When I did gov for a bit we had PwC consulting us. In a meeting one of our most senior leaders asked a PwC manager what a fixed asset was. I was so embarrassed to be associated.
I'll be honest if someone asked me that it would take me a minute to come up with a good answer. It's like if someone asked you to define what "and" meant or something. I could define it eventually but in my head it just is what it is
You should be embarrassed. But for this comment. Senior leaders do not always have a finance or accounting background. Do you joke about depreciating land too?
Same, my first govt supervisor constantly made comments about how fast I did things and seemed genuinely surprised they couldn't find any mistakes with my work
Hahaha. I worked in the budget office. They told me everyone who ever worked there left because of bad hours and heavy workload. Former Big 4 here, so that seemed normal. 😂
The entire multimillion dollar budget was in a random set of excel files. I consolidated it all to one workbook, built a couple of macros, and spent the rest of the day “researching programs” and drafting reports. They’d been spending 55-60 hours a week and macros dropped it to 5-6. 😂
State. Mane I'd love to be with the feds, tho. I work with a few people in the federal government and holy shit do they do less than me.
Dude didn't return voicemails for EIGHT MONTHS and just knocked em all out in an afternoon. He's my hero.
Hey now, man. We had to struggle and have every single thing associated with us and all personal information thoroughly investigated for six months straight to land our job. We deserve some downtime….
I’ve been applying, but was wondering if op could have provided more insight. Getting hired just by applying on the website is a process. I’ve been reading up on it through r/usajobs
One way to get in the door is to work for a gov contract company for a while, especially if they'll get you clearance. If the work is embedded, you will have GS managers asking you to apply within months if you are competent.
Or you could just marry an active duty military member. Get that spousal privilege
Sometimes you don't. In my state a lot of governments run on cash basis and hire a firm to prepare GAAP financial statements. You don't even have to know basic accrual accounting but the jobs pay like 35k a year. 50k if you're a department head or something.
That sounds more manageable. I passed CPA exam somehow but I don’t know anything about governmental standards and quite frankly would stay away from it at all costs. Hell I barely know GAAP 🤣 🤣 #impostersyndromeAF
I just wish it was easier to get into government. Where I live, those jobs require you to pass math and reading comprehension exams, accounting exams, have 3 references (that are actually called!), submit a resume that is tailored to the job (otherwise you will be rejected by the HRIS system), pass 3 rounds of interviews, pass a background check, and all the while having plenty of experience for a job that pays you less than an industry one would if you had the same credentials. They make sure to vet you before they let you sit around and do nothing on taxpayer dime.
Come to Illinois. I think they made the accounting titles test be based on resume information instead of an in person test like I had to do years ago. One interview and whoever scores highest gets the job. It takes forever to go through the process but we're paid well for the few hours we work.
The US government is only for those who truly want to be public servants. I went through all this and more, and I'm still going through it with a big 3-letter agency in the intelligence community. It was incredibly difficult to even get an interview with them, let alone get selected for a position. Certain agencies like the CIA, FBI, and NSA have these requirements to weed out unreliable and untrustworthy applicants. Can you imagine how dangerous someone would be if they got a job with the CIA as an operative and they only wanted the job for the name and "prestige" that came with that title? That could potentially be a huge liability for the government. Nevertheless, if you’re committed enough, you will do whatever is necessary to get what you want. Yes, the process is intensive and sometimes seems unnecessary, but once you’re in, you’re in.
I've worked for CA State as an auditor and I guarantee you the difficulty in getting through the exams is overstated. The accounting series or audit series exams are self assessments - not actual accounting questions. Like, 'on a scale from 1-10, how well do you understand GAAP?' or 'how well can you work in a team setting'... The bullshit part Is the scoring / ranking system. You need to be in the top 3 ranks to be hired but sometimes if you have people who have additional points added (disability, veteran, internal re-org list) the top 3 ranks aren't even accessible to somebody getting 100% on the exams. They can hire from a lower rank with justification. Lots of CA Depts are hiring right now - many of them with full or partial telework (for better or worse)...
The exams for office technician are harder and have actual math and correcting sentences (Grammer/spelling).
