Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

Hello Everyone,

Did a search on google and talked to a few people and was not totally sure of this. If i accept an entry level job in the federal government how long am I required to stay in that position before accepting another job offer? (Just trying to get an idea right now if I do a basic entry level job and get hired as an 1811 down the road.)

Any input I would appreciate,

Thank you,

Steve

There's no "requirement," per se, but if you leave soon after being hired you can very easily (and understandabily) burn a bridge. I'm an 1811, and one of the guys in my basic class was with my agency until about a month after graduating FLETC. He used our agency to get CITP under his belt so that he could immediately jump ship to another 1811 job. The only penalty he got is he'll likely not be welcomed back here if things don't work out for the other agency.

The courteous (i.e. "right") thing to do is give an agency at least a year, seeing as how they pay a lot of money to hire/investigate your background/train you, but it's your call if family or other more important factors are at play.

Heck some dont even wait until FLETC is over. Ive heard of guys swapping agencies while still at training!

It's been a little while but I think year 1, you are a probationary employee (term may not be correct). Years 2-3 you are career conditional. After year three you are a permanent federal employee.

As I mentioned in another thread, I have heard of a guy who was about three weeks from graduating DEA Academy (then about 17 weeks) and walking across the tarmac after accepting an appointment to the FBI Academy to start again at week 1.

I'm sure he definitely burned a bridge. That would be a difficult decision after working that hard and being that close to your creds.