Employer’s perceptions of government employees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

#1-I think you meant neurodivergent.

#2-Disparaging a group of people with a disability as rigid/lazy/pedantic is just as bad judging a person on their skin color.

#3-Neurodivergent people, when managed well, can really put their heads down and dive in and focus on the task at hand. How many aspies (it's no longer referred to that btw) are hanging around other people's cubes gossiping about nothing and wasting time. It's the neurotypical people that do that.

[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 work for a major tech company and do the same for Engineers and Developers.

[Anonymous]

Laaazy, entitled, stodgy, like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laaazy, entitled, stodgy, like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.

Just like Trump then.

[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.

I work for a fortune 100 company and this is just BS.

[Anonymous]

I've screened a lot of resumes in my field. There's so much information there, and that's just the beginning of the process. I can't imagine thinking "fed vs. not fed" was a meaningful distinction, as opposed to all the stuff you can infer about specific candidates.

[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.

lol how many “private salaries” workers in normal jobs are working more than 45 hrs or so and then “innovating”? Get over yourself.

[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.

Right … I make 1/4th of what my private sector counterparts make and I have to deal with Elon and Russel. I’m not working 80hrs a week and I’m not doing anything faster than the normal pace. What I do I do very, very well. I just do it more slowly. If someone wants to quadruple my pay then sure, I will pull all nighters.