US Customs and Border Protection FAQ

Benefits package, free school tuition for kids at Ramey School

Rotating shifts and days off... no Saturday and Sunday

None

Extremely great pay. It's tough the first two or three years, but automatic pay raises get you great money very quickly. CBP has great training. There are many opportunities to advance, or to put in for other positions and/or agencies. CBP is definitely a place to have a career. Great benefits, retirement, etc.

Not for the faint of heart. You wear a gun and train for deadly force for a reason. This can be a very hazardous job. Also, you have to "give up" your life. Overtime is mandatory, and most times you do not know you are doing mandatory overtime until 1 or 2 hours before your shift is over. Many, many days of 16 hours. By the time you get home and manage to fall asleep, the alarm goes off. This can happen once or twice a week, or even up to 4 times per week. No time for family. If you are single, it is great. If not, well it is NOT great.

Listen more to what the bargaining officers are saying. Allow them to have a life outside of the over-intense work schedule.

Good pay with the overtime; good job security not particularly dangerous for a law enforcement job. Very hard to get fired unless you do something really egregious or illegal; or fail a drug test. Journeyman GS-12.

Mandatory overtime with no regard for your personal life or family life. You get up to 5 weeks vacation but they steal it from you anyway by forcing you to call in sick to get a day off - so after you burn up your sick leave you use up annual leave then take leave without pay. Frequent payroll errors never in your favor: You have to check your hours worked against your earning and leave statements. They mess them up constantly, making you chase your money.

Fire all your managers: They are promoted by nepotism, croneyism. Supervisor's exam is a fraud' They never publish or give you your results and what the answers were. Total sham for promotions to supervisor. They are picked and anointed under the radar while the online application is taken down intermittently at odd hours to keep you from applying: It is by patronage only and totally corrupt.

Pay, Benefits, Medical, Dental, Vacation

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great benefits, great career, fulfilling work

long hours and lots of detail assignments away from home