Working for the USPTO

abc123 · 11-07-17 at 08:42 AM

Quote from: johnthatcher on 11-07-17 at 08:03 AM
Is there a specific reason they ask for a transcript ? Just to see whether you have a GPA above 3.0 ?

It is such a vague requirement as the GPA can be much higher if you graduate from a mediocre school compared to the top notch school.

They are very stringent in this area because in the past they hired people who, it turned out, did not actually have college degrees. A lady in my PEIT training class got hired, and they later found out she never graduated from college.

I was watching the news one evening, and saw her on TV with some lobbyists/politicians up on capital hill. I guess she "graduated" into the major league bull shitters after the PTO fired her.

johnthatcher · 11-07-17 at 08:54 AM

I think most employers check for college degrees, however, very few ask for transcripts. If you graduated more than 10 years ago, you could be a very different person now from when you were in school. It can be misleading. Perhaps, it is the government and they just have to have a transcript as part of the hiring process without any specific need or reason.

USPTO9341 · 11-16-17 at 08:19 AM

Hr sent ma an email saying I met the qualifications for 7 and 9 in Denver position and sent my info to selecting officials, hint that I am already working as a patent examiner grade 7 for 15 months now

fewyearsin · 11-16-17 at 10:00 AM

Quote from: USPTO9341 on 11-16-17 at 08:19 AM
Hr sent ma an email saying I met the qualifications for 7 and 9 in Denver position and sent my info to selecting officials, hint that I am already working as a patent examiner grade 7 for 15 months now

In a nice way . . . if you've been a GS7 for 15 months, the job might not be right for you. Full performance at GS14 will require you to do TWICE as much work in the same amount of time. And the Office really wants you to become a Primary, because that's when they get the most bang for their buck out of you.

But yes, USAJobs and the PTO don't really cross-correlate their databases. Maybe kindly send them an email that you are no longer interested in the position because you already have the position.

USPTO9341 · 11-16-17 at 05:53 PM

I don't know what you mean by saying the job might not be right for you ! Lots of my classmates graduated with me just became grade 9, So I'm not that much behind plus why are you talking about grade 14?? I said I'm 7 and applied for 9 so maybe I can move back to Denver!!

Feta Cheese · 11-16-17 at 06:36 PM

Quote from: USPTO9341 on 11-16-17 at 05:53 PMI said I'm 7 and applied for 9 so maybe I can move back to Denver!!

LOL Good luck there. That's not how inter-office transferring works.

lazyexaminer · 11-16-17 at 07:17 PM

Quote from: USPTO9341 on 11-16-17 at 05:53 PM
I don't know what you mean by saying the job might not be right for you ! Lots of my classmates graduated with me just became grade 9, So I'm not that much behind plus why are you talking about grade 14?? I said I'm 7 and applied for 9 so maybe I can move back to Denver!!

When I was in your spot anyone who was at all promising at examining got promoted from GS 7 to 9 in 6 months, and it was unusual for someone to not be promoted at 1 year and be kept around. So to still be at GS 7 at 15 months indicates you may be struggling with the job.

Things could be different now, I don't know, for example the academy didn't exist when I started (eta: also I am not even sure if they do 6 month promotions anymore). So I'm not trying to say anything about you, just where the other comment was likely coming from.

bluerogue · 11-16-17 at 07:25 PM

Quote from: Feta Cheese on 11-16-17 at 06:36 PM
Quote from: USPTO9341 on 11-16-17 at 05:53 PMI said I'm 7 and applied for 9 so maybe I can move back to Denver!!

LOL Good luck there. That's not how inter-office transferring works.

Actually, that's exactly how one examiner in Denver transferred offices. You have to be a 12+ to get a transfer slot (and I think all the slots are spoken for anyways). I think he was a longtime 7 or 9 by choice. He applied for Denver and then quit his job in VA. His old SPE selected him and was rehired for Denver.

USPTO9341 · 11-17-17 at 03:12 AM

Like I said only few got promoted in a year most got promoted about now
But my case is that when I got out of academy we all were assigned to a primary to train us but I was assigned to my spe so he stamped and sent off all my cases without reviewing them
So after 6 months I was assigned to a primary and he started
Training me so imagine worth of 6 months of cases they all
Coming back and not properly done so I got behind doing
Amendments and second non final which I caught them
Myself that they were done not properly since I've been trained
For last 4 months. But it hurt my production

USPTO9341 · 11-17-17 at 03:23 AM

Academy didn't exist!! Wow ok u so funny u judged
First without knowing my situation plus we went
To 4 months academy plus we didn't really start examining a month or
So after that because we still had training on line
So I don't know how within 6 months u get promoted when u
Supposed to be 100 % production for the last 13 biweek
To get promoted
Only one person in our class got promoted from 9 to 11 within
9 months and he had similar job before
So before u start giving out info which is based on circumstances
Think first

snapshot · 11-17-17 at 04:47 PM

I went through PEIT like other long time examiners here, and I was at 100% production in my 2nd or 3rd biweek out of training. Got promoted in 6 months.

And a new examiner telling an old examiner how the office works is rich.

I still think the office would be better off with PEIT over the academy, but they've poured so many resources into it and so many primaries work at home now that the way training used to be done isn't really feasible anymore.

ExaminerBob · 11-17-17 at 08:32 PM

Post Academy Examiner here. My first promotion was around 7 months. And I wasn't even the first examiner from my training lab to get a promotion. The accelerated promotions to gs-11 are very doable to anyone concerned about the gs-7/9 salary.

openpatent · 11-18-17 at 12:34 AM

Plenty of long timer 12s and a few 11s from what I've seen. The only Gs 7 or 9s longer than a year or two had some trouble during probation, usually issues with their Spes or primary.

rodya · 11-21-17 at 03:02 AM

Examiner for 6 years here.....almost everyone in my class had 2 promotions within the first 18 months. Everyone was relatively similar until GS-12, then those who struggled got stuck while the rest kept going. At this point only 3 of us are primaries, the others who are still around are either in the program, or fighting to keep their job.
The production is killer at 13 vs. 7, never mind 14 (at least then you can allow by yourself). It's good your with a primary now because the examiners who don't get a primary and have a rubber stamp SPE just end-up failing the program....that's a year of your life wasted.

My 2 cents, the standards are being raised to get retained, too many bad examiners are impossible to get rid of once they are non-probationary; the program is getting harder, too many primary examiners doing a crap job; the PTAB is getting more critical, too much pressure to not be reversed by the Fed. Cir.

If anyone is struggling at GS-7 or 9 or even 11....get out before its too late and you have no useful engineering skills left.

abc123 · 11-21-17 at 06:48 AM

Quote from: rodya on 11-21-17 at 03:02 AM
the PTAB is getting more critical, too much pressure to not be reversed by the Fed. Cir.

The situation you are describing is similar to the way it was in the mid to late nineties, when you would send a case to the board with perfect art, and the judges would tell you to allow it. I saw some attorneys take advantage of this by listing perfect or near perfect art on their IDS, and then appeal your rejection no matter how good it was, knowing they had a very high probability of winning.

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