@Hoerschel and @luckyisyou1. I am a senior investigator and I’ve got an offer from caci for $4000 more than I’m making at usis plus sign on bonus, so they do pay well.
CACI has pretty much stated that they will not pay you 65K because they can’t afford to pay you that much without seeing your pperformance. So most SR investigators have a hard decision to make. As for my team my TL got 4 resignation letters on Thursday all four investigators going to CACI. We have two more going thru the pre hire process with CACI. Before the Furlough USIS had the largest team. Come Monday CACI will have the largest team. Crazy how fast things change.
@double07 I was offered more than 65k, just saying. I’m awaiting an offer from KP to compare and see what’s best for my family in terms of overall package.
Are you with USIS or CACI @double07? If you are with CACI can you tell me your experience with the company?
Deedisdone
Was that $65K before or after you add in the H&W. If you got 65K before H&W you got one helleva deal. I would take it an run. Reason being because KGS metrics are borderline unobtainable. My start date at CACI is the 15th I turned down a KGS offer for more money after learning of the metrics. Just my two cents.
Also USIS has hired a new Director of Recruiting and according to my TL and RD they will be coming after all the high performers that left if they survive this mess.
I’m not starting any rumors. I was told we were going to have to pay health premiums back and personal usage of the fleet vehicle back, to catch up for what we are not paying while on leave without pay. I was under that impression anyway since we are still getting health benefits and fleet vehicle use so why wouldn’t we have to catch up when or if we return to work?
@luckisyou1, why would you report me, I did nothing wrong. I am on your side man, definitely want to see USIS make it through this, but it’s a fact that majority of us are out of vacation, and it was stated by HR in the initial email we got that we will be subject to catch up on benefit costs and puc costs.
deed, you are correct. That message did comet through. If they cannot take your payments out of your paycheck they will invoice you or take it out of any backpay. Congrats on your offer. You will do fine with CACI No… I do not know this for a fact, but I have been in the same situation, and I can say that when this all started, my consolation was “someone has to do the investigations” You have taken that position. I wish you the best, and this all will work out. Just continue what you have been doing the past 8 years, but your check will becoming from a different employer. Ignore the snarky comments. I’m sure that many would agree that there are posters that tongue in cheek post have gotten very tiring. It is not productive in any way. Move on and be confident that you made the right choice.
No worries man, it’s hard to feel out sarcasm on the internet sometimes. Thanks for all the good wishes people, we will get through this.
Some of these comments are very strange. Oh well…
I am pretty concerned about the ability of CACI and KGS to smartly grow their workforce. I know KGS has FM’s who have zero field experience. CACI historically paid the absolute worst of any of the companies (although it seems like they are now stepping up). I just worry about management competence for both companies. What a horrible time for this industry.
I have been with KGS for 6 years and happy about it. A lot of craziness and stress is the nature of the industry and OPM. That’ll be there whether you’re with CACI/KGS/USIS. But I think most of us thrive on the craziness and stress even if we don’t admit it. When things started to get crazy last year a few KGS investigators I work with looked into moving to CACI. They feared the private BI business was being phased out and in-sourced and they thought it might be prudent to get on with a multiple-billion dollar corporation with diverse business branches. After serious research and talking with CACI folks, they ultimately decided CACI was not the place to be for BI work. Expectations were higher and the work involved more complicated SPINs and BI/MBI’s. They didn’t do a lot of the work USIS/KGS handles, e.g., SSBI/PR’s, etc. Now I guess CACI is in the process of ramping up this capability, but I imagine it will be an ugly and crazy learning curve for all involved.
As as one fellow investigator-- who decided no to go with CACI–said, “If you like spending more time behind the steering wheel and computer, CACI is an option.” And with the fears he had last year of the contractor BI industry found to be largely unfounded, he is relieved he didn’t make the move.
Btw, I think USIS will not go out of business. They will just need to re-structure, do a name change, make a geographic move, etc. Ala Blackwater —> Xe —> Academi.
I wonder then if CACI is the way to go. I’m not worried about what type of cases I do, I’m just worried about having enough work. I am going to talk with KP tomorrow and make a decision. I’ve heard KP culture is becoming like USIS, any truth to that? If the new CEO can make KP like USIS of the Phil Harper says then I think I’d want to work for them.
@deedisdone1
I honestly see KGS being the company for doing contractor BI work in the future. It already has a large number of former USIS investigators and reviewers (i.e., the best part, the integrity, of USIS) and is picky about whom they hire. From what I understand, they are ahead of other contractors for innovation and making the necessary admin things easier. I think a lot of the turbulence in the industry, changes, and growing pains has been interpreted by some as becoming USIS-esque.
I don’t know, I could be wrong in my assessment. I read KGS CEO Eric Hess’s word with a lot of interest. I hope he/KGS have thoroughly learned the lessons behind USIS’s downfall. The Washington Post had an article a while back on USIS which read like similar histories of Enron, et al. Private equity guys sitting prominently in on USIS strategic planning meetings. I would love to see federal agents carrying out computers from those private equity firm guys’ offices.