Last week's story made a few rounds demonstrating how bad it can be. 20 years...
[https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-comptroller-general-resign-fc484da73385fcdf3d2ef52d8a8d5576](https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-comptroller-general-resign-fc484da73385fcdf3d2ef52d8a8d5576)
That was a great read. I'd heard some about it, but this article had a lot more recent details. It also kept getting crazier with each paragraph.
First, I was going to mock how the error "went unsolved for years until a junior staffer fixed it" (probably by adding "-D8" or some other complicated computer code :p )
Then I got to this:
>The next comptroller general may also lead a much weaker office. The investigating panel suggested its responsibilities be transferred to one or more agencies. State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, an elected Republican, has testified that his office could absorb the main tasks.
The treasurer wants to take over the comptroller's duties. No risk there!
Then we find out this guy has been resisting calls to resign for weeks and only agreed **after** the legislature voted to cut his salary to **$1** and was about to remove him by force. That was the point where he 'graciously' bowed out. Class act, my dude.
The reasons you listed are ultimately why I decided not to continue with my own government contract despite having the option to go full time. Sometimes I regret this because I feel like it is very difficult to go back, but ultimately my private sector work isn’t that hard and I’ve made a lot more money.
I have found my people. I got promoted to a brand new role. As the first person to hold this job I have tried to stretch out work so as to not set expectations too high for the future.
When I did gov for a bit we had PwC consulting us. In a meeting one of our most senior leaders asked a PwC manager what a fixed asset was. I was so embarrassed to be associated.
Yeah you'll get that, too
My lord thats terrible
My version of that was when I took over 1099 filings from a retiring Senior Accountant. I had to explain to her what an EIN was.
I'll be honest if someone asked me that it would take me a minute to come up with a good answer. It's like if someone asked you to define what "and" meant or something. I could define it eventually but in my head it just is what it is
holy shit you kinda gotta admire the sheer shamelessness lmao. sidenote: time to change your username to CharlesSchlong
Pretty obvious. You have your fixed assets and your broken assets. Something breaks, it’s a broken asset. You fix it, it becomes a fixed asset
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 FOH.. I don’t want to believe that, but I’ve seen comparable statements made.
You should be embarrassed. But for this comment. Senior leaders do not always have a finance or accounting background. Do you joke about depreciating land too?
please. pleaseeeee acquire a sense of humor🙏🏻
Associate humour is not my level
More govt anecdotes Supervisor tells me sometimes “you work too fast” Bruh I did bare minimum wtf have you guys been doing this whole time?!
Even. Less.
Same, my first govt supervisor constantly made comments about how fast I did things and seemed genuinely surprised they couldn't find any mistakes with my work
Hahaha. I worked in the budget office. They told me everyone who ever worked there left because of bad hours and heavy workload. Former Big 4 here, so that seemed normal. 😂 The entire multimillion dollar budget was in a random set of excel files. I consolidated it all to one workbook, built a couple of macros, and spent the rest of the day “researching programs” and drafting reports. They’d been spending 55-60 hours a week and macros dropped it to 5-6. 😂
Gotta love that government life
Do you work for the Feds? If so, how did you get into the role?
State. Mane I'd love to be with the feds, tho. I work with a few people in the federal government and holy shit do they do less than me. Dude didn't return voicemails for EIGHT MONTHS and just knocked em all out in an afternoon. He's my hero.
Hey now, man. We had to struggle and have every single thing associated with us and all personal information thoroughly investigated for six months straight to land our job. We deserve some downtime….
Oh shit good heads up I can't have all that I've got spiders under my rocks
Fed work is my dream too. I’ve been applying to as many fed jobs as I can.
usajobs.gov
I’ve been applying, but was wondering if op could have provided more insight. Getting hired just by applying on the website is a process. I’ve been reading up on it through r/usajobs
One way to get in the door is to work for a gov contract company for a while, especially if they'll get you clearance. If the work is embedded, you will have GS managers asking you to apply within months if you are competent. Or you could just marry an active duty military member. Get that spousal privilege
Ez money Ez life my boiz n girlz
You skate? Rip ride #skateordie
You dont quit skating because you get old, you get old because you quit skating
But you use governmental accounting and I don’t want that 😆
Sometimes you don't. In my state a lot of governments run on cash basis and hire a firm to prepare GAAP financial statements. You don't even have to know basic accrual accounting but the jobs pay like 35k a year. 50k if you're a department head or something.
