r/mnstateworkers

As posted above, I wish this group was around when I was applying and working for the State of Minnesota. It would have helped me understand things a bit more.

My story is I performed city/county work until my first retirement at the end of 2010. I retired at age 50 when the county offered a buy out. I took advantage of that and started annuity payments under MN PERA.

I worked a couple of private sector jobs until snagging a job with a second defined pension plan in about September 2011. I worked there for over 6 years and took a second retirement in 2018.

I left when I took a job at the State of Minnesota. I worked for a few different organizations that contribute to MSRS. I retired about a year and a half ago.

Many of the posts that I read here I can relate to.

While you certainly won't get rich performing most of the jobs at the State of Minnesota, there really aren't that many places that still have Defined Benefit pension plans. I thank my stars everyday that I get a monthly annuity from PERA, the Fed and MSRS. I haven't started drawing from Social Security, yet, but in about 4 years I will start drawing that. I haven't started drawing from my IRA, yet, but I am watching it grow.

I applied to a MN state job (which was posted in early March), my interview was online and was on beginning of May. I heard back from the HR admin by early June saying that they are working on HR approvals and would be able to give an update soon. It’s almost a month now, without any update. Wonder if I should keep waiting or if I’m their second choice!

Also, what is the normal process looks like? Do they need HR approvals to make a conditional offer? Is it after that they send the consent form to request references and do the background check?

Hi all, I applied for and went through two interview rounds, including the last one in person, which I understood to be the final round about three weeks ago. In that conversation, they had said they were 'hoping to move quickly, but it is still the state government and needs to go through HR and they hope to make decisions in about a week'. Since then, I have not heard anything at all. I followed up shortly after with a thank you email and then a continued interest email this week. It would be surprising to me to be ghosted by the state for a role, but this is my first time applying here. Any insights on whether this is normal or at what point I should cut my losses?

I mean 1.75% ! We definitely deserve it. It certainly more than makes up for the RTO costs we all pay.

Can’t wait until Amy gets elected, she will take care of us.

I’m hoping to hear from people who have experience with state government hiring.

I interviewed for Position X at Organization Y.

Some facts:

• The interview lasted about 80 minutes instead of the scheduled 60.

• The hiring manager gave me a tour of the department.

• He discussed responsibilities that weren’t listed in the job posting, and my experience matched all of them.

• He voluntarily talked about hybrid work, overtime, and vacation accrual.

• He told me not to worry if I didn’t hear back right away because he would be away.

About two weeks later, HR sent me this email:

“While the hiring manager is still finalizing the decision, he spoke very highly of you. Based on that, we thought you might be interested in Position Z. If you are ultimately selected for Position X, you can simply withdraw from consideration for Position Z. This is not a guarantee of any outcome, but given the hiring manager’s strong impression of your qualifications, we wanted to make sure you were aware of the opportunity before the posting closed.”

I applied for Position Z.

A few days later, I received a rejection from HR stating that another applicant had been selected for Position X.

I’m not asking anyone to judge the hiring decision. I’m trying to understand the process.

For those who have worked in state government hiring:

• How would you interpret the sequence of events?

• Does this suggest the hiring manager genuinely wanted me but the final decision involved other factors?

• Or is this fairly typical and I’m reading too much into the positive signals?

I’d especially appreciate input from hiring managers, HR professionals, or anyone familiar with state hiring practices.

I’ve worked in the private sector for about 20 years and may have a job offer coming soon from the state.

The role is essentially the same title and type of work I do now, but the compensation difference is significant. Even if they bring me in at the highest step, I’d be looking at roughly:

- ~20% reduction in base salary
- ~40% reduction in total compensation when I factor in the two annual bonuses I currently receive

On paper, this seems like an easy “no.”

The reason I’m seriously considering it is that I’m pretty burned out. My current environment feels increasingly stressful, reactive, and at times toxic. What attracts me to the state role is the possibility of better work-life balance, more predictable hours, greater job stability, and hopefully a healthier culture.

Financially, my family is in a stable position. I’m in my early 40s, have a solid retirement nest egg, no major debt outside of a mortgage, and don’t necessarily need to maximize every dollar I earn. That said, walking away from this much compensation feels irrational.

For those who have made the jump from private sector to government:
- Did the reduction in stress and improved quality of life turn out to be real?
- Did you regret the pay cut?
- Looking back, was it worth it?
- Are there downsides to government work that people don’t talk about enough?

Part of me thinks this could be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Another part thinks I’ve completely lost my mind for even considering it.

Would appreciate any perspectives, especially from people who have actually made a similar move.

curious about the RTO protocol (I know it’s 50%).

do you get an assigned cubicle? is it “reserve a cubicle“? do you actually have in person meetings?

this is for a more tech job

Hey everyone. I'm looking for some unvarnished insight from current state workers or anyone familiar with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) hiring pace right now.

I applied for a fairly high-level role (Education Consultant 3) that closed in mid-May. My status shifted to "Under Consideration" shortly after, but it has been complete radio silence ever since. We are crossing the 6-week mark.

I know the state moves notoriously slow, but I have a few specific questions about the mechanics of this delay:

Does the June 30th fiscal year closeout actually paralyze HR's ability to schedule external interviews? Are requisitions basically parked until the FY27 budget opens next week?

Does this status actually mean my resume is sitting on the hiring manager's desk for review, or is this the standard holding pen where everyone sits for months until the final candidate accepts the job?

If a manager decides they want to interview me, does the scheduling link come from a generic HR email, or does the division/manager reach out directly?

For an Ed Consultant 3 role, is a 6-to-8 week wait just to get an interview invite standard operating procedure?

Just trying to figure out if my application is caught in a standard bureaucratic/holiday bottleneck or if I should officially write this one off as a dead lead. Any insight from the inside is hugely appreciated!

I'm taking the Tribal Relation Training soon and was curious what to expect with the food. thank you.