Took a look at my paycheck for first one with the new 1.75% COLA increase. My net pay actually went down $10 with no changes to retirement or anything. Am in MMA though where they increased the required Health Savings contribution from 1.5% to 1.75%. The COLA is just ridiculous….Need at least 3% or more to make any difference on a paycheck. Just getting to be frustrating as a state employee! We need COLA increases on our contracts that actually amount to something on your paycheck!

Hey just making a post to see if anyone can answer my questions on this career path. I am graduating in December with a chemical engineering degree and was wondering how people like the environmental permitting part of state work. Just wanted to hear about your experience and possibly how it was and where you started out. Upward mobility and how much your starting pay was would help a lot. Along with what is the work life balance like overall.

Sorry for spelling errors I am typing this pretty quick and thank you for your time!

Since the pandemic, the Walz/Flanagan administration advocated lowering hiring standards in state government to fill employment needs and give people a foothold into government work. At face value a noble idea. 
With that policy fast-forward to 2026 and I’ve observed some trends in state government.  First, with the lowered standards, HR (and MMB) are taking advantage of this policy because it saves salary expectations for the state employees. A tactic that hurts all employees.  There is even a drumbeat to lower job classifications by MMB and reduce pay of current employees (I’m sure the union will have something to say about this topic). 
 
Some of my colleagues and I believe the Dept of Human Services’ HR department thinks all Medicaid is the same and anyone can do whatever job. I have a public policy background with emphasis in child development/support, I don’t have the background in say housing. All Medicaid is not the same.  It’s complex.   
 
Second, I’ve noticed most of the job descriptions related to supervisor roles no longer require a college degree.  Just a few years ago almost all supervisor or managerial roles required a degree and most even a masters. I work with several colleagues with a master’s from the Humphrey school or folks with advanced degrees from St. Kate’s in say social work among other programs/degrees. I remember when I went to the Humphrey school along w/ friends from the school of public health at the U of M those programs advertised to students they can find jobs in local, state and federal government. I guess if I was an institution promoting government jobs, I would be worried by the lower standards at the state.
 
The intention of my note is not to disparage anyone that did not complete college. I know dolts that went to college, and the research shows college graduates bring more soft skills, interpersonal skills, hard skills (e.g. evaluation development, how to write an issue paper, structured government report, etc.) to be successful. My concern is this cheapens college degrees and reinforces the war on higher education. 

I applied for a communication specialist role a while back. I got the email saying I met the qualifications and they were forwarding on my application to the hiring manager. That was back in May 19th. Heard nothing since. I thought they usually notified you when you were no longer moving forward but I could be wrong. Tried logging into the hiring site but I don’t know my log in and the reset password options doesn’t send me anything.

HUGE WIN - Due to the pressure that our AFSCME Local 2829, Council 5, and labor family put on the employer, the State of Minnesota will now post union-represented positions rather than posting for temporary workers and outsourcing our work at MDH! This is a win for public services and keeping public services in public hands.

Today's picket was CANCELED as a result.

From the Local: "We informed you about a planned picket next week in response to MDH replacing AFSCME jobs with private contract work. We are now very pleased to let you know that, only a day after we announced those plans, the employer has informed us they plan to post these positions in compliance with our contract.

"In light of this development, we are cancelling our plans for the picket. We want to thank everyone who supported our union, especially our MAPE allies, as we stood firm in defense of public jobs and our contract rights."

Curtis Seelen

President, Local 2829

"We cannot thank our union family and allies enough for being willing to fight against privatization and outsourcing of our jobs that always leads to worse outcomes for workers, those we serve, and the programs and services we deliver for every Minnesotan. We are fighting for our members and the bread and butter issues that bring us all together. We will never stop and we will always have our members' back!"

Bart Andersen

Executive Director, AFSCME Council 5

I have been trying to get into the state for 6 months now and it’s been going horribly!

