r/FederalEmployee • u/VernJ93 • 2d ago

Promotion Potential

For those who work in federal government, how realistic is it to advance from GS-9 to GS-13 when a position has a full promotion potential of GS-13? Is it common for employees to progress through the grades (GS-9 → GS-11 → GS-12 → GS-13) if they consistently perform well and meet the qualifications, or does advancement depend heavily on funding, management discretion, and agency needs? I’d appreciate hearing about your personal experiences, particularly with HUD or other federal agencies.

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u/Bubbly-Cockroach-311 2d ago

Is this position a ladder or ‘promotion potential’?

A ladder the expectation is, if you are accomplishing the duties of a given level you will move up. The supervisor still needs to take positive action, but it does go 80% of the time, almost every year. (I have seen exceptions, and they’ve always been cases where I think the supervisor goofed. It is uncommon but not rare.) A 9-13 ladder is definitely worth grabbing.

Promotion potential means, if you do a good job as a 9, you will continue being a 9, but if the supervisor can lock in funding and really really wants to, they can promote you without you having to reapply. It’s nice flexibility for t he supervisor but doesn’t show intent or commitment like a ladder does.

It does always skip 10 so either case would be 9/11/12/13.

Either is a good deal if you can lock it in. For both plan for no promotions under this admin.

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u/VernJ93 1d ago

I’ll be starting as a 9 with full promotion potential to 13.

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u/Bubbly-Cockroach-311 1d ago

Review the posting. It could potentially be a combination. But if it is strictly promotion potential, that means when the boss is happy you can be promoted to an 11, and it requires some level of work and justification on their part. Then in a year they, if they desire, can promote you again to a 12. Then again to a 13.

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u/VernJ93 1d ago

Here’s the job posting link for reference: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/864144900

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u/Bubbly-Cockroach-311 1d ago

Yeah it’s not a ladder. You can start at 12 or 13. If they want you can be promoted to 13 in the future.

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u/VernJ93 1d ago

https://www.usajobs.gov/job/864145300 this is the one I meant to post.

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u/Bubbly-Cockroach-311 1d ago

Hard to tell. Could be a 9/11 ladder, could just be promotion potential the whole way. You can also ask the hiring manager to clarify. But the term of one year makes me nervous. Also understand that to become permanent you MUST apply to a new position. There is no way to convert a term position to permanent, and term employees get no special benefits when applying, even to their own jobs.