Point to consider on CACI. Their BI work is only one branch of a very large corporation that does a lot of contracting work. They’ve got a lot of coming and going. Their game is contracting. Yes, they also do BI work contracting. Most of the people don’t go to an employer like this for a long-term career. You go there for short-term gigs that pay triple your telecom work in NM or after a long military career with a pension and connections. You get in and you get out. An analogy. KGS only makes watches. They work on improving their watches and profiting from making the best watch they can. CACI makes watches. And suits. And shoes. And cologne. Or anything else selling. Which company do you want to work for if making watches is your forte? Also, some of CACI’s contractors have been involved in the Abu Ghraib scandal that has been detailed in federal court lawsuits. I.e., CACI doesn’t start out in the competition with a pristine reputation in the world of U.S. Government contracting. Read the articles and replies on The Huffington Post. Let’s be honest, while I differ politically I think we can all be honest and agree that the political left will control things politically from here on out. And CACI’s deep connection to this Bush Admin./War in Iraq scandal will always be a major negative.
I see BI contracts going largely to KGS in the future. And a lot of politicians and elites will breathe a sigh of relief that they don’t need to try to explain to their NGO exec spouse why they agreed to give the work to a Bush era contractor that was connected with the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
In other words, don’t miss the forest for the trees. There is more to think about pay/compensation/benefits.
But that’s just one man’s opinion.
Is this the new jobvent board? haha
So I moved to KP from USIS after 8 years- I’m nervous but excited - they start me at a higher salary and level 6 inv. but I’m curious how they “know” who to scout- because how do they know our stats???
I got one of those letters in the mail from USIS saying my PII may have been stolen in the hack. One year away from USIS and they are still causing me stress. I have spoken to some friends who have be gone 3 to 5 years and they even got a letter about their PII being possibly stolen as well. SMH
On another note, two of my connections on Linked In who were TLs for USIS in the DC area just updated their profile and both are now TL’s at CACI.
I’m amazed at and really admire the loyalty of the USIS folks who have stuck it out and are/were reluctant to jump ship. It speaks volumes to their personal character. Very few industries in this day age will you see people do this. Heck, in most industries people jump ship from a company that’s been good to them for a company that offers them a 5% raise. And they have no qualms about.
Wherever these men and women end up I’ll be proud to consider them colleagues in the field. We’re all in the same business, with the same goal, so we should all be supportive of each other.
I just want to say that it was a very hard decision!! One I did not take lightly, however with no income for five weeks, and then the mystery of what may remain of USIS- once I left and realize no one gave a crap I was okay with it… 8 years top quality and not even a sorry to see u go.
I am still curious how KP would know our stats going in??
I would assume they can check your OPM metrics with your Sid or badge#. CACI gave me a strong offer but I’m supposed to talk to someone with KP tomorrow. Either way i think I’m done with usis.
If you honestly feel that your job is to just confirm or collect information on your subjects, then please don’t take job with Keypoint or CACI. Do us all a favor and just go find a new line of work.
If you approach your subject interviews and sources with a checklist mentality then you either don’t understand how to do your job or you just don’t care.
“Calling ourself investigators is kind of an insult to real investigators” - again, if you feel this way, please just leave. I to used to be a “real investigator” as I was a Criminal Investigator/Special Agent with DEA. I voluntarily left the DEA to work for USIS because my career with the DEA was problematic with having a stable marriage and family life. Best decision I ever made as I was eventually able to return to Federal service as a Special Agent with OPM. While my mission at OPM is different than it was at DEA, it is no less important. Would I love to polygraph and interrogate my subjects at times?..sure thing. But that is not a tool in our bag. That does not mean that we can not be effective investigators. There are many other ways to get people to cooperate with us and to divulge information. Even when they are not comfortable doing so.
Saying that we can never catch a Snowden or Alexis is absolute BS. There have been many “spies” and threats to national security which this program has successfully detected over the years. Google Benjamin Bishop for the latest example. In the last 6 months alone my field office has had two supposedly clean cases that, through excellent fieldwork, developed such significant counter-intelligence issues that the FBI was brought into the loop and briefed by our agents. FBI investigations into those individuals is still ongoing. I personally investigated a subject several years back who is now serving 15 years in a federal prison based on issues I developed during my investigation on him.
My purpose behind writing this is not to put myself on a pedestal above anyone else, but to hopefully convey that what we do is important and can have a direct impact on the national security of the United States.
This job, like any other, is what you make of it. Can you conduct checklist interviews, do as little work as possible to meet coverage requirements, and write off coverage at the drop of hat? Of course you can. Just remember, it is not OPM conducting that shallow and half-hearted investigation (to summarize the feelings of several of you). YOU are conducting that investigation as an Investigator on behalf of OPM. Poor investigations are the fault of none other than those who conduct them. This the holds true whether you are working for a PD, the FBI, DEA, SS, CIA…or lowly old OPM.
Food for thought I hope.