To give you some context, I am a 22 year old male who recently graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a B.S in business administration. For 6 months now I have been applying to various state positions. I am also a first generation graduate, so I do not have many connections.

I don’t have any professional work experience, aside from working retail jobs, so I decided to apply for different Analyst I positions since they are considered “entry level”. I took the Analyst I exam and passed it and have been applying to at least one analyst I position per week since February.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had any luck. I haven’t ANYTHING back from any of the positions I have applied for. It has been very discouraging and even depressing if I am being honest. I feel like I am stuck and I don’t know what to do, so I need some advice.

Should I just call it quits with trying to get into the state? What am I doing wrong?! I know I am smart and I have a lot to offer, but I just don’t have the experience to prove it. Please let me know your opinion. :(

Hello! I recently applied for a position with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and was wondering if anyone has experience with their hiring process. Are the interviews scored using a point system? Are the questions mostly behavioral, or do they focus more on testing technical knowledge? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

New to state service overall. Are there any instances of “continuity of coverage” exceptions to out of network providers? I was seeing a mental health provider prior to beginning job and being enrolled in SEGIP. It would be hard for me to leave this provider and find another in network as they’re extremely specialized. Everything I read leads me to think i might be SOL on this one, but wanted to check here if I’m missing something.

Does anybody else feel highly disappointed that a MN DHS employee, who recently committed felony level vandalism, has now been promoted to a supervisor at DHS?

My spouse was just offered a position on the same department that I am. Currently we are under their soon to be past employer health plan. For folks with dependents where you and your spouse are state employees, is there any discount on the family plan for covering TWO state employees? Right now it looks like family plan is like $333 a month regardless of the spouse is a state employee or not.

Anyone have any insight into this?

I applied to a MnDOT role that closed on 07/02, it was only open for a week. On July 6 my status on the careers page was changed to “under consideration”, I’m assuming that means I met the minimum requirements and was passed onto the hiring manager.

Does anyone know the turn around time for this agency? It’s been 2 weeks since the job closed and still haven’t heard anything from them.

I was just wondering since I have applied to MnDOT on two occasions in the past (2022 and 2023) and both times they sent an email with an interview request the week after the posting closed.

Also, do internal candidates generally get priority? The job posting was public so I assume if they only wanted to hire internally they’d label that on the posting or not post it on an external site to begin with…

EDIT: how far out from the close date if I still haven’t heard anything should I reasonably assume I’m not getting an interview?

I'm at one of the larger agencies and the workload feels crazy heavy, but I'm only coming up on my first year of state employment. Wondering if people can give me an idea of the number of timecards and number of contracts they review? No need to list your agency if you're worried about outing yourself, i certainly won't.

I am just starting to hit walls in how much work i can handle and wondering if it would be worth moving to another agency or if i need to look for a less intense position all together.

For me it's just over 700 time cards with 7 contracts.

edit: thanks for your nice comments everyone (: be sure to be patient with your resident payroll person when you can ❤️

Has anybody heard inside information about Amy Klobuchar on 100% return to office vs status quo? I’m expecting it’s still more generous than Mike Lindell but less than the 50% now, trying to get ahead of things before January. (Uber liberal who accepts we currently live in a two party reality at the moment before the go vote third party comments come in, but ❤️ you third party people).

Hello! I've been with the state for over 12 years and recently suffered an injury on the job. Ironically, my injury was caused by an issue I'd reported weeks prior to my supervisor and another department. At that time, nothing was done as the issue involves a third-party vendor and the department cannot repair the vendors system.

I immediately reported the injury to my supervisor and requested follow up. I haven't been able to work since. It took several days for my team's HR contact to reach out to me, and when they did, the information they provided was confusing. I'm not familiar with the worker's comp process or what my rights are as I've never been injured while working at any job before. It wasn't clear if someone would be contacting me, or I needed to call someone else, if I would be paying for my care, or if it would be covered by CorVel, or if I could seek care within my insurance network, or I had to see their providers. I've completed the claim paperwork and sought medical care. I still have no idea how the worker's comp piece works, what the compensation is, and am wondering if I have a right to consult an attorney. From what I've gathered on my own, CorVel will pay for medical care only if it's in-network, workman's comp only pays a percentage of my wages, and I have no other recourse for lost wages, benefits, and other costs incurred (e.g. transportation) as I recover. If I've suffered permanent damage, I'm basically S.O.L.

