The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Salary was not negotiable. There are a fair amount of people whom were hired under SMART here. Your facility should tell you how the hiring process works, salary range, etc before you leave your internship. If not, ask.

For those of y'all finishing Phase I this year, let us know how the salary negotiations go. I'd sort of assumed that negotiation was pointless since we're contractually obligated to accept whatever offer they give, and the civil service bureaucracy tends to tie the agencies' hands about salaries. But hey, if negotiation does accomplish something even under those conditions, it would be a handy thing to know.

I am going to ask them how many SMART Scholars have they had before. Hopefully the answer is that they have had at least one scholar so they are familiar with the hiring procedures. My guess is that they have had none, at least under the Dam Safety Production Center. When I mention the SMART Scholarship to the people I work with it seems that they had never heard of it. I e-mailed my CA about the hiring procedures and she forwarded my e-mail to my Service Liaison. He should be able to answer more questions, I will just be waiting for his reply. What I am mainly concerned is that I graduate in December, there is no much time left. Also, I am in a kind of unique situation, even though I am a recruitment participant, I am a federal employee on Leave WithOut Pay (LWOP) from another agency (Non DoD). So I need to check with them how my situation affects the hiring procedures and salary negotiation. Thank you for all your replies, I really appreciate your help!

I second the idea that it never hurts to ask. I got a signing bonus and started a few steps higher than my base grade, but I still asked what I could do to add some steps (turns out there was nothing I could do). These are HR people you're dealing with, so negotiating is considered just a part of the process.

I'd agree with the last person's post. I was I believe the 2nd to come from SMART to my division but the first in my directorate. I essentially was wondering the same thing about getting things set up before you leave the internship but I don't think they are looking that far ahead. They're trying to build a position for you that might be a year away still. That's a lot of time and they'll probably put you on the backburner till maybe March or April.

I'm still going through all of that stuff and it's the middle of June (I start the middle of July). All in all though I wouldn't worry about it. Just send to your boss/manager every couple months that you are progressing well for them to remember you and that you'll be ready to work by the summer.

As a sidenote, they have pretty strict standards of pay grades, but it never hurts to ask. I was able to bump up myself 2 steps by talking with them and restructuring my resume to get over their 12 month work experience marker. There are probably more ways of negotiation but as I said if you are polite in an email it doesn't hurt to ask.

How many previous SMART scholars has your facility hired? If your facility routinely employs SMART scholars, they may get the ball rolling by themselves, but I would never leave it entirely up to them. At least shoot an email to your mentor or facility POC that you want to know when you should begin the hiring procedure.

As for me, I was the 3rd SMART scholar at my facility to move to Phase 2. I was the 1st SMART scholar trying for Phase 2 during the current hiring freeze. I asked when I should start getting the hiring procedure moving and my mentor told me to wait until the winter after my last internship (6-8 months prior to starting). I followed up at the 8 month mark and then proceeded to wait for 12 months while a lot of hand-wringing and pointing fingers happened.

I'd start earlier, rather than later, if you are one of the first scholars to be hired by your SF during this hiring freeze.

I am looking for advice or experiences for those SMART Scholars that have already been through this. I am on my last internship and I am not sure if I should initiate the conversation or wait for them, or even when to do it (1-2 weeks before the internship ends?)

Thanks!