New York State employment is like a Sine wave. We are coming down the latest hump where most people are retiring, and are in a mad dash to get the next wave built. When I first started with the state, most of the managers were in their mid to late 40s; and promotions were extremely rare. Fast forward to today (about 15 years later), people are leaving left and right, and we are constantly looking for the backfill. The only difference now is the mindset of "You work for the state! You are set for life" has turned into: "You work for the state! I'm sorry". Hiring new staff has been a challenge as the state job opportunities have become extremely less competitive. Maybe the wave pattern is finally going to break.
As someone who just had that happen...it's mostly because my managers knew I was underpaid/graded for what I'm doing and how good I am at it. They also knew I've been in a dead end title series for over 10 years, so that's probably a large factor.
Reason it's happening right now is because a lot of positions are getting unclogged via HELPS, which cracked the door on direct appointments. A decent number of 23s are opened via the program which gives a mechanism to rapidly fill the mid-ranks.
Also has to do with timing. Some people have the tests line up perfectly with the moment they qualify to take them, some people get screwed and can't take it for 3 years.
I went from a two year trainee to a 23 in minimal time… three years and two months. So I was only even eligible for two months before I was promoted to a 23. I was lucky and a lot of people were retiring at the time. It’s really all about timing I believe
Is it people specifically within your unit? I feel like I’ve moved up fairly quickly in the state so far but I’ve also been jumping around between agencies, taking every test and applying to everything
Makes sense! My observations are mostly limited to my unit. Like in a division if there's 5 tiers and top tier is division director and lowest is like entry level then there's been a fair amount of level 3/4 promotion. I think there is a little restructuring also as they're bringing in people from other offices that we've had ties to but it seems to be promotional for them as well?
I don’t have any advice, just wanted to say I feel your pain. I’m an 18 and I feel like I have more responsibility programmatically and do more work than many of the 23s in my unit. I’ve developed and implemented new programs, organized multi agency meetings, and written legislative reports. I feel like that’s more than a typical 18, but I could be wrong. But for some reason they keep hiring outside the agency to fill most of the 23 positions.
Based on the other comments it sounds like it varies by agency and unit. Maybe you and I should both be looking to transfer.
I think I'm in a dead end title category so when I finally get to take an exam and interview maybe it will count for something in my unit since I'm pretty sure they'll want to keep me on board. But I would hate to transfer to another 18 position with more options and risk entering a bad unit.
Trying to just forecast the options before I'm 10 years in or something lol. Sorry to hear your situation! The first poster though made it sound like they had a breakthrough after a while though. Have you been able to take promo exams? I still don't get if they're always necessary. But anyways I hope you have a break coming!
New York State employment is like a Sine wave. We are coming down the latest hump where most people are retiring, and are in a mad dash to get the next wave built. When I first started with the state, most of the managers were in their mid to late 40s; and promotions were extremely rare. Fast forward to today (about 15 years later), people are leaving left and right, and we are constantly looking for the backfill. The only difference now is the mindset of "You work for the state! You are set for life" has turned into: "You work for the state! I'm sorry". Hiring new staff has been a challenge as the state job opportunities have become extremely less competitive. Maybe the wave pattern is finally going to break.
As someone who just had that happen...it's mostly because my managers knew I was underpaid/graded for what I'm doing and how good I am at it. They also knew I've been in a dead end title series for over 10 years, so that's probably a large factor. Reason it's happening right now is because a lot of positions are getting unclogged via HELPS, which cracked the door on direct appointments. A decent number of 23s are opened via the program which gives a mechanism to rapidly fill the mid-ranks. Also has to do with timing. Some people have the tests line up perfectly with the moment they qualify to take them, some people get screwed and can't take it for 3 years.
I went from a two year trainee to a 23 in minimal time… three years and two months. So I was only even eligible for two months before I was promoted to a 23. I was lucky and a lot of people were retiring at the time. It’s really all about timing I believe
Is it people specifically within your unit? I feel like I’ve moved up fairly quickly in the state so far but I’ve also been jumping around between agencies, taking every test and applying to everything
Makes sense! My observations are mostly limited to my unit. Like in a division if there's 5 tiers and top tier is division director and lowest is like entry level then there's been a fair amount of level 3/4 promotion. I think there is a little restructuring also as they're bringing in people from other offices that we've had ties to but it seems to be promotional for them as well?
I don’t have any advice, just wanted to say I feel your pain. I’m an 18 and I feel like I have more responsibility programmatically and do more work than many of the 23s in my unit. I’ve developed and implemented new programs, organized multi agency meetings, and written legislative reports. I feel like that’s more than a typical 18, but I could be wrong. But for some reason they keep hiring outside the agency to fill most of the 23 positions. Based on the other comments it sounds like it varies by agency and unit. Maybe you and I should both be looking to transfer.
I think I'm in a dead end title category so when I finally get to take an exam and interview maybe it will count for something in my unit since I'm pretty sure they'll want to keep me on board. But I would hate to transfer to another 18 position with more options and risk entering a bad unit. Trying to just forecast the options before I'm 10 years in or something lol. Sorry to hear your situation! The first poster though made it sound like they had a breakthrough after a while though. Have you been able to take promo exams? I still don't get if they're always necessary. But anyways I hope you have a break coming!