Hi everyone,
I’m currently 6 months into a 1 year Phase 2 commitment at my SF and am already counting down the days until I finish out my commitment here. The work is slow, unfulfilling, and I have received little to no mentorship to help me be successful on the job. At this point it feels like I’m just finishing out a prison sentence at a job that makes me miserable and rethink why I ever signed up for this program in the first place. Has anybody else felt the same way at their SF?
Miserable at SF
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Phase 2 scholar
Re: Miserable at SF
That hasn't been my experience, but sadly you are not alone. Some have even left the program early, saddling themselves with debt in the process. If you can track down the SMART debt discord, I think you'll find plenty of other people who share similar experiences.
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Phase 2 scholar
Re: Miserable at SF
I know you didn't ask this, but there are some things you should be thinking about as you look to leave your current job.
If you are leaving government service and not returning, I think you can "cash out" your government pension, which has been being deducted from your pay (should be 4.4% of your salary). However, doing so may detrimentally affect your service computation dates, should you later decide to return to government service.
Leaving your job will affect your insurance, dental, vision, FSA, ect., so plan ahead on that front. If you quit your job, you will lose all FSA funds, so it's important that you spend as much of those as you can before you leave if you put funds into that account. Emergency medical kits, over-the-counter medications, sunscreen, radon tests, and glasses lens wipes are all FSA-eligable expenses.
If you leave government service after one year (as opposed to moving to another government position), you likely will not be considered "vested" in your TSP, so you will lose the 1% basic pay that your employer contributed. I believe you should still be able to keep matched funds though (4%, if you didn't decrease your contribution from default).
If you are leaving government service and not returning, I think you can "cash out" your government pension, which has been being deducted from your pay (should be 4.4% of your salary). However, doing so may detrimentally affect your service computation dates, should you later decide to return to government service.
Leaving your job will affect your insurance, dental, vision, FSA, ect., so plan ahead on that front. If you quit your job, you will lose all FSA funds, so it's important that you spend as much of those as you can before you leave if you put funds into that account. Emergency medical kits, over-the-counter medications, sunscreen, radon tests, and glasses lens wipes are all FSA-eligable expenses.
If you leave government service after one year (as opposed to moving to another government position), you likely will not be considered "vested" in your TSP, so you will lose the 1% basic pay that your employer contributed. I believe you should still be able to keep matched funds though (4%, if you didn't decrease your contribution from default).
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requiredservice
Re: Miserable at SF
Required service is a good time to figure out what you are passionate about. It's only a few years of time and a few years out of a 40 year career is nothing. Think about what you would rather be doing and start thinking about how to prepare yourself for that. Find ways to make your job more engaging. Ask for more responsibility and more opportunity. Be productive. If you can't figure out how to be productive, you won't have anything to talk about at your next job interview. Every organization has projects and opportunities for people that are motivated to get stuff done and become experts in things that help the overall mission of the org. I also had required service that was pretty boring on the surface. I understand the feeling. Think long term and get excited about what you might be able to do when your sentence is over and start preparing for that now so that you have plenty of options.