After the job offer but prior to starting
Tomorrow is my first day at the OKC office. I am very excited to get started on this new chapter in my life. I thought this would be as good as ever a time to talk about the "on-boarding" process, at least as it has gone for me.
I am a current FAA employee, and am already in OKC. I could literally park in the same parking lot for the new job. So my processing was pretty abbreviated. But some details will apply to everybody.
After receiving, signing and sending back the "Tentative Offer Letter", I had several tasks to complete before I could get a "Firm Offer Letter".
1. Drug test - I was sent to a local drug testing lab for a urine sample. In addition, the flight inspection pilots are on a random drug testing program. I don't really know how often they are actually checked, but the paperwork I signed indicated it was random, or of course after any incident.
2. Complete background check paperwork. If you've had a security clearance before, this is the same paperwork (completed and submitted online). I have had several security clearances in the past through my civilian and military service, BUT the last investigation was just more than 10 years ago (11 actually), so I had to resubmit all the paperwork. This took some time as you have to track down names/phones/address of former employers, references, and relatives. If you've had a clearance before, some of that information may still be in there. As far as I know, Flight Inspection pilots do not require an actual security clearance, but the paperwork is the same for the background check they do require.
3. Obtain a 1st class medical. All the flying I've been doing has only required a 2nd class, so that's all I've bothered to obtain. This job requires a 1st class, so I had to get one. No problem though.
Those were the three main things, there may have been a form to sign here and there as well.
The main holdup was the background check processing. I had everything else done within a week of receiving the Tentative offer, but the check took a few more days. But by Thursday afternoon, so 13 days after being notified, I had the Firm offer letter in hand.
Because I am local and didn't even need to get a new badge or travel or anything like that, the rest was pretty easy. My old manager and new manager exchanged some emails, transferred me over in the evaluation system and I was able to set a start date of tomorrow, just 2 weeks after being notified. If you've been in the government ever before, you know this is pretty quick.
I'm already scheduled for a few different training events over the next couple of months. But before I can get to that, I am sure I will spend the next few days enthralled with the Computer-Based-Training that has been loaded into the training systems for me (eLMS). Loads of fun I'm sure!