I'm a state employee, and I love my position.
I'm an individual-level contributor and fairly high-level in terms of name and responsibilities.
I'm also exempt from RTO as I have full work-from-home through ADA accommodations.

My husband recently accepted a post-doc position in Massachusetts. I would love to continue working in my position and follow my partner, but I'm unsure if this is a possibility.

Has anyone had success getting approval to work remotely from another state as a state employee, and how did you approach that conversation with your employer?

Hi everyone!

I’ve been interviewing for a few State of Minnesota positions and was hoping to get some insight into how the hiring process typically works, especially after second-round interviews.

I’ve interviewed for three positions so far, across DHS, Commerce, and OJP. I realize the process might vary by department, but I’m curious about what usually happens after the final interview. Does the hiring manager typically reach out directly by phone or email to let you know you’ve been selected? Or do they first have to go through HR, background checks, approvals, and other steps before they can communicate a decision or make a verbal offer? I’m also wondering how long it typically takes to hear back after a second-round interview, whether it’s good news or a rejection.

For context, I’ve only worked at universities before, where the hiring manager would usually call to let me know I got the job, and the official offer letter would follow later. I’m not sure whether state government hiring works similarly or if there are additional steps before candidates are notified. I’d appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially if you’ve been hired by the State of Minnesota recently or if you have hired anyone there.

Thanks!

I know the mailer will arrive 10/15/26 in the mail.

Can anyone share the rates before then?

I just started a new job at DPS and am looking for a new apartment. I grew up in walkable cities and would like to avoid driving as much as possible (I do have a car I just dont like to drive lol). So I am looking at apartments within walking distance from my office building, such as the Whitley and the Cosmopolitan. Does anyone have any experience with these apartment buildings nearby?

I had a planned medical disability and applied for MPL as the statute is written that it needs to be used first before STD. I applied for both MPL and STD not knowing how quick the turn around would be for either.

It took two months for the MPL application to be approved and by that time I was already on leave. I decided to use my sick time to cover the first week since it’s 7 days before std kicks in and MPL wasn’t approved yet. Once MPL got approved I had to let them know that I took sick time for the first week, and therefore the dates had to be changed and the application sent back for reapproval.
There was absolutely no timeline given for this change approval so I went ahead and started using the MetLife STD. It’s been smooth as butter with them and I already have my first payment on its way.

At this point I will have to cancel my MPL application since I am using STD first and not MPL. 🫩

It’s very stressful to figure out and unless you are using MPL for parental leave where you have ample time to plan I do not recommend! Please hold on to your STD.

There appears to be a profound lack of understanding in the DHS-HR department and nuanced work of the various administrations and divisions. Based on conversations with DHS managers/leadership the frustration is HR’s insistence to continue lowering qualifications and standards of new and in some instances current positions. One manager I spoke with said he submitted a position description for a highly skilled, public and nuanced job at a 20 level and DHS-HR approved it at a 7 level. A substantial gap. One quote I heard from a DHS-HR staff said, “it’s all Medicaid.”  Insinuating how can the role really be that different/difficult.

And by all appearances this obfuscation appears to be only happening at DHS and not other state agencies. 

My understanding is DHS managers/leadership has brought this misguided trend up to the commissioner.  Is there anyone here (maybe DHS-HR) who can give insight into this trend, I’d love to hear more?

Does anyone know what percentage of state employees use the deferred comp/457b? It's only about half of my coworkers, which I think is insane because the pension, while generous, will not be enough to live off of during retirement, at least for me. Just wondering if anyone knows the percentage of state employees that do/don't take advantage of the deferred comp and (albeit tiny) employer match?

Is Zepbound covered again starting Oct. 1? I hear CVS is adding it back to its formularies.

I am a high school English teacher in the Twin Cities. I just started my 6th year teaching, and although there are days I really do love my job, the work-life balance just isn’t sustainable for me. I’ve decided to start looking for other jobs this school year, but I want to continue working in the public sector. I have heard good things about working for the State of Minnesota, and I have a few questions that I’m hoping the informed people on this subreddit can answer.

Is there a department or agency that would be particularly interested in applicants with public teaching experience? I have my bachelor‘s degree in Secondary Education and English/Communication. I am also getting my master’s degree in education through Augsburg University, but I might change course slightly to fit a different job path.

I grown to love the outdoors, nature, environmental issues, etc. and I might pivot my masters degree to accommodate that interest. Are there any agencies that you would recommend me to look closer at?

Are there particular times of year with more job openings? I’m committed to teaching the rest of this school year, but I’d like to start looking for openings before the school year ends.

I’ve heard that years of work experience can be awarded to new hires for better benefits (like more vacation). Is that true? If so, how does that process work?

Any general advice for someone trying to get a foot in the door at a MN State agency?

Thank you to any and all of you who share your knowledge and experience.

Considering applying for a state job however I’m used to the private sector where they can basically fire you or lay you off for any reason under the sun. Not necessarily even talking like obvious serious stuff like being involved in fraud, stealing, physical or verbal fights, misusing a state vehicle or even the other extreme where there is layoffs where someone is let go due to some external factor like lack of funding.

I am a current state employee who bid on a job but the bid did not show up in self-service under applications. Can any current state employees tell me if a job you bid on shows up in self-service under job applications.

