Employer’s perceptions of government employees

[Anonymous]

So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

[Anonymous]

I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

What a weird assumption to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

Maybe you could say you regularly worked long hours? Or give examples of how you have gone above and beyond?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

MAGA gotta MAGA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

Maybe you could say you regularly worked long hours? Or give examples of how you have gone above and beyond?

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

You sound like a moron. You do realize Lockheed Martin, Deloitte, McKinsey, Amazon, etc. are all govt. contractors? So you wouldn’t hire someone from any of these companies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

"if needed" Ha Ha

[Anonymous]

I think you keep the info you want to sell front-and-center:
1. How many hours you worked per week.
2. What did your agency have that the private sector may value? Working with difficult clients? Due diligence about processes? Great documentation? Team-building? Accuracy in outcomes?

My husband worked for NIH and you can bet that private biotech was interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

Private salaries workers are exempt there is no concept of hours clocked, you work as long as there is work and then innovate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

I wouldn’t be this crass about it but I tend to agree given the standard fed, though I think this applies more to men for me.

Also don’t agree with the entitled piece. I think it’s more rigid / lazy / pedantic. I also think the fed gov has a way higher # of neurotypical workers - kind of a landing pad for aspies who graduated in the 70s-90s before we knew what that really was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, I’m a former contractor, not technically a fed. But I’ve spent five years working for two different contractors. One small, one big, and I was laid off a few months ago. I have been very politically neutral in my interviews but I’m finding sometimes hiring managers (not the HR rep in the screening) judge my ability to work in the private sector. I try to specify that at my last position I was expected to work over 40 hours a week if needed, but I think people think I’m lazy or not driven.

Have other Feds/contractors dealt with this? How have you preemptively shown you’re willing to go above and beyond? I don’t live in the DC area for reference.

Private salaries workers are exempt there is no concept of hours clocked, you work as long as there is work and then innovate.

Yeah. I wouldn’t say that you were counting your hours and would work over 40 hours a week if needed.

[Anonymous]

I left my IT job at Credit Suisse in 2024 in an early retirement buyout, and joined a big government contractor at a federal agency. Having been a government contractor for 18 months, I have to say that almost 99% of government contractors or Fed would not survive the work environment at Credit Suisse. Most of these feds and contractors are just clueless. You also get what you pay for. I made almost 400K/yr at CS, but only 160K/yr as a government contractor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I left my IT job at Credit Suisse in 2024 in an early retirement buyout, and joined a big government contractor at a federal agency. Having been a government contractor for 18 months, I have to say that almost 99% of government contractors or Fed would not survive the work environment at Credit Suisse. Most of these feds and contractors are just clueless. You also get what you pay for. I made almost 400K/yr at CS, but only 160K/yr as a government contractor.

Well there ya go. Seems weird to judge someone making 160k/year for not working as many hours as the person making 400k. That doesn’t mean the 160k person couldn’t work longer hours in the higher paying job. The person making 400k can afford more childcare (or a SAHP), outsource things, order takeout, etc. Life is easier with more money including allowing for more time to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make hiring decisions in the private sector. Yes..I make assumptions about govt workers (or got contractors for that fact) being lazy, unmotivated, rigid, entitled, etc. I understand not all are as such however given a choice to hire a govt vs private sector candidate, I will always lean towards the private sector.

So you don't hire veterans? Your loss.

Anyway, in many fields there's a revolving door and the feds all have private sector experience. The employer perception really depends on the job.