Hi All,

One thing I've been wondering about is how other agencies handle FAC-C  certification. It is an explicit condition of employment to be level 2 certified within 2 years of hire--that's in the USA jobs announcements and in our PD.

My understanding of how that works is people meet the academic requirements,  complete their FAC-C training, and get certified immediately to meet that condition of employment.

So here, people complete all of their required training, submit their Level 2 paperwork, and then get told by our agency that they don't have the "breadth of experience" to be worthy of Level 2 certification. My shop is notorious for keeping people in limited roles on a particular product  line, not letting them change teams, and then denying these people Level 2 certification for YEARS, based on the rationale that their experience is not broad enough. For a while, access to training was severely limited to the point where it would take people 3 or 4 years to get Level 2 classes done.

They tried doing that to me. I completed training, submitted my paperwork, was denied, and I was like "hold up, this is a condition of employment and I completed the requisite training. How can you not certify me?!". I had to argue and fight hard to get Level 2 certified. They're not accustomed to people doing that. They gave in and certified me.

How does that work at your agencies?

On 3/12/2020 at 1:32 PM, Eagle93 said:

How does that work at your agencies?

My agency, once all requirements are met certifies (FAC-C) the employees. That being said, we board COs and if they fail their cert level, it becomes a problem. 

No sure where you work, but it feels like a not-so-good environment for growth. Just saying . . . 

On 3/18/2020 at 2:16 PM, Constricting Officer said:

My agency, once all requirements are met certifies (FAC-C) the employees. That being said, we board COs and if they fail their cert level, it becomes a problem. 

No sure where you work, but it feels like a not-so-good environment for growth. Just saying . . . 

It is encouraging to know that what I've been seeing is not the norm. The shop I'm currently on my way out of has historically and continually had a massive turnover--for a variety of reasons. I think that jerking people around on Level 2 certification (and denying them opportunity to broaden experience)  has been a misguided attempt to reduce people's mobility to private sector and other agencies.

14 hours ago, Eagle93 said:

It is encouraging to know that what I've been seeing is not the norm. The shop I'm currently on my way out of has historically and continually had a massive turnover--for a variety of reasons. I think that jerking people around on Level 2 certification (and denying them opportunity to broaden experience)  has been a misguided attempt to reduce people's mobility to private sector and other agencies.

Eagle, based upon the breadth and extent of your situation and dissatisfaction, as described in various threads, I pray that you will be able to move to another, better agency for your own sake. Your agency “sounds” like a big dud.

If you desire to stay in the federal government, it might be necessary to change geographical areas or region though.

Good luck to you!