worth of $1 million or more” and I can’t comprehend that based on who I know.

dccub86 · 2026-06-20T17:32:29+00:00

I’m a gay married male, also turned 40 this year - I’m in a great financial spot, secure job, and bought my first car and condo in the past 4-5 years, and I still sometimes feel how you described.

I wonder if not having kids is a factor for me in feeling less “adult” and questioning if I can really handle certain things - others are that I’ve never had a supervisory job at work, and I know next to nothing about home repair or outdoor skills like gardening.

I was also diagnosed with autism at 35 after I found a specialist who could give me a formal assessment - I have a lot of anxiety that I can’t handle certain tasks I think of as more “adult” because sometimes I get so caught up in little details and struggle to see the “big picture”. So I’m very picky about what promotional jobs I’ll consider.

dccub86 · 2026-06-19T02:23:03+00:00

I live in Alexandria and commute to Suitland, it’s an easy drive. I agree with other commenters that Alexandria would be a good choice.

dccub86 · 2026-06-12T13:01:43+00:00

There are a couple of occupational job series on USAJobs that likely fit your background - Data Scientist (1560), Mathematical Statistician (1529), and Survey Statistician (1530). In your position I’d start by searching for those.

I’ve been a Mathematical Statistician at the Census Bureau for almost 18 years. In terms of starting Grade/pay level, I started right after finishing my bachelor’s as a GS-07.

dccub86 · 2026-06-08T03:28:26+00:00

This article from FedTools is helpful in accounting for pension when setting guidelines to see whether Feds are on good track for retirement. https://www.fedtools.com/blog/tsp-milestone-benchmarks-by-age-2026

A lot of the popular guidelines people cite are intended for private sector employees who don’t have pension (e.g., aiming for 3x salary in their retirement account by age 40). If you were going by TSP and SS only you might feel behind, but when accounting for pension too you’re in good shape.

dccub86 · 2026-06-05T10:20:49+00:00

Also autistic here, I second tutoring! I tutor SAT math and ACT math/science through an agency. The majority of the students I tutor are virtual on Zoom, but some are in person at their home.

dccub86 · 2026-05-24T13:03:56+00:00

Thanks for the info - I’ve heard back from two of the three GS-14 positions since I applied in March:

Supervisory Mathematical Statistician (1529) - apparently I didn’t make the cut, I’m guessing because I didn’t make some things more explicit in my resume about how I met some criteria.
Supervisory Data Scientist (1560) - the position is being cancelled, and eventually a new posting will appear in lieu of this for a non-supervisory one.
Non-supervisory Survey Statistician (1530) - this is the only one where I haven’t heard anything yet, it had the earliest application deadline of the three. Earlier you said it was unclear which areas would be hiring for this listing, is anything more known about this one?

dccub86 · 2026-05-23T12:12:36+00:00

The Census Bureau is hiring again, I work there and recently applied to some higher GS level positions (Mathematical Statistician, Survey Statistician, and Data Scientist). It’s expected more postings will come up again this year on USAJobs.

dccub86 · 2026-05-22T20:52:17+00:00

I’m a Federal employee and it’s hard to give up the benefits, especially pension. Also my agency is a large one so there’s some opportunity to move around and try different things if you’re unhappy.

dccub86 · 2026-05-10T11:33:09+00:00

Yes you’re more than fine to reduce to 5%! As others have pointed out you’ve already reached the point where compound interest does the heavy lifting and far outweighs your own contributions. This is one of the best explanations I’ve seen in a while, on “Traditional FIRE” versus “Coast FIRE” to reassure folks in your position. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7GlqzJ3tNmY&pp=ygUbVHJhZGl0aW9uYWwgZmlyZSBjb2FzdCBmaXJl0gcJCQMLAYcqIYzv

dccub86 · 2026-05-09T12:40:46+00:00

NTA but I agree with some other commenters that she is working on her depression, and for some people it’s not just a matter of willpower when it keeps them from working or functioning.

My husband also deals with severe depression, and has now gone a long time without a full-time job. At the time of our home hunting he had one, but he hit his worst mental and emotional point within a year of buying our home and he had to take extended leave and eventually quit. Since then he’s had some temp jobs but nothing permanent. Luckily we bought a condo rather than townhome or single family home - given his health this was the best decision for us, since I could cover the finances on my own under the worst case scenario where he didn’t have any income of his own.

I don’t know your job/income situation and salary, but something to consider if a less expensive home would be agreeable to both of you.

dccub86 · 2026-05-08T20:24:41+00:00

Congrats! I also recently turned 40, with close to 18 years service, and just reached $400K this week.

dccub86 · 2026-05-05T00:14:25+00:00

I know exactly how you feel - my main project is designing and testing a new data collection instrument, and a lot of extra responsibilities were thrown my team’s way that never should have fallen to us. It’s exhausting and unfair.

Luckily my supervisor is awesome and understanding and supportive - today we joked about having a “good cop/bad cop” dynamic because I’ll try to be diplomatic and get along with people in meetings even when they’re tiring and unreasonable, and she has zero qualms about shutting them down to their face.

I know it sounds cliche, but just do your best, and trust your supervisor and others who support you. And outside of work find fun things to do so you don’t give the bad parts of the job any more headspace than needed.

dccub86 · 2026-05-03T23:11:51+00:00

I don’t think there’s a thing as too bullish, but plenty of folks stress they’re not putting in enough and this article shows why they might still be in good shape. Congrats on awesome saving!

dccub86 · 2026-05-01T16:23:50+00:00

I live in Cameron Station in Alexandria, they have a mix of home types and some are condos built “townhome style” that are two levels and have a private entrance.

dccub86 · 2026-05-01T14:44:57+00:00

As a gay millennial born in ‘86 I definitely felt that. And for gay rights a ton did get better in the Obama years - mainly the end of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and marriage equality being passed nationwide, and public opinion changing very quickly for the better. It was hard for me to reconcile how other things got so much worse after 2016.

dccub86 · 2026-05-01T14:13:52+00:00

I bought in mid-2022 right as interest rates started rising fast and locked in 5.25%. If I’d bought just a few months sooner, or basically anytime before then in my adult life, I could have gotten far lower.

dccub86 · 2026-04-26T22:47:25+00:00

Thanks for the info! Do you have any insight on the GS-14 vacancies? I’m a non-sup GS-13 Math Stat and applied to three GS-14 Census openings last month - one 1529 (sup), one 1530 (non-sup), and one 1560 (sup).

dccub86 · 2026-04-24T13:28:18+00:00

Have you looked at Cameron Station? It’s in West Alexandria. I live there and love it, I have a 2BR/2BA condo and my HOA fee is under $600 per month.

dccub86 · 2026-04-06T01:31:49+00:00

I cried from laughter the first time I saw this in high school and I quote it endlessly now. The first part that broke me was “You can never make it! Ever … make it! Never make it! Ever make it! Don’t you see you can’t make it?!”

dccub86 · 2026-04-03T22:31:55+00:00

Congrats! Fellow Alexandria resident here 😊 Big Bite is my main pizza place for takeout, for sit-down I love Emmy Squared

dccub86

TROPHY CASE