Federal Employee question re: GS pay explanation

[sa_seahawker]

I'm thinking about applying for a civilian job with the government in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The job posting lists the pay grade as a GS-0610-10 with a salary range of $68,721-$86,220 DOQ.

I get that "GS" essentially means it's a salary position and "0610" is the code for a nurse series and the "10" is the grade level but when I pull up the OPM GS pay schedule for that region, I can't place the job in a specific step level. That starting pay falls between a step 5 and a step 6.

What am I missing here?

[SoCalS4Avant]

I'm thinking about applying for a civilian job with the government in the Seattle-Tacoma area. The job posting lists the pay grade as a GS-0610-10 with a salary range of $68,721-$86,220 DOQ.

I get that "GS" essentially means it's a salary position and "0610" is the code for a nurse series and the "10" is the grade level but when I pull up the OPM GS pay schedule for that region, I can't place the job in a specific step level. That starting pay falls between a step 5 and a step 6.
,
What am I missing here?

Here you go: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-over...600/gs0610.pdf

Keep in mind that the top salary is actually a GS-11 grade. Generally there will be a locality salary adjustment, depending on where you live (i.e. higher cost of living areas), for instance, Seattle has a higher pay than, say, Omaha, NE.

[sa_seahawker]

Here you go: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-over...600/gs0610.pdf

Keep in mind that the top salary is actually a GS-11 grade. Generally there will be a locality salary adjustment, depending on where you live (i.e. higher cost of living areas), for instance, Seattle has a higher pay than, say, Omaha, NE.

Just to clarify, I checked the GS-10 level steps for the Seattle-Tacoma area. I was under the impression that if you were a GS-10 step 4 (for instance) you would get "X" salary. Because the low salary in the job posting was $68,721, I assumed it would correlate to a specific Grade/step. I've checked the 2016 and 2017 pay tables and neither has a grade/step identified with either salary (the low or high) for the Seattle-Tacoma area. Additionally, I checked the base pay table (minus locality pay) and still nada. As for the benchmark points, the points for a GS-10 only go from 2105-2350 (which I thought may correlate into pay, but even that would still fall below the starting salary).

Sorry for the 20 questions. Leave it the govt to make things as complicated as possible. I just like to know exactly how I would be paid before I put in for a position. I also have yet to receive an email back from any recruiter or POC. But I thank you in advance for your help.

[A4Dit]

The low side of the pay it shows is the lowest they'd bring you in as, plus locality. So in other words, if you meet the qualifications and they bring you in as a GS-10 step 1, $68,721 is that plus locality. Locality pay is computed as a percentage of the annual pay per year added to your salary. The high side of that pay shown is what you could get if you're highly qualified. Refer back to the announcement and it may say, to qualify as GS-10, 52 weeks of experience combined with education/ to qualify as a GS-11, 52 weeks of experience and secondary education. Don't worry about steps too much, those are your within grade increases. Each year you will move up a step. I've been a federal employee since 2011.

[fatherdeath]

if you have GS or GSE oconus pay question i may be able to help