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Pay bands?

Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:33 pm
by askingAboutBands
Does anyone know much about the ND pay band scale or demonstration project? How do the pay bands align with the GS scales? What is the pay? I've heard that some SF use these different pay methods but, I haven't found much information about them, especially ND.

Re: Pay bands?

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 2:51 pm
by tallGlasses
Pay scales for recent college grads are normally GS7-9. I have been told though that higher grades may be offered given a SMART participant's qualifications. I'd get in touch with your sponsoring facility to get more details.

Re: Pay bands?

Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2017 5:25 pm
by guest308
I was in ND for a long time. There's not a lot of information out there about it. I asked this same question of HR on my base and received a very ambiguous and hand-wavey response.

As far as I can tell, they start a lot of scientists/engineers at ND 03 then after two years move them to ND 04. Everyone stays in ND 04 forever and ever unless they apply for a branch manager or PhD-level scientist job, and then they get bumped to ND 05. So I think the top of ND 04 is about equal to a high GS-13 or low GS-14 and the bottom of ND 04 is about equal to a GS-9... maybe 10... or so, but I don't know if there's any document drawing a direct equivalency line.

Re: Pay bands?

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:36 am
by theOP
Interesting. It sounds like no one really knows how things really map. So, is there any real way to know where you will wind up salary wise? At least with the GS system you could make a guess based on the tables.

Re: Pay bands?

Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 9:41 pm
by Guest123
theOP wrote:Interesting. It sounds like no one really knows how things really map. So, is there any real way to know where you will wind up salary wise? At least with the GS system you could make a guess based on the tables.
It's pretty easy to find equivalents in other pay band systems that are published slightly more, such as USAF's Lab Demo or Acq Demo. I don't know much about the ND pay band system though.

Re: Pay bands?

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 11:50 am
by Guest314
theOP wrote:Interesting. It sounds like no one really knows how things really map. So, is there any real way to know where you will wind up salary wise? At least with the GS system you could make a guess based on the tables.

I was the poster above.

As far as I am aware, no. I would absolutely get the information in writing from your future manager before committing to the scholarship or SF (or... NOW... if they'll still discuss it now you've already signed paperwork). The ambiguity and broadness of the ND pay bands allows SFs to selectively restrict the pay and promotional potential of SMART scholars with impunity... or without even telling you it's happening... and SMART will NOT help you in any way.