administrative coordinator

equipment operator

social worker

accountant

engineering technician

State of Louisiana

Working for the state usually has more pros than cons. However, under the current FPHSA (Florida parishes human services authority), this is not the case.
There is no direction, with constant changes on policy and procedures within the agency itself. It is difficult to obtain a "work/life" balance as getting time off can be a nightmare. Minimal support from most supervisors. There is no appreciation from management for the work you do-- no raises in years, despite the governor lifting this freeze last year. For some reason, they'd rather hire new professionals at 10-15,000/yr more than the employees who have actually stuck it out with them, and frankly this is a slap in the face to those of us who have worked there for years.
There is virtually no promoting from within anymore, since the current management has been in place. Like I said, instead of rewarding those who have stayed or would like to stay, they just hire from the outside--again, another example of no appreciation. And then, please be warned, that if you are hired from the outside, you will be on a 2 year probation ( even if you have been a permanent state employee for 20 years). Since they have started this 2 year probation, I have seen multiple people let go after that 2 year probation was over because "it wasn't a good fit" and while that may be true, it should not take management the full 2 years probation period to figure that out, then decide "we don't want you." This is usually something you should be able to figure out within the first 6 months.
The paperwork is absolutely ridiculous and cumbersome. Management continues to pile more work onto an already stressed system. Employees are generally unhappy and it shows.
In sum, the current management team does not make good decisions for their employees, retention of those employees and their decisions on the future of the agency are questionable. There are people in management who have not practiced in 20-30 years (and have obviously forgot the difference in practice and policy) and there are people in management, (making clinical decisions) with no clinical degree at all, and all this is very apparent.

I am the only tax audior in my region which covers the typical surrounding five parishes and parts of three additional parishes.  My job responsibilities are vast in number and subject matter.  I audit employers' payroll records for compiance with unemployment insurance tax regulations and the misclassification of workers.  I audit employers' with and without current state unemployment tax accounts.  I advise the public on unemployment insurance tax requirements and responsibilities.  I work directly with most local accounting and CPA firms.  I answer questions and assist with problems on unemployment tax accounts.  I also address delinquent accounts and collection issues with employers setting up payment plans when requested.  In addition to auditing, I provide complete customer service to employer's and accountants.

A typical day can include everything mentioned above.  I have learned alot about auditing in general.  I have learned Louisiana unemployment insurance tax regulations.  My direct manager is housed in Baton Rouge.  I work completely independently.  By being the only tax auditor in the region, contact with my co-workers is usually only by phone unless a regional meeting is scheduled.  The hardest part of my job is juggling the numerous requirements.  We have quotas in every aspect of my job.  Audits are continuouly becoming more complex and time consuming which makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to meet quotas in other categories.  The most enjoyable part of the job is the independency.

Lack of pay for the skill level required. 
No management responsiveness.  At hiring they would not accept my prior experience, but accepted another co-worker who had experience at the SAME company. 

All things go to die with senior management. You have to fight for all your raises on your own. You will never receive your certifications that you are promised. 

Great team level coworkers for the most part, a few in the agency who aren't helpful or pleasent. 

Management was restructured due to huge exodus of retirees, and since then, the entire agency has been completely unmanageable, unscheduled, and it's impossible to get a true answer on anything including upcoming assignments, expectations or feedback. You can't even find a finally copy of a report you need to review to know what was actually issued to the entity you were working on most of the time. 

Some individuals do no work while others get to complete large loads of assignments or tasks that make less than half the pay. 

Even important requests never get reviewed/approved or denied. They just never answer you.  

New commissioner never even introduced himself to the agency workforce, and the second in chain of command doesn't even understand how retention cost versus new hiring costs work. 

I loved the work that I did, but current management is completely and utterly impossible to work with, have a discussion with or even give feedback about a task without it becoming a personal attack. 

You will make half what your federal level counterparts make to perform the same work.  I recommend seeking a position in a federal level of you want to be in examination of financial institutions. 

PTO was very good, but very structured use and fifteen minute increment input required. 

People are fed to believe that the State of Louisiana is broke because  of wasteful spending on programs. This state is broke because the top 20% are paid very high salaries, over 100k/year to keep up confusion, dictate, slave-drive, and most of all keep you from EVER advancing. You would think other employees bind together being the driving force that puts an end to this foolishness and unfairness. However, you couldn't imagine how others also in the bottom pit will slain you just for scraps from the Master's table. 

My chain of command was so long and highly unnecessary with managers making large sums of money leaving me to soar at only 30k/year with no pay increases within my future. I had a very high-demanding job requiring a lot of overtime. However, it was not the workload, but the people who made coming to work so darn intolerable. Some days I would leave the building to vomit after being called to meetings for using too many post-its, not smiling upon arrival, wearing red two days in a row, typing the keys too hard, etc.  After 3 years of this foolery, I came to my senses and fled this place, but am forever scarred. 