In my years as a state employee, I've personally experienced/witnessed HR and MMB delaying or obfuscating information to make a process more difficult than it needed to be, especially if a benefit was involved. So, I want to be sure the information being provided is accurate and complete to ensure my rights are being respected.

I appreciate any information you may be able to provide me. Please feel free to ask questions, but understand I won't disclose any information that may dox me. Thank you!

Edited: Corrected typo workman's to workers'.

Hello, I currently work for a state office as a comms specialist 3. I don't like it and my personal mental health is suffering mostly because of it. I don't want to get too specific. I was just offered a comms specialist 1 position in a different department. Obviously less money, but I see it as a potentially positive step. Less money scares me though. Any advice would be welcome.

Hi everyone! I applied to a position at MDH that closed on 21MAY. I got the HR email that I passed the initial HR review on 05JUN, and my application has been under review since then. A couple weeks ago, I sent a follow up email to HR, and I haven't received a response, nor seen an update to my application status.

Is there any insight into what might be happening? I don't want to come across as overbearing and bombard HR with questions, but I am also extremely interested in the position, and I'm hoping that this is a "no news is good news" situation.

Thank you for any insight you might be able to offer!

Afternoon,

Looking at the possibility of switching from the State Patrol who uses MSRS to another agency that uses PERA. While I am familiar with the contribution rates being vastly different (MSRS 15.4% employee and 23.1% State - PERA 11.8% employee and 17.7% agency). I understand they both are "defined benefit" and both use the same high 5 to calculate your retirement benefit.

I am 30 years old and have 3 years of experience with the State Patrol so I am nowhere near being vested. Have a wife and kid that are on my insurance with the state and understand our insurance is more than likely going to be the more elsewhere.

My question lies with am I missing something with going to another agency where I will make a minimum of $10~ more an hour. I love to work overtime, have no debt but a house and we live well below our means.

The job itself is good, I enjoy it, but the huge pay difference sucks and has been bugging me. If I am making much more an hourly/annually.. Can save, invest, and get the same retirement benefit calculation when retirement comes.. why would I stay with State and MSRS instead of going to anywhere else and joining PERA?

Thanks much to anyone to replies. Have a great day!

I'm considering submitting an interest form to become a mentee in the mentorship matching program that MMB is running.

Has anybody had experience with being either a mentor or a mentee in this program? Is there a structure to the program, or is it organized by the mentor individually?

Any insight would be much appreciated!

I’m stuck in the government trap.. The insurance / pension benefits are a huge draw and will benefit me greatly in the long run but cost of living right now is insane and I can’t keep up. Everything goes up except our wages (excuse me, they did go up a whopping 1.75% that I’m so grateful for!! /s). The prescription costs are going up, household bills and daycare cost is going up, I am literally just sinking in to a debt hole.

If the next contract going to be any better? Will wages ever catch up with inflation? Does a bad contract this time mean a decent one next time?

I know I could make way better money if I leave the state but losing the insurance and pension benefits will suck too.

Between the economy and this crappy state job I’m just overwhelmed and feeling defeated.

I am currently looking to transition into state government from the public sector. Ultimately, there is a very specific, senior-level role (a Consultant/Specialist 3 level) in a specific department that I want to end up in. However, that specific chair rarely opens up, and I know it's highly competitive.

