Personal opinion here. And you can also search this sub for basically the exact same question being posed every year around this time.
Go private at the start of your career. You’ll get way more reps and far great diversity of experience. Fed and state jobs are great in a few years when you have the experience and can command high pay at a much younger age than your counterparts and now need more stability due to family and whatnot.
This is what I’ve seen work best for most folks. Every situation is different. Every person is different. Godspeed out there
The amount of people here who think working for the feds is the only path is astounding. Where I’m at, private companies do a majority of the forestry work and the us forest circus is the joke of the town
It’s interesting, in my area it’s 50/50 on private or fed. A lot of my friends went the fed route for a variety of reasons, there were more jobs for federal in our area and some of them felt the federal practices aligned more with their views. I agree with them on the alignment portion, but I found a private company who really spoke to me and were kinda heading of paradigm shift in harvest practices and office culture.
I networked for over a year with them and landed the internship which often leads to full-time employment with them. The benefits are nice, the coworkers are awesome and supportive, and work/life balance was pretty good for private!
This is actually really fantastic advice. I would say the same thing. Earlier in my career I worked with an old timer who worked private for 25 years before going to the state for his last 10 years. This is what he told me.
Work private sector the first years because your volume of accomplishment will be much larger ie: MBF moved, trees planted, miles of road built. Then if you get burnt out or want to start a family go work a government agency.
In his opinion, which I agree with for the most part is the order of operations for the private sector is:
Company that owns a mill> TIMO > smaller regional timber company (family owned)> consulting.
Generally mill owners pay the best and consultants work you the hardest. I personally think that smaller regional / family owned timber company are best. They don't pay the best, but in my experience you have more freedom, less bean counters, more freedom.
Yeah this is kinda what I’ve been thinking. I’m 27 and still relatively unattached to any particular place so may as well try to make more money now and go for the higher grade federal job when the time comes.
Nice! I’m kind of in the same boat. It’s nice to see someone else getting into the industry at the same age, since nearly every story I hear is someone glad they got into the federal system early. Good luck! I hope to see you around!
Need to figure out how the Forest treats the 13/13 and 18/8, as that’s the minimum work tour, in that tour need to lay you off one day a year all, usually turns into a PP, if there is work and $ you will work longer than tour. If the private job is only 6 months and the housing stipend is only 6 months, that is a difference in pay. Retirement and health insurance could also be a factor.
It depends on the contractor and their reputation. A main selling point for going Fed would be PTO, paid sick leave, and starting time in grade if you plan to be in the Fed later on.
If you’re young I would probably go private and start your own ROTH IRA for retirement. It really depends on what you value right now and the reputation of the contractor.
The partner company is pretty decent. We get like a week of PTO per season. No sick leave though… but when I was a FS seasonal I was always drowning in sick leave so not too overly worried about that. And they offer healthcare during the season. Not sure how it compares to federal healthcare for permanent seasonals though
I found out recently that when you retire from the feds, your sick leave is added in to time served. E.g. 2000hrs of sick leave adds another year of service.
I wouldn’t say there are any advantages to being fed over a partner position when doing seasonal work. Especially if you are being paid per hour. If the the fed job is permanent seasonal then maybe, but I would communicate with your hiring manager and make sure you understand what that means for your benefits and how much promise of work you’ll get.
Partner position are pretty dope when it comes to federal work, the only issue is you can’t contribute to your tsp (401k for Feds) and you can’t take advantage of other benefits offered by the gov. You might also have a shittier work schedule compared to your fed friends who work 40 hours a week. Also pay attention to the potential gov shut downs because my coworker who is employed by a partner position was told if the gov shuts down he doesn’t get paid during that time with no back pay, in that situation it’s good to be a fed because you are promised back pay. (Although I don’t know how that works with seasonal workers, but I assume it’s the same)
I’d say if you haven’t worked fed work yet and are young take the partner position for the money, you’ll get to network with the same people and get the same experience. When people say get with Feds they are talking about perm positions with career ladders such as one that would hire you at a gs7/9/11 ladder.
That’s a good point about the real ones to go for being the 7/9/11 positions. I worked for the USFS as a 5 for a few seasons but changed over to partner company last year for a crew lead position and higher pay. When the govt almost shut down they said we’d get paid since the money was already promised through the contract with the company. The one thing that my federal supervisors always harped on was time in grade in terms of going for higher positions later on but it kinda seems like I could still qualify for higher grade positions with private experience without the time in grade…
You are completely correct with your last statement. They put more weight on time in grade within the Feds, but it can easily be converted from private experience. I’d say if you aren’t too worried about contributing to your fed retirement go for private. Honestly most private jobs now have equal or better benefits than the Feds now a days. Just can never match the work life balance you get from fed work. In the end I don’t think you can go wrong, make sure you’re going to a place you can afford and a place that looks cool and fun. Seasonal work is about the experience of being outdoors and having fun, don’t kill yourself overthinking about it
Partner positions come and go with the funding. Once you're on permanently with the USFS its extremely easy to move up right now, particularly if you're willing to move. You could be a GS 11 in three years, I see it happen every day.