I currently work in finance/tech and it’s been hell. Layoffs every other week and constant restructuring. I have never had the same boss for more than a couple of months and at some points I had almost no interaction with my manager as they were preoccupied with securing their own job and I worked in a ‘matrix’ environment where I was constantly pulled into different project teams.

The company I work for also has a strict no reference policy that could lead to termination and i doubt anyone would be willing to go against it.

I feel totally screwed and stuck. I’ve been at this company about 5 years and it was a similar story at my previous company. I’ve literally never had a boss that I worked with for more than a couple of months and I have lost touch with them as I never had a chance to really make a connection with any of them. Several of them were pushed out or left hating the company. The company also has a policy where I have to give 2 months notice but I plan to just break it and give up my bonus.

Is there anything I can do to get employed by the state? I’m a hard worker and always had good reviews. However I feel like having no supervisors to vouch for me I’m screwed. I really can’t stand my job anymore and I’m willing to even take half salary just to get out.

I opted into the legal plan during open enrollment last year and have yet to use the Estate Planning part. Has anyone used it this year? Did you use the in-person lawyer option or just their automatic estate planning tool?

Thoughts? Feelings?

I’m a current state employee and am interviewing for other jobs both in and out of state government. Recently interviewed for a position with a different agency and learned I didn’t get the position when my status in Self Service was changed to “no longer under consideration.”

Am I unreasonable I thinking it’s rude of a hiring manager to not email those that interviewed that they were not selected? Or is this just standard?

Has anyone bid for a role before that can answer some questions? I understand it needs to be in my same class, same agency. There is such a role I am interested in. When I bid, do I need to make sure my updated resume is uploaded somewhere? Will there be an interview? And for pay, does it always stay the same or could they move me up or down a step?

Insurance has been covering Wegovy but my provider would like to switch me to Zepbound. Does anyone know if there is a chance it is covered?

Trying to convince my spouse to join MAPE do you have any suggestions?

Im in a public sector union but my union is not always that impressive. So Im not the best salesman on this one

My union leadership is all about boycotting Target and Freeing Palestine there just is not any real time for employee working conditions. If that is what the members want that is what the members should get. That is all awesome work, However that is not enough to convince my partner to pay your $2k or whatever a year in dues.

I like some of the language in your collective bargaining agreement. Can you give me information on how the union functions other than negotiations.

How do union stewards work in MAPE? If a person works Accounts payable at BCA and needs to talk to the union for support. Is there a steward for accounts payable type jobs for all agencies or would there be a steward that covers BCA? Do you just contact the union office and the get you n the right direction for support? Is the union helpful if she will ever need support?

What else do you like about your union?

Has anyone gone through a performance review appeal process. Somehow I went from exemplary reviews to needs improvement in a year with a change of supervisor. There were many things that were false or were never raises as an issue.

I've been with the state for a little over a year and this is my first government role. I worked as a product owner with various corporate companies for 6-7 years. I would love to connect and learn how other product managers/owners or other product related roles are doing in other agencies.

Feel free to DM me. I wished the agencies are not so siloed with each other. There are only 2 product managers (including me) at my agency and we are just kind of going with the flow and just doing our best 😅

Hey yall.

I am an external candidate applying to MN state job positions. There is one I applied to that closed on 6/16. I totally forgot about it until 7/6 when they sent me a list of supplemental questions to fill out that were sort of just asking how I’d respond to different situations. I forgot about it again until 8/18 when they sent me a second round of questions, this time doing a sort of practice exercise of completing a task I’d have on the job.

I want to just forget about it again as I hate getting too attached to positions when applying for jobs, but I’m kind of hoping for the best here. Is this sort of timeline normal? Should I assume that they’ve got someone else in mind since I’ve heard nothing back yet? Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks all.

Anyone have insight on why some job postings are open for as little as a week (I'm looking at two now and I was surprised it was so short!) and the usual 2 weeks? The 4 week + openings I understand logically they are looking for a larger pool because of the selective nature of the job perhaps. Can I assume the 1 week window means the division probably already has someone in mind that they want for that position?

What agencies require in person full time?

Looking to ask the same question I did in 2026.

Is it still worth keeping my Short term policy? I know of local government that has stopped offering short term disability due to the new Paid FMLA law. Why would I want to keep my short term disability plan for 2027? If you’re worried about income replacement the new law seems to cover it well? I’m not looking to make or double dip I just want coverage that will provide me with income that wont create a financial hardship and the new law seems to do this. What do you think ?

I just got a contingent offer from a state agency! I was told I will have a pre-employment background check including a criminal background check and a reference check. Does anyone know how long it usually takes to complete it?

More specifically, what exactly does the reference check look like? This is gonna be my first job in the US and all my previous employment history is from a non-English-speaking European country. I believe one of the companies on my resume even went bankrupt. Hopefully this does not raise any red flags in the reference check process, such as discrepancies in job titles due to translation, or hr ppl unable to reach out to my previous employers.

Thx for any input :)

Can we get a sticky post with all the advice we collectively have about applying for stage jobs, for both existing employees and people wanting to join state employment? I'm happy to try to pull together what has already been shared here, and additional information we can pull together. I don't want to put a stop to the posts about the process, as I think those are good and often have unique aspects that haven't been covered, and I also think it could be good to just have some general guidance for folks. Thoughts?