Pros
Salary: Above par salary for federal government. Entry level Examiners at the CN30/40 Level may expect to receive a starting salary from 58k-90k depending on experience. General career ladder for non-commisioned examiners go from CN30/40/51. Top pay is dependent on your locality. The most you can make at CN/51 with locality is 85K. Personal Growth: CFPB is one of those marketable Agencies to work for. Expect to get numerous job offers from entities and private consulting firms. You will have the ability to trailblazer and shape the future of financial consumer protection laws. In addition the CFPB is notorious for hiring Tier 1 Ivy League grad/under-grad & JD students. As a result, great ideas are generally bounced around and shared between employees. However lack of experience in the real world gets those ideas deleted. Alternative Work Schedule: Expect to be off every other Friday. Work-life Balance: Travel only during business hours and travel and arrive home before the end of your work day. Retirement: Since the CFPB is subsidized by the Federal Reserves. Your TSP; you contribute 7% Agency will Match 8% Health: is FEBH and Metlife (free of charge)
Cons
Office Culture: All levels of Management, Executive, Senior, and Field Mangers are generally hired and recruited through networking and relationships. It is not a fluke where as 80% of Management has worked with each other in past experiences. As a result favoritism, EEO and discrimination is true to nature and has been sited and noted by Congress. Corrective actions are being taken however, only time will tell. Policy on Career Ladder and Promotion: Weak and none. The ability to climb the career ladder is flawed by expectations which has not been vetted and approved by HR and the Union. As a result Do not expect to make your career ladder promotion with in 12 month of your employment. The true range is 15-19 month. This will negatively impact your ability to make career ladder timely as your subsequent career ladders will also be affected by the time lapse. Annual Appraisals and Feedback: Examiners work in team environment which are lead by Examiner in charge (EIC). The EIC role is a team leader and Non-Managerial. However post examination feedback and appraisals are written by EIC's reviewed and relied upon by mangers to assess and develop your annual appraisal. This is a HR flaw as non-managers should not be drive your ability to be promoted. EICs do not have HR training and EEO expertise. There are inherent risk such as EIC favoritism to fabricate the truth or maliciously created negative opinions about a team member to mitigate promotional competition. In addition EIC may also offer a friend a specific role to assist the friend in being promote or provide an easier assignment. Leadership is weak as many Field Managers have no managerial experience and are generally hired by networking. As a result the CFPB is faced with extremely high turnover. Most Field Managers do not have Consumer Financial Protection Knowledge and Experience. Many are Dodd Frank Transferees from other regulatory Bodies many were perhaps even failing (NCUA). "Look it up in the regulations" is a common Field Manger remark and comment. It is normal and stylish to see CFPB employees leave and transfer to the FDIC, OCC, FRB, NCUA, and SEC. Although Management is proud to offer 10 positions they fail to realize the loss of 30 employees. Favoritism in assignments: Many assignments are driven by who managers enjoy working with. It is common to see examinations in Puerto Rico and Florida whereas team participants all know each other fairly well. Or Teams in which are lead by Managers who recruit based of friendly relationships and not merit.