Pros
I have one significant FSA pro: it is easier to get into the federal government employment system as a contractor because the competition is not as fierce and FSA does not implement a veteran’s preference (that I am aware of) like the feds are REQUIRED to do by an executive order. I have worked for FSA for 5.5 years and have applied to an unknown amount of federal positions. I received one interview and did not get the job. I have been told several times that I did not make the interview cuts because veterans applied and they automatically get preference over non-veterans (also there is a veteran's spousal preference that you will come up against). FSA is a stepping stone towards direct federal employment but do not assume you will ever get hired directly because not only will you come up against external veterans applying but you will have to beat out current or former federal employees. Also the feds don’t hire very often because they have a low turnover rate and the budget has been pretty bad for at least 3 if 4 years and therefore they don’t always backfill federal positions when one becomes vacant. In short, don’t be surprised if you never get hired on. Most likely your FSA coworkers have tried and failed many times like me. All true training will be through your government placement. FSA's training has nothing to do with your actual job. As for benefits, besides wage/salary, I would say I was satisfied. Even though the benefits get leaner and learner each year (like most employers) they are still competitive if not better than a lot of private-sector employers—I believe this to be true because the feds require them as a federal contractor to provide comparable benefits to what the feds provide to their employees. They offer a decent PPO for medical as well as acceptable dental and vision plans. 401(k) matching is lacking but at least they match ½ up to 5% I believe but don’t quote me on that. I also heard that benefits no longer start day of employment and therefore you might have to wait 30-90 days for any coverage so be mindful of that and plan to COBRA your last employer’s if need be. I have worked at more than one office so it’s a gamble if you’re going to get a good federal environment. Some are reallllly great, while others are downright horrible (and FSA will literally give you no support if your federal environment is hostile). So if you can do some detective work on your particular office because accepting the job I would highly encourage you to do so. As the office is going to make or break your successful employment with FSA. Ask penetrating questions during your interview: exactly what is your FSA turnover rate? Why did the last FSA employee leave?
Cons
Sadly there are so many but here are the tops ones: There is no merit or longevity based salary increases. There are very rare cost of living increases. I believe since being hired 5.5 years ago I have gotten 2-3 hourly rate increases. Each for maybe 20-80 cents. Any raise that I have ever been given was completely eaten up by the next years benefit costs/deductions (e.g. health care increase). I have gotten two “awards” as they call them for very modest amounts: $500 and $750 but other than that I have never been compensated for my hard work or years of service. In sum, their hourly rate/salary rate offer might look competitive but just know that your take home pay will decrease every year and increase like most (if not all) employment. They treat you like a number. Do not expect any help from them. They literally send you a paycheck every two weeks. That is the most positive experience you will have with them. They do NOT care about your happiness at your job. They only care that they are getting paid at least two times the amount you are by the feds. They cut costs everywhere they can so expect that you will pay for a lot of things out of pocket that you wouldn’t expect to pay. For instance, FSA will require you to mail them a document and will expect YOU to pay for the postage. As a brand new hourly employee you will receive no more than 5 days of sick leave and NO annual leave until you have completed a year of service. If you start after 10/01 (the beginning of the fiscal year) those 5 days will be prorated so it is possible you could start with just one day of paid leave. If you have to take leave and you do not have paid leave hours accrued they will force you to advance up to two weeks of leave—leaving you indebted to your employer (this happened to me when my grandmother died and I had no leave during my first year). FSA’s paid leave policy is the worst I have ever seen in the professional environment. After a year, you will get 2 weeks of annual leave but your sick leave will never go up. At five years you get a whopping 3 weeks of leave. Most federal office will treat you like the red-headed step child. Do not expect to feel 100% included at all times. You are different. You are a contract employee. There is a huge distinction and stigma. Get over this before accepting a FSA job.
