Great Big Swirling Mass of Murphy
Well, if you have been reading the ancient posts of mine, you will know that I was in the midst of not being accepted for a police position with my current employer and waffling between that and a job that had been dangled under my nose for the last 3 years and change.
Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will. Contextually, nothing is “wrong” but it sure isn’t easy. In mid-August, my esteemed employer the Veteran’s Administration opened a Police Officer position. This time, thanks to some added expertise on how to write an effective “government” resume, I made the certification list and was interviewed for the job. I won’t go into too much detail, but a co-worker of mine also applied. There was one opening and based on a number of circumstances, I was not initially selected. The problem my supervisors faced was that they wanted both of us as officers. By the time all was said and done, an applicant from a previous certification who had not yet arrived for work, gave-up his position and I was selected for the position. So I will be sent to the academy in January for 5 weeks and learn to be a VA cop. For the trivia buff, the VA has had a police {instead of security} force since 1971; and since the VA is a truly unique branch, they have a specific academy.
Here’s the rub – about a week after I was told that I was hired, I was notified that my “former dream job” was going to be going public before the end of the month. Ironically, the position posted the day before my birthday. I was emailed by two former co-workers, who really wanted me to apply for the job. Now, if you have not worked for the Federal Government you have never experienced the true and unadulterated joy that is their hiring process. The bottom line is that after you are offered the job, there is a battery of tests, evaluations, and other things to make sure you are a qualified candidate…but nothing is final until everything is finalized and sent BACK to HR for final approval. So, when I was told in September that I was approved as an officer, the final approval didn’t come until well after the closing of the “other” job. Not wanting to count all my chickens at night on the back of a truck, I applied for the “other” job.
Fat forward to today…I FINALLY got notified that I will be a VA Police Officer. After 3 weeks of training, I guess that my supervisors were supremely confident, I got the call!!
So here I sit, waiting to hear from the other guys. Unless the other guys can get me a substantial pay increase, closer to what I will make with OT at the VA, my decision will be made for me. Outside of pay, the jobs are comparable in benefits. It really boils down to where I will be happier.
Well, if you have been reading the ancient posts of mine, you will know that I was in the midst of not being accepted for a police position with my current employer and waffling between that and a job that had been dangled under my nose for the last 3 years and change.
Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will. Contextually, nothing is “wrong” but it sure isn’t easy. In mid-August, my esteemed employer the Veteran’s Administration opened a Police Officer position. This time, thanks to some added expertise on how to write an effective “government” resume, I made the certification list and was interviewed for the job. I won’t go into too much detail, but a co-worker of mine also applied. There was one opening and based on a number of circumstances, I was not initially selected. The problem my supervisors faced was that they wanted both of us as officers. By the time all was said and done, an applicant from a previous certification who had not yet arrived for work, gave-up his position and I was selected for the position. So I will be sent to the academy in January for 5 weeks and learn to be a VA cop. For the trivia buff, the VA has had a police {instead of security} force since 1971; and since the VA is a truly unique branch, they have a specific academy.
Here’s the rub – about a week after I was told that I was hired, I was notified that my “former dream job” was going to be going public before the end of the month. Ironically, the position posted the day before my birthday. I was emailed by two former co-workers, who really wanted me to apply for the job. Now, if you have not worked for the Federal Government you have never experienced the true and unadulterated joy that is their hiring process. The bottom line is that after you are offered the job, there is a battery of tests, evaluations, and other things to make sure you are a qualified candidate…but nothing is final until everything is finalized and sent BACK to HR for final approval. So, when I was told in September that I was approved as an officer, the final approval didn’t come until well after the closing of the “other” job. Not wanting to count all my chickens at night on the back of a truck, I applied for the “other” job.
Fat forward to today…I FINALLY got notified that I will be a VA Police Officer. After 3 weeks of training, I guess that my supervisors were supremely confident, I got the call!!
So here I sit, waiting to hear from the other guys. Unless the other guys can get me a substantial pay increase, closer to what I will make with OT at the VA, my decision will be made for me. Outside of pay, the jobs are comparable in benefits. It really boils down to where I will be happier.
posted by augiepete at 3:12 PM
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