by Guest » Fri Aug 03, 2012 11:15 pm
The DoD attempted these shenanigans in my situation as well. In all, it would have set my career back AT LEAST 3 years, not to mention the stigma of being a college graduate and then being an "intern".
It's a load of bull, and not something you should take lying down. Your SF is using a classic bureaucratic excuse to not have to push hard for your interests. SMART will try (behind the scenes) to press the SF into honoring the original commitment, but they can only push so hard. To your face, SMART will pretend that this is a normal hiring mechanism and you must accept or pay back the scholarship. Ask yourself: if my SF is willing to lie down to bureaucracy this early in my career, do I REALLY want to work for them?
Here's what you should do:
1) Let the SMART Program Office know that you are unhappy with the prospects of being an "intern" after graduation. Let them know that they have a month or two or three (whatever you want to give them) to present an acceptable alternative or you will be writing your congressman.
2) If the timeline lapses, contact your SF BEFORE you contact your congressman. Let them know (and it would be preferable if you point fingers to uniformed military) and tell them a similar story. Give them one or two months to present an acceptable job offer.
3) If both timelines lapse, contact your congressman. All congressional representatives have a "Help with US Government" staffers who will chase down these issues and launch inquiries.
In my case, I did the steps out of order. My SF kept on beating around the bush for about 12 months saying that the best they could do was a student internship offer. My congressman sent an inquiry into the DoD and it eventually wound up on the desk of my SFs CO. An acceptable GS job offer was generated 2 weeks later. Always send written communication to the SPO and the SF. If they call you on the phone, let them know you are available to talk about this issue through email. The last thing they (both SF and SPO) want to do is have a paper trail of what's about to go down. If they refuse to email, take copious notes of the phone calls (dates, times, etc).
The powerfulness of your situation will depend on how much documentation you have from your SF. In my case, I had emails from an HR rep from before the hiring freeze, but after I was in SMART, that said they would hire me as a full-time, GS employee. My congressman asked for those emails and then sent in his inquiry.
Good luck. The SMART Program should have knocked this stuff off long ago, but apparently more congressmen are going to need to get involved.
The DoD attempted these shenanigans in my situation as well. In all, it would have set my career back AT LEAST 3 years, not to mention the stigma of being a college graduate and then being an "intern".
It's a load of bull, and not something you should take lying down. Your SF is using a classic bureaucratic excuse to not have to push hard for your interests. SMART will try (behind the scenes) to press the SF into honoring the original commitment, but they can only push so hard. To your face, SMART will pretend that this is a normal hiring mechanism and you must accept or pay back the scholarship. Ask yourself: if my SF is willing to lie down to bureaucracy this early in my career, do I REALLY want to work for them?
Here's what you should do:
1) Let the SMART Program Office know that you are unhappy with the prospects of being an "intern" after graduation. Let them know that they have a month or two or three (whatever you want to give them) to present an acceptable alternative or you will be writing your congressman.
2) If the timeline lapses, contact your SF BEFORE you contact your congressman. Let them know (and it would be preferable if you point fingers to uniformed military) and tell them a similar story. Give them one or two months to present an acceptable job offer.
3) If both timelines lapse, contact your congressman. All congressional representatives have a "Help with US Government" staffers who will chase down these issues and launch inquiries.
In my case, I did the steps out of order. My SF kept on beating around the bush for about 12 months saying that the best they could do was a student internship offer. My congressman sent an inquiry into the DoD and it eventually wound up on the desk of my SFs CO. An acceptable GS job offer was generated 2 weeks later. Always send written communication to the SPO and the SF. If they call you on the phone, let them know you are available to talk about this issue through email. The last thing they (both SF and SPO) want to do is have a paper trail of what's about to go down. If they refuse to email, take copious notes of the phone calls (dates, times, etc).
The powerfulness of your situation will depend on how much documentation you have from your SF. In my case, I had emails from an HR rep from before the hiring freeze, but after I was in SMART, that said they would hire me as a full-time, GS employee. My congressman asked for those emails and then sent in his inquiry.
Good luck. The SMART Program should have knocked this stuff off long ago, but apparently more congressmen are going to need to get involved.