Letter to the editor
I strongly agree with Milt Zall's column, "The kiss of death."
As far as information technology goes, the current position classification
system is a disaster. The various job duties and descriptions posted on
USAJobs highlight many of the discrepancies.
Some agencies top a position out at a GS-11 level and others top out
at a GS-13 level for the same duties and responsibilities. Most agencies
don't even bother to look at the complexities of the job before assigning
pay scales to them. In my agency, Oracle Corp. jobs pretty much top out
at a GS-13 level, but at the same time, they are trying to hire some IBM
Corp. Lotus Notes people (nationwide) at a GS-14 level.
Ask anybody who has in-depth knowledge of both systems, and Oracle is
far more advanced and complicated at the administrative and programming
level. But because the agency has decided to "standardize" on Notes for
messaging, there's an impetus to try to get the best working after three
years regardless of the cost.
Name withheld by request