recently hired attorney advisor - concerned

[cdphd7]

I recently accepted an offer from the SSA for an Attorney-Advisor position and I begin in about a month. This will be my first federal govt. position. Any sage advice or words of wisdom from you seasoned attorney advisors out there?  Any info you could share would probably be helpful at this point. I've read all the posts on this blog and the general consensus seems to be that the hours, benefits and pay are decent, but the potential for promotion is practically non-existent. This is discouraging as I'm not sure I want to be an AA, capped at GS-12 for the rest of my professional career. Thoughts?

[commuter]

IMPOSSIBLE to get a GS-13 or higher here AS AN ATTORNEY-ADVISOR.. there are "supervising attorney advisors" at GS-13 but not available at every location. There are GS-13s and GS-14s and although they require you to be an attorney, they are not under the "0905" series.  So this is a good job to get your foot in the door but you should make plans to transfer to a different agency after you are eligible for GS-13.

[barkley]

The above poster is wrong on a couple of points.

The Agency used to have a "superviosry attorney advisor" position, but that went away around 1999 when ODAR was restructured. 

Each hearing office has at least one Senior Attorney Adviser that is a GS 13 position.  Larger offices typically have 1 Senior Attorney per every 4 or so ALJs.  These are competitive selections, so if there are alot of GS 12 attorneys in your office, it may take longer for you to get promoted.  If you have any desire to go into management, you can consider a group supervisor position at GS 13 or a Hearing Office Director at GS 14.  The Regional offices have an attorney staff if you are willing to move.  Also, there are GS 14 options at the Appeals Council.  So there are some opportunities for advancement, if you become good at what you do and don't mind moving.

As far as advice goes, work hard.  Ask questions.  Find a mentor who knows what they are doing and pick their brains.  When you go to training, make friends - over the years, I have gained so much from my "training buddies."  Besides just having fun, I can't tell you how many times I have received case advise or compared policies with my friends in other offices.  After you have been around a few years, volunteer for details and special projects, particuarly those that get you in other offices.

(i modified this as I mistyped - the group sups are 13s, not 12s).

[commuter]

You're right... I meant Senior Attorney Advisor.

The National Hearing Center's do not have Senior Attorney Advisors.