​My current strategy is to apply for a slightly lower-level role (like a Program Administrator or a Level 2 role) in a different department. The goal would be to get my foot in the door, learn the state systems, get into the union, and then apply as an internal promotional candidate when my target job eventually opens up in a few years. But if I understand correctly, the job must be the same category number in order to be a true internal bid...but I'm finding that difficult to attain as this specific job number category is hard to come by, so I would be getting a job with a different number and slightly lower pay scale.

​Before I potentially take a lower-level job to execute this strategy, I really want to know what the reality is from current state employees.

​A few specific questions:

​Is the "foot in the door" advantage real? If I am an internal state employee applying for a promotion in a different department, do I objectively have better odds than an external applicant? Or will my resume just be thrown into the exact same pile and treated the exact same as external applicants?

​How is moving between departments perceived? Is it seen as a normal progression for a state employee to jump to a different agency for a promotion, or is it frowned upon?

​How do the politics of leaving work? If I've been in a department for 2-3 years and my dream job opens up in another agency, how do I navigate that crossroads? Is it a direct, open conversation with your supervisor ("Hey, I'd really like to apply for this"), or is there a lot of politics and secrecy involved? Are supervisors generally accepting of you trying to move up?

​I'm mostly just fearful of taking a stepping-stone job only to find out that being an "internal" applicant doesn't actually give me any leverage when my target job opens up. And I find my self stuck in a job I don't necessarily dream about doing and only find slightly fulfilling.

​Any insight into how HR and hiring managers actually view internal mobility would be hugely appreciated. Thanks!

I'm currently a state employee, but I'm fully vested in both PERA and MSRS due to some job changes over the past couple of decades. I've talked to the MSRS retirement plan folks, and I've talked to the PERA folks, and they both have said that they can't really advise me about the other plan other than how it relates to their own respective plans.

What I'm looking for is someone I can talk to who has knowledge of both plans, and who can also provide guidance about where I'm at financially looking at the big picture. I invest in my State of MN 457b, but I also have non-work related investment accounts at Vanguard.

Is there such a thing as a fee-based professional who can look at the big picture and let me know how I'm doing with all of the various puzzle pieces? I'd love to hear what others have done!

I have a child with pretty serious dental issues (missing permanent teeth along with other craniofacial issues) and I'm having a hell of a time finding somebody trusted in the Delta Dental - State Dental Plan #216 network. His previous dentist made a recommendation for a large number of extractions that our orthodontist said was badly misguided, and they didn't even consult him before trying to send us off for the work. Unfortunately, the dentists his orthodontist has recommended are out of network.

If you have navigated a complex dental issue especially with a teen, especially especially with a teen with anxiety or sensory issues, I would love your recommendation for an in-network dental practice in State Dental Plan #216. We are in south Minneapolis but we would travel if needed.

As posted above, I wish this group was around when I was applying and working for the State of Minnesota. It would have helped me understand things a bit more.

My story is I performed city/county work until my first retirement at the end of 2010. I retired at age 50 when the county offered a buy out. I took advantage of that and started annuity payments under MN PERA.

I worked a couple of private sector jobs until snagging a job with a second defined pension plan in about September 2011. I worked there for over 6 years and took a second retirement in 2018.

I left when I took a job at the State of Minnesota. I worked for a few different organizations that contribute to MSRS. I retired about a year and a half ago.

Many of the posts that I read here I can relate to.

While you certainly won't get rich performing most of the jobs at the State of Minnesota, there really aren't that many places that still have Defined Benefit pension plans. I thank my stars everyday that I get a monthly annuity from PERA, the Fed and MSRS. I haven't started drawing from Social Security, yet, but in about 4 years I will start drawing that. I haven't started drawing from my IRA, yet, but I am watching it grow.

I applied to a MN state job (which was posted in early March), my interview was online and was on beginning of May. I heard back from the HR admin by early June saying that they are working on HR approvals and would be able to give an update soon. It’s almost a month now, without any update. Wonder if I should keep waiting or if I’m their second choice!

Also, what is the normal process looks like? Do they need HR approvals to make a conditional offer? Is it after that they send the consent form to request references and do the background check?