You’ve been given a tentative offer. Now what?
You have been lucky enough to make it through the job application and the interview, now you have a tentative job offer.
First off, congratulations! This is an important milestone in federal hiring. Before moving forward, I need to answer an important question. What is a tentative job offer?
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The tentative job offer is exactly what the name implies. It is a tentative offer of employment. This means that you were selected and are the person the hiring manager has decided they want working for them. The tentative offer or TJO is usually a two-step process. You will often receive a phone call that outlines the details of the offer and pre-employment requirements that you will need to complete. Once you discuss everything over the phone, an official letter will be sent to you via email.
One thing to remember is the details of the tentative job offer are not final. If there is something you want to negotiate you have the entire pre-employment window to discuss with human resources. Salary is a popular item to negotiate, for information on how to approach the topic of more money check out this article.
Since the details of the tentative job offer are “tentative” you will want to accept the tentative offer within the allotted time. Usually, you are allowed 2–3 days to accept. Accepting the tentative job offer locks you in by saying you are interested in the position and you want to move forward. The agency cannot rescind your tentative offer after you accept just for attempting to negotiate after. The only way your tentative offer can be rescinded is if the facility loses funding for your position, or you fail a pre-employment requirement. By not accepting the offer within the window provided, the agency can and likely will move on without you.
Now that you have accepted the tentative offer I will give you the most important advice. Do NOT notify your current employer!! You need to wait until you receive the firm or official offer before notifying your current employer or putting in your two-week notice. There is a very good reason for not notifying your current employer until the end of the process. Waiting to notify your employer protects you from the being without a job should something happen during the pre-employment process.
As mentioned above, if the facility budget can no longer support your position or you fail a pre-employment requirement you can lose your offer for the position. By notifying your employer early, they have the right in many states to release you without warning. So worst case scenario, you let your employer know you have accepted the tentative job offer and they fire you, then your offer is rescinded for one of the reasons above, and now you are unemployed.
Instead, by waiting until the firm job offer you ensure you have a job to move to should your employer decide to let you go for job hunting. If you are concerned about the notification period you are obligated to provide your employer or the time needed to potentially relocate, don’t be. This is all worked in at the firm offer. When you are given the firm offer you will be given the ability to pick the start date that works best for you, within reason. If it is just a couple weeks difference that will be fine in most cases. If you are trying to delay for months, this may not work, and human resources will give you a hard date to start or else.
Now that we have covered the tentative and firm offers, we need to discuss what happens in the middle. During the tentative offer your HR contact will share the pre-employment requirements you are responsible for completing. Depending on your position the requirements could vary. No matter your position, everyone has to complete certain paperwork and a background investigation.
The paperwork will either be sent to you directly or be part of your online profile that is created when the tentative offer is sent to you. There is a link to these documents in the offer letter. The background investigation is made up of electronic fingerprints that will be captured at your closest federal facility and the eQIP online questionnaire. A link and instructions for eQIP will be emailed to you directly.
Other requirements that depend on your position are the physical, drug screen, credentialing, and pay setting. Not all positions require a physical. If your position does, your physical will be conducted at the closest federal facility to you. Human resources will work with employee health department of the facility to get you scheduled. The drug screen is part of the physical and will conducted at the same time if your position requires one.
Credentialing is another requirement that does not apply to everyone. Credentialing is only needed when a position has an education or license requirement for their position. An example would be doctors and nurses. If required, the credentialing department will contact you to complete additional paperwork.
Pay setting is the last variable requirement. This applies to the same group as credentialing, doctors and nurses. In some agencies a board will meet to review the qualifications and determine what the exact salary offer will be for the applicant. There is always a pay range, but this group decides where on the range you will be set. In most cases, this pay is not negotiable like it is with other positions. Once the board makes a decision, the facility director approves, which makes it final.
Once all steps in the pre-employment process are complete, you will receive the firm offer. Everyone wonders how long it takes from the tentative to firm offer, but it all depends on how quickly you get through the pre-employment process. If I had to put an estimate, I’d say the average is anywhere from 2–6 weeks depending on what is required for you.
Once you are complete and you receive the firm job offer you are home free. The offer will include your exact salary and start date. With the firm offer letter you can finally let your current employer know and get ready for your new career.
Originally published at www.federalhiringadvice.com on March 13, 2019.
