I received a level 2 offer and it was 52k for my area
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For what it’s worth, I just finished an initial phone interview with a Peraton hiring manager. She told me Lvl 1 salary is 53K and Lvl 6 is 94K. This is my first dive into the contract BI world and Peraton is new to me. Anybody have recommendations on what to watch-out during the hiring/on-boarding processes?
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That’s great insight. Thanks RB22!
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“Only” make $87,000? Peraton used to only pay $67,600 back in 2014 for a Level 6. So I would say they have increased their pay considerably. You should count your blessings. That’s a fantastic salary for this industry.
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Level 6 was only 65000 in my lowly area when i jumped to FedWorld in 2016. 87,000 must be DC or other expensive labor market.
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I’m not complaining, I was just curious about another level 6 making $95,000
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I was told level 6 is 96. In my opinion the amont of work required for level 6 would be difficult given the current CE environment which is causing nearly all cases requiring fieldwork to be nightmares from He!!.
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The Federal Wage Determination for SCA employees has changed the pay bands for investigators on the DCSA Contract Rebid. CACI got out in front of this back in the winter by increasing level 3 and 4s to the new pay band range. Then Peraton followed suit and changed their level ranges in late spring. It is my understanding that Paragon has not yet changed it’s pay scale for it’s Investigator levels. It is possible to be a high performing investigator with Peraton and CACI in a low cost city making over 6 figures.
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I’ve heard that Peraton pays much lower than some of the other vendors. Not sure why there are so many levels either. It seems as though the subs have higher pay scales - I believe Xcelerate is the most competitive that I know of now.
Beware of being pressured to work other contracts too soon. It’s been the demise of many investigators in the past who can barely perform their metrics on DCSA and then get 2,3,4 other contracts dumped on them and their metrics plunge and they are laid off or PIPd out.
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I believe a level 2 is $28 an hour.
This is one thing that I have thought about. My section lead has mentioned that the company goal is for all investigators to get cleared on all contracts and I have absolutely no desire to expand to other contracts. I requested part time a few months ago due to medical reasons and I have been able to manage better with the part time work. I have no idea if I will be able to decline cross training to other contracts or if it will be mandatory.
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It’s possible. Probably not for a level 6 full timer but don’t be pushed around. Talk to HR if need be. Company goals and your personal career goals don’t have to be the same. A level 1 or 2 investigator with less than 2 years experience should NOT be working 4 different contracts with drastically different requirements. I’s a recipe for disaster (for all involved) and if this work is so “important” why does multiple contract work get shoved down investigator’s throats who don’t know what they are doing and have obvious performance problems.
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Some vendors aren’t requiring investigators to work on other contracts from what I know. I personally think that quality of work is better when you’re not spread thin over multiple contracts. I have some friends that work for subcontractors that don’t require multiple contract works. I know Xcelerate is only working DCSA and this seems to making their people happy. Maybe something to look into for anyone that just wants to focus on one contract.
If you are with peraton, you can decline other contracts. I know several FIs who have asked not to be on Excalibur or UNI. DHS is still by phone for sources and records.
My biggest issue with working multiple contracts is that you do not get extra compensation for working multiple contracts.
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I asked not to be put on multiple contracts at Peraton (I worked 4 at CACI) and I was told no. I was forced to work all 7 contracts, even in another state, three of which I never heard of or received any training whatsoever on. I was told to work it like DCSA, and the reality was that most of them were actually more like Excalibur. I left and went back to CACI.
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I had asked in 2018 when I was still with Preaton not to be put on unicycle, and I was told the only way to do that was to become a contractor that as a full-time employee I could not turn down work. Maybe they’ve changed the policy but doubtful.
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They definitely have not. I was told the same thing this year.
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CACI just had merit meetings. I am a level 1 and was told by my section lead that because I am a level 1 I got $0 for a raise. I meet production and my quality is 95-100%. Any other CACI Investigators level 1 told the same thing?
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