Seriously, I believe the private sector has more stability. So, that's where I ended up and am so relieved. 

You work your butt off and no appreciation.  Work started and you are expected to do all paper work and take care of Officers and Offenders along with writing up Officers for various reasons and writing up Offenders breaking rules.  Taking care of Offenders problems and making sure you accounted for all offenders 1 hour after roll call for work call was complete.  making rounds to each dorm and relieving Officers for rest room breaks, giving training to officiators that are new and giving updated information to all officer's. 
 The most enjoyable part of working at the Prison is the different things that the offenders would do and say.  Something different would happen each day.  Most of the time they would so or say something so silly that you just had to laugh.  I was known as Mamma Hingle, cause I had the passion to make calls and check on medical problems,medicine that didn't get sent to the unit, hours they worked were incorrect.  I gave the Offenders respect and I received respect back.  
 .

A typical day would be logging in and planning the day by looking at the IT ticket system, such as Remedy, Ivanti, and HEAT ticket styems.  I learned how to best support multiple agencies with different IT environments and became adaptive at providing solutions across multiple agencies and IT platforms within those agencies.  Management was not IT related and counts on us for solutions and feedback.  Workplace culture is highly segregated, and we that do the work have become very proficient at solving any issues without management.  When the reorganization of our department started my group did not have a manager that we could reliably contact for over two years, so we learned to become self sufficient in supporting new agencies with different platforms and software that we weren't trained in.  The hardest part of the job was getting reliable support from management, which were more business minded than computer minded.  The most enjoyable part was customer satisfaction from hard work and adaptability.

Arrive at work station, which may be in another city or state depending on where audit documents were kept.  Read e-mail. Began reviewing the documents requested of the auditee, making notes and copies of relevant documents for file.  At the completion of the review of all documents write up a formulated report of audit findings.  Issue request for more detailed documents or clarity of information provided.  Requested Supervisor support if issues could not be resolved or request legitimacy questioned with audit contact. Weekly report to supervisor and the company audited about progression of audit. Record information or copy document for compilation of file. The hardest part of the job was the stigma of word  "auditor".  This automatically put company on the defensive. The most enjoyable part of the job was traveling and the interaction with different people.

After working for a local municipality and a state agency I can honestly say the vast majority of government workers are lazy and not interested in serving the people they work for.

If you enjoy your career, setting goals and achieving them then public service is not for you. If you have morals and integrity or feel the need to do a professional job this is not the place for you. When a problem arises in the private sector you solve it. When a problem arises in the state system you report it then hope to hear you can order the parts in the next 6 to 12 months. 

Our Fleet of vehicles routinely had there oil changed once a year regardless if they were driven 1 or 100,000 miles in that year. 
1 year after leaving the state system a coworker called to tell me the parts i ordered 6 months before leaving had just came in.

If you are a highly successful person you will wither on the vine working for a State of Louisiana department. Please stay in the private sector or open your own business and succeeded.

The work hours are ideal, Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm in most cases. The work is repetitive once you learn your duties in most cases, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your preferences. The pay is not extremely high if you aren't in a leadership position, but you receive other benefits like PTO, Sick leave, Pension/Retirement. No social security benefits are deducted, so keep that in mind. The workplace culture varies depending on your office location, but just like any other place. It can be good/bad, messy, micromanaging, or great depending on your supervisor, coworkers and leadership support. There are online and face-to-face training opportunities. Advancement opportunities are typically limited to regional offices or the headquarters, so be prepared to relocate and/or travel a lot if you plan to see those leadership positions.

The best part of my job... the consumers! I loved getting to know the residents at the hospital. I will never forget them and they changed my life for the better. I really got close to a few coworkers and made lifelong friends. The pay was good as were the benefits. I really don't have a lot to say negative, as I had a good position and worked a 40 hour shift. You get paid time off (annual and sick leave). People who work longer hours making less than you can be catty sometimes, but if you can befriend them, that stuff goes away. At the end of the day, you're there for the residents, not for other staff. It was tough at times working in such an old hospital too. We were always trying to make changes but upper management (Medical Director) didn't want to hear ideas. In the time I worked there, she never even met me once or talked to me! Awful

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Administrative coordinator 469 salaries reported	$3,340 per month
Equipment operator 194 salaries reported	$4,142 per month
Social worker 188 salaries reported	$5,399 per month
Accountant 114 salaries reported	$6,278 per month
Engineering technician 54 salaries reported	$17.13 per hour

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