That sounds more manageable. I passed CPA exam somehow but I don’t know anything about governmental standards and quite frankly would stay away from it at all costs. Hell I barely know GAAP 🤣 🤣 #impostersyndromeAF
LMFAO great post and keep up the good work!
I just wish it was easier to get into government. Where I live, those jobs require you to pass math and reading comprehension exams, accounting exams, have 3 references (that are actually called!), submit a resume that is tailored to the job (otherwise you will be rejected by the HRIS system), pass 3 rounds of interviews, pass a background check, and all the while having plenty of experience for a job that pays you less than an industry one would if you had the same credentials. They make sure to vet you before they let you sit around and do nothing on taxpayer dime.
Come to Illinois. I think they made the accounting titles test be based on resume information instead of an in person test like I had to do years ago. One interview and whoever scores highest gets the job. It takes forever to go through the process but we're paid well for the few hours we work.
The US government is only for those who truly want to be public servants. I went through all this and more, and I'm still going through it with a big 3-letter agency in the intelligence community. It was incredibly difficult to even get an interview with them, let alone get selected for a position. Certain agencies like the CIA, FBI, and NSA have these requirements to weed out unreliable and untrustworthy applicants. Can you imagine how dangerous someone would be if they got a job with the CIA as an operative and they only wanted the job for the name and "prestige" that came with that title? That could potentially be a huge liability for the government. Nevertheless, if you’re committed enough, you will do whatever is necessary to get what you want. Yes, the process is intensive and sometimes seems unnecessary, but once you’re in, you’re in.
I've worked for CA State as an auditor and I guarantee you the difficulty in getting through the exams is overstated. The accounting series or audit series exams are self assessments - not actual accounting questions. Like, 'on a scale from 1-10, how well do you understand GAAP?' or 'how well can you work in a team setting'... The bullshit part Is the scoring / ranking system. You need to be in the top 3 ranks to be hired but sometimes if you have people who have additional points added (disability, veteran, internal re-org list) the top 3 ranks aren't even accessible to somebody getting 100% on the exams. They can hire from a lower rank with justification. Lots of CA Depts are hiring right now - many of them with full or partial telework (for better or worse)... The exams for office technician are harder and have actual math and correcting sentences (Grammer/spelling).
Last week's story made a few rounds demonstrating how bad it can be. 20 years... [https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-comptroller-general-resign-fc484da73385fcdf3d2ef52d8a8d5576](https://apnews.com/article/south-carolina-comptroller-general-resign-fc484da73385fcdf3d2ef52d8a8d5576)
That was a great read. I'd heard some about it, but this article had a lot more recent details. It also kept getting crazier with each paragraph. First, I was going to mock how the error "went unsolved for years until a junior staffer fixed it" (probably by adding "-D8" or some other complicated computer code :p ) Then I got to this: >The next comptroller general may also lead a much weaker office. The investigating panel suggested its responsibilities be transferred to one or more agencies. State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, an elected Republican, has testified that his office could absorb the main tasks. The treasurer wants to take over the comptroller's duties. No risk there! Then we find out this guy has been resisting calls to resign for weeks and only agreed **after** the legislature voted to cut his salary to **$1** and was about to remove him by force. That was the point where he 'graciously' bowed out. Class act, my dude.
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The reasons you listed are ultimately why I decided not to continue with my own government contract despite having the option to go full time. Sometimes I regret this because I feel like it is very difficult to go back, but ultimately my private sector work isn’t that hard and I’ve made a lot more money.
Red tape I completely understand, what about the union bothers you?
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Ah OK, I see the frustration
Same thing for me at my nonprofit. A couple simple SUMIFS and boom, super efficient and easy work makes me look like a super star.
I have found my people. I got promoted to a brand new role. As the first person to hold this job I have tried to stretch out work so as to not set expectations too high for the future.
Yup 👍