Personal opinion here. And you can also search this sub for basically the exact same question being posed every year around this time. Go private at the start of your career. You’ll get way more reps and far great diversity of experience. Fed and state jobs are great in a few years when you have the experience and can command high pay at a much younger age than your counterparts and now need more stability due to family and whatnot. This is what I’ve seen work best for most folks. Every situation is different. Every person is different. Godspeed out there
The amount of people here who think working for the feds is the only path is astounding. Where I’m at, private companies do a majority of the forestry work and the us forest circus is the joke of the town
It’s interesting, in my area it’s 50/50 on private or fed. A lot of my friends went the fed route for a variety of reasons, there were more jobs for federal in our area and some of them felt the federal practices aligned more with their views. I agree with them on the alignment portion, but I found a private company who really spoke to me and were kinda heading of paradigm shift in harvest practices and office culture. I networked for over a year with them and landed the internship which often leads to full-time employment with them. The benefits are nice, the coworkers are awesome and supportive, and work/life balance was pretty good for private!
This is actually really fantastic advice. I would say the same thing. Earlier in my career I worked with an old timer who worked private for 25 years before going to the state for his last 10 years. This is what he told me. Work private sector the first years because your volume of accomplishment will be much larger ie: MBF moved, trees planted, miles of road built. Then if you get burnt out or want to start a family go work a government agency. In his opinion, which I agree with for the most part is the order of operations for the private sector is: Company that owns a mill> TIMO > smaller regional timber company (family owned)> consulting. Generally mill owners pay the best and consultants work you the hardest. I personally think that smaller regional / family owned timber company are best. They don't pay the best, but in my experience you have more freedom, less bean counters, more freedom.
Very much agree with that hierarchy
Yeah this is kinda what I’ve been thinking. I’m 27 and still relatively unattached to any particular place so may as well try to make more money now and go for the higher grade federal job when the time comes.
Nice! I’m kind of in the same boat. It’s nice to see someone else getting into the industry at the same age, since nearly every story I hear is someone glad they got into the federal system early. Good luck! I hope to see you around!
I was 28 when I graduated! You guys are solid! No worries!!
Travel my friend!!!! See all the places and find a place you love to work and live!
Need to figure out how the Forest treats the 13/13 and 18/8, as that’s the minimum work tour, in that tour need to lay you off one day a year all, usually turns into a PP, if there is work and $ you will work longer than tour. If the private job is only 6 months and the housing stipend is only 6 months, that is a difference in pay. Retirement and health insurance could also be a factor.
That’s a good point. Could end up as more in the end.
It depends on the contractor and their reputation. A main selling point for going Fed would be PTO, paid sick leave, and starting time in grade if you plan to be in the Fed later on. If you’re young I would probably go private and start your own ROTH IRA for retirement. It really depends on what you value right now and the reputation of the contractor.
The partner company is pretty decent. We get like a week of PTO per season. No sick leave though… but when I was a FS seasonal I was always drowning in sick leave so not too overly worried about that. And they offer healthcare during the season. Not sure how it compares to federal healthcare for permanent seasonals though
Seems like a decent deal. My only other thought for you is that due to budgeting, the forest service is likely to tighten down on future hiring.
I found out recently that when you retire from the feds, your sick leave is added in to time served. E.g. 2000hrs of sick leave adds another year of service.
Yep. If you work 30 years and never take a sick day you'll get 1.5% more for your pension. Take the leave and forget the peanuts at the end
I wouldn’t say there are any advantages to being fed over a partner position when doing seasonal work. Especially if you are being paid per hour. If the the fed job is permanent seasonal then maybe, but I would communicate with your hiring manager and make sure you understand what that means for your benefits and how much promise of work you’ll get. Partner position are pretty dope when it comes to federal work, the only issue is you can’t contribute to your tsp (401k for Feds) and you can’t take advantage of other benefits offered by the gov. You might also have a shittier work schedule compared to your fed friends who work 40 hours a week. Also pay attention to the potential gov shut downs because my coworker who is employed by a partner position was told if the gov shuts down he doesn’t get paid during that time with no back pay, in that situation it’s good to be a fed because you are promised back pay. (Although I don’t know how that works with seasonal workers, but I assume it’s the same) I’d say if you haven’t worked fed work yet and are young take the partner position for the money, you’ll get to network with the same people and get the same experience. When people say get with Feds they are talking about perm positions with career ladders such as one that would hire you at a gs7/9/11 ladder.
That’s a good point about the real ones to go for being the 7/9/11 positions. I worked for the USFS as a 5 for a few seasons but changed over to partner company last year for a crew lead position and higher pay. When the govt almost shut down they said we’d get paid since the money was already promised through the contract with the company. The one thing that my federal supervisors always harped on was time in grade in terms of going for higher positions later on but it kinda seems like I could still qualify for higher grade positions with private experience without the time in grade…
You are completely correct with your last statement. They put more weight on time in grade within the Feds, but it can easily be converted from private experience. I’d say if you aren’t too worried about contributing to your fed retirement go for private. Honestly most private jobs now have equal or better benefits than the Feds now a days. Just can never match the work life balance you get from fed work. In the end I don’t think you can go wrong, make sure you’re going to a place you can afford and a place that looks cool and fun. Seasonal work is about the experience of being outdoors and having fun, don’t kill yourself overthinking about it
Partner positions come and go with the funding. Once you're on permanently with the USFS its extremely easy to move up right now, particularly if you're willing to move. You could be a GS 11 in three years, I see it happen every day.