How screwed at getting another fed job am I if my last federal performance review was bad?
I left my federal job and my supervisor gave me a bad performance review. I keep hearing that a bad appraisal “on your record” can hurt your chances of getting another fed job, but I’m not sure how true that is.
Disputing the review seems like a massive pain, and I don’t want to go down that road unless it actually matters for hiring. I had one of the worst supervisors ever and I believe that I might be able to favorably dispute this, as they have made many lies about me on their performance review.
I’ve seen some USAJOBS questionnaires ask about if my most recent performance review was bad, but usually I can select an option stating that I don't have to answer that question since I'm not a current govt employee.
So… do agencies actually care about this / can they even see it during hiring? Or is it mostly irrelevant unless you’re using that supervisor as a reference?am
Posted Feb 16, 2026, 8:38 PM UTC