New Federal Employee

Hello all and thank you in advance for the advice. I have been lurking on this thread for a while and have read some thoughtful and helpful posts,so I thought I would reach out to the forum for suggestions regarding my situation. My question pertains to extending your EOD.

I was offered a position with an agency as a GS 12 out in California, but I currently live in Baltimore. I was thinking that, from reading other posters stories, that I would have some time to sort out the moving details because of how slow the government moves with hiring new folks, but it sounds like my agency is moving pretty quickly. My HR contact called me to let me know that my fingerprinting and physical were currently scheduled for 12/31/2019 here in Maryland and stated that, "we are trying to keep things moving with your processing so that we can have you here before the next pay period begins". I am assuming that means sometime in mid-Jan since my appointments are on 12/31/19. I was verbally offered the position on 12/6/19 and submitted an OF 306 that same day. On 12/15/19 I received the electronic TO and accepted it, at which point I was taken to USAJOBS to complete a bunch of onboarding forms. I filled out the SF-85 (very short form) and signed it yesterday. My question is, can I reasonably be expected to start work in Jan., or is the HR getting ahead of the process since these NACI's take 3ish months to complete? Is it possible to negotiate an EOD, for say mid-Feb.? I will need to sublet my apartment, me and my wife will need to leave our current positions, we will need to find a new place, pack everything and drive across the country.

I have read a lot of horror stories on here about folks who had their job offers receded or the job was canceled after they began the process of moving. I am hesitant to give notice, place an ad for a sublet and start the moving process before I have the firm offer, and starting two weeks from the date of the FO is too much. Can I negotiate an EOD that will give me time to settle my affairs here in Baltimore? Thanks for your answers.

Submitted application- 11/15ish/2019
Job closed- 11/21/2019
Phone interview- 12/4/2019
Verbal offer- 12/6/2019
Official TO- 12/15/19
EOD- TBD

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. Your answer was very helpful, as now I feel like my request is not unreasonable. I’ve just been applying for government jobs off and on for years and this is my first job offer (and it was also my first interview) and I don’t to jeopardize this position.

To your other points, no, they are not paying my relocation, which is part of why I was able to negotiate a higher step coming in. I does not require a clearance either, I just have to do the minimum BI all new federal employees have to do (OF 306, SF 85, etc..)

When I was in officer training in college for the Army, we had to have a secret clearance and I remember how painful and time consuming the SF 86 was, so when I heard e-QUP from HR, I thought not again...

About 10 years ago, I interviewed for a job, was given a TO the next day,and asked to fill out OF306, followed a week later by a formal offer and start date about two weeks out. I explained there was no way I could get all the way across the country in two weeks, and they moved it out another month (six weeks total) I received the formal offer BEFORE I filled out SF85. In fact, I didn't fill any of that out untill my first day on the job.

This time around, I had an interview late September on a Thursday, followed by a TO the following Monday. I filled out OF306. A few weeks later I received an email asking me to complete SF85p plus supplemental questions. Just last week I had my subject interview, my previous employer was contacted and somebody my references were interviewed in person. The process obviously is still ongoing.

On the subject of pushing out a start date, I obviously can't speak for any particular agency, but in my case they had no issues with it. In the case of the previous low risk position using SF85, there did not seem to be any delays. In the case this time, I'm going on three months and they are still in the data gathering phase.

New to Fed government
No military experience

Applied: Nov 19, 2019
Closed Date: Nov 21, 2019
Notice of Referral: Dec 27, 2019
Scheduled interview: Dec 31, 2020
Interview: Jan 6, 2020
TO: Jan 9, 2020
FO: Jan 28, 2020
EOD: Feb 3, 2020

Pathways Recent Grad program

No fed experience, NIH contractor, applied to FDA CTP Reg health program coordinator GS 7-9 position

NOR: 1/14/2020
Contacted for phone interview: 1/14/2020
Phone interview: 1/17/2020
In person interview: 1/24/2020 (asked to provide references prior to interview)

So far, no status update. USAjobs still says "received". Trying to be patient, but its tough

No prior fed experience and no military service/veteran's preference.

GG-13 Excepted Service Position, TS/SCI Clearance

July 6th - Announcement opened USA Jobs
July 10th - Submitted Application
July 16th - Announcement closed
August 8th - Status Updated to Referred
August 26th - Contacted to Schedule Interview
August 28th - Completed Phone Interview
December 2nd - USA Jobs Status was updated to "Not Selected"
January 24th - Received Tentative Offer and USA Jobs Status updated to "Selected"
January 31st - Received eQIP/SF-86
February 5th - Submitted eQIP. Fingerprints on the 6th and Urinalysis on the 7th
February 20th - Received interim Secret Clearance and Top Secret waiver
February 22nd - Negotiated start date and received final/official offer
March 30th - Scheduled entry date


I was told that there were 14 people who interviewed, including 2 veterans. Of the 14 people who interviewed, two were deemed qualified enough to get the job according to my new manager. I asked about the Not Selected status and he said that the reason for the delay was they had to go through several steps to disqualify the veterans, since they did not interview well and he did not have confidence they could do the job. I was chosen as a secondary, which was why USA Jobs was updated as not selected. Something happened to the primary selectee (I'm not sure what exactly, but I suspect it was financial due to the high cost of living and no PCS) and he withdrew from consideration, leading to me being offered the position. I was offered an entry date of March 16 or March 30, and requested March 30 to finish up projects at my current job and to cover a vacation I currently have scheduled for late March.

I can finally post my timeline in here. Keep going everyone, you'll get there eventually!

Application Submitted- 14 Sep
Closed - 20 Sep
Referral - 29 Sep
First Interview - 14 Nov
OF306 completed - 19 Nov
References Contacted - 20 Nov
Second Interview - 22 Nov
Additional Info requested - 10 Dec
Tentative Offer - 03 Feb
Final Offer - 24 Feb
EOD - 16 Mar

Total of ~40 applications submitted through USAJOBS.

As above:

2/7/20: Announcement closed
2/18/20 Called to come in for an interview
2/21/20 Actually interview (interview went great!)

Update: 3/4/20 Received a call that my references would be contacted.

Have not heard anything since. With everything going on in the world, I’m sure many things are on hold,
I just hope everything still goes forward in the next few weeks/months. I’ll assume a hiring freeze at the present moment?

~30+ applications total. First federal government position. Started application process in July 2019.

USAJobs Posting - 1/15/20 (limit 125 applications)
Application Submitted - 1/16/20
Posting Closed - 1/21/20
Referred - 1/27/20
First (phone) Interview - 2/13/20
Second (in person) Interview - 3/6/20
References Contacted 3/11/20
Tentative Offer - 3/12/20
Final Offer - 4/20/20
EOD - 5/11/20

All on-boarding and orientation were done remotely, due to corona virus situation. All in all, there were ~11 who were on-boarded at the same time at my Department (majority DC, a few spread across the country). I suspect my hiring moved forward amidst this pandemic due to the fact that much of the hiring process was completed prior to most stay-at-home orders, but that is pure speculation on my part.

Since this was 4 years ago, how long did it take you to hear from HR? I’m in this same position!

Thanks!