USDA FSIS CSI - Join the dark side?
Every inspector I've worked with since starting my career in QA has tried to get me to join. I'm pretty sure they do that to anyone they deem remotely capable, but this most recent attempt has me thinking about it a lot more. Can anyone offer their own experience? Not sure how much you can say since it's a government job and all that, but I'd like to hear other opinions (especially if that opinion is DON'T DO IT).
My main concerns are the hours and travel. I can't really drive longer than 30 min in one trip, but I was told there is a very big need for inspectors in my specific city/area. I don't know how well telling them "hey I can only travel in this radius" would go.
Financially, it would be quite a bit less than I'm earning now but the inspector's argument is that you get promotions and raises fairly quickly. Plus good ol' government job benefits.
I've looked into it. Positives: If you have any college loans - they do have a loan forgiveness program. The benefits are great.
Negatives: The hours seem to be the biggest downfall. You can be put on overnights then be switched to days without much notice depending on where you're at. Where I'm at, they do 6 month rotations between the different routes/facilities. The inspectors travel within the city and not much out because of the large amount of USDA inspected facilities.
With hours, if other inspectors are on vacation in the same area - they may have to cover another route or even two extra. Those days/weeks are hard on the inspectors.
Another downfall could be working on a kill floor. Personally, I don't have the stomach for it. (I work in a meat processing facility and not a slaughter facility)
Nothing wrong with looking into it and asking questions. If I was at a different point in my life, I would consider it more.
The reorganization and elimination of many of these will be done under the returning Republic with much of it based on NESARA.
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My main concerns are the hours and travel. I can't really drive longer than 30 min in one trip, but I was told there is a very big need for inspectors in my specific city/area. I don't know how well telling them "hey I can only travel in this radius" would go.
Financially, it would be quite a bit less than I'm earning now but the inspector's argument is that you get promotions and raises fairly quickly. Plus good ol' government job benefits.
In our area the hours are the big drawback that I see. They're (theoretically) working 12 hours 7 days a week to match facility activity, and definitely traveling more than 30m if they're covering for an absent colleague.
I have several inspectors that rotate through our facilities and they are always overworked and always exhausted. The rank and file of these organizations is very thin and they have asked several of us to join on but I think it is mostly because they are tired of doing all of the work and no one shows up to their jobs anymore. I am not sure about the restructuring that SQFconsultant is talking about but I hope it changes things for the better. There is just too much work and too few people to handle it.
Cheers!
I, at one point, was also approached to be recruited. Pay is not as great as you would think, but the benefits are nice. Long days and long hours and definite travel. Basically you have no control of your schedule, if a site is approved for overtime, you have to cover. To me, i didn't wan to always be at work. Just wasn't a good work life balance.
I think if you're looking to broaden your career horizons and boost your experience, you're better off joining a startup/new company and help them expand. Building a quality program that scales with company growth is challenging, but you'll learn tons along the way and are much more likely to be compensated handsomely for it.