Fed Job at 43?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, it seems like you are better off networking into a 75-90k Analyst job at a company.

I have someone like this--around 40 years old, has a spouse with a big job and a country house and an apartment in the city. That person is an Analyst making around 85-90k with no directs and a 35 hour remote job.

[Anonymous]

Look at the fed but also higher ed. Some universities after a # of years will cover a % of tuition for undergrad for your kids. Some will cover the entire cost if you child attends their institution. Doesn’t pay same as Big Job but might be a good idea if your kids have a minimum 4-5 years until college.

[Anonymous]

What about going to work at Trader Joes? I’m serious. I have a friend who closed up a business and went to work at TJ for a while to get a break from being responsible.

If you truly only want to earn 60k there are many more ideas you could consider.

Also what about consulting? I have a friend who has done freelance consulting work for years earning around 50-100k/yr dependenimt on how hard she wants to work. She writes reports related to her subject matter expertise for nonprofits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the fed but also higher ed. Some universities after a # of years will cover a % of tuition for undergrad for your kids. Some will cover the entire cost if you child attends their institution. Doesn’t pay same as Big Job but might be a good idea if your kids have a minimum 4-5 years until college.

or even city/state/county government too.

[Anonymous]

In my agency the sweet spot for this is a GS-9 to 12 individual contributor role (so you'd make in the 65-85k range). It's not mindless and you'd need domain expertise and still have meetings and deadlines. But you would be done at 40 hours, do a lot of admin stuff (because we don't have admission anymore), and only be responsible for yourself.

If you want to make 120k or more you'd be supervising a team, managing a budget, and have higher stress. I hear other agencies handout GS 13-15 nonsupervisory roles like candy, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my agency the sweet spot for this is a GS-9 to 12 individual contributor role (so you'd make in the 65-85k range). It's not mindless and you'd need domain expertise and still have meetings and deadlines. But you would be done at 40 hours, do a lot of admin stuff (because we don't have admission anymore), and only be responsible for yourself.

If you want to make 120k or more you'd be supervising a team, managing a budget, and have higher stress. I hear other agencies handout GS 13-15 nonsupervisory roles like candy, though.

Sorry, autocorrect, I mean we don't have admins anymore. Budget cuts.

Anyway OP, I think you should go for it.

[Anonymous]

OP. I appreciate the genuine responses. I’ll take a look at higher ed as well. I think the question of why Big Job to something slower pace is easily explained with having a young family. Kids are ES. IME no one thinks it’s strange for working moms to say “I need better work life balance in a stable field”.

Professional skill sets are concentrated in economic development. Think project design, implementation, evaluation and management of $500M+ portfolio. I genuinely like completing complex analysis and research, it sounds like an analyst or IC role could be a fit.

I was really good at what I was doing, so I kept getting promoted, kept getting new projects, and ended up C-Suite accidentally. i had a reputation for being able to mentor and develop staff, people who worked for me ended up leapfrogging into leadership roles and performing exceptionally well. I’m not some magical manager, I just hired well and invested a lot into staff PD.

Knowing what I know now, there are ways to work well without ending up in charge of everything. That doesn’t mean being lazy.

Trader Joe’s wouldn’t work because working with the public directly is one of the most stressful things you can do. Consultant is a similar no, I’m not interested in client management, it’s one of the big things I’m trying to get away from.

To the poster who said I’m at least 45 which means 50….my age is literally in the title of the post. Bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the fed but also higher ed. Some universities after a # of years will cover a % of tuition for undergrad for your kids. Some will cover the entire cost if you child attends their institution. Doesn’t pay same as Big Job but might be a good idea if your kids have a minimum 4-5 years until college.

or even city/state/county government too.

OPs goal here is to phone in a job for 7 years, then quit and benefit from Federal health insurance at 55. She has plenty of money from BigJobs, she wants subsidized insurance for minimal effort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP. I appreciate the genuine responses. I’ll take a look at higher ed as well. I think the question of why Big Job to something slower pace is easily explained with having a young family. Kids are ES. IME no one thinks it’s strange for working moms to say “I need better work life balance in a stable field”.

Professional skill sets are concentrated in economic development. Think project design, implementation, evaluation and management of $500M+ portfolio. I genuinely like completing complex analysis and research, it sounds like an analyst or IC role could be a fit.

I was really good at what I was doing, so I kept getting promoted, kept getting new projects, and ended up C-Suite accidentally. i had a reputation for being able to mentor and develop staff, people who worked for me ended up leapfrogging into leadership roles and performing exceptionally well. I’m not some magical manager, I just hired well and invested a lot into staff PD.

Knowing what I know now, there are ways to work well without ending up in charge of everything. That doesn’t mean being lazy.

Trader Joe’s wouldn’t work because working with the public directly is one of the most stressful things you can do. Consultant is a similar no, I’m not interested in client management, it’s one of the big things I’m trying to get away from.

To the poster who said I’m at least 45 which means 50….my age is literally in the title of the post. Bizarre.

My phone cuts off titles. Either way. Your are old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Until recently a dual income household, both with Big Jobs. It was terrible for whole family, gave me significant- hopefully temporary- health issues. DH now has the Big Job and I am figuring out what’s next. I’m considering federal jobs. I’d want something where I could be a worker bee and not be responsible for leading a team or supervising anyone. Work life balance, pension, and retirement healthcare. I’d be plenty happy with a job that I never though about outside of the office getting paid $60k with regular increases, all of my salary would go to retirement and 529 anyway. Does this seem reasonable for a fed role?

What employers provide "retirement healthcare" except federal government? Do state and local governments and universities provde that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the fed but also higher ed. Some universities after a # of years will cover a % of tuition for undergrad for your kids. Some will cover the entire cost if you child attends their institution. Doesn’t pay same as Big Job but might be a good idea if your kids have a minimum 4-5 years until college.

or even city/state/county government too.

OPs goal here is to phone in a job for 7 years, then quit and benefit from Federal health insurance at 55. She has plenty of money from BigJobs, she wants subsidized insurance for minimal effort.

Can you get federal insurance if you retire at 55?

Also, OP is 43 and would need to work for 12 years to get to 55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m 45 and largely have this kind of job…I make twice that. If you have a college degree you can too.

Perfect. I have a BA & BS and a grad degree.

The big thing for me not being in charge of anything. I need to move a piece of paper across a desk twice a week? 10 pieces of paper? I can listen to a podcast while I do it? Great.

I was pretty sympathetic to your post— we have IC jobs and hire 40 yos for them but what kind of job do you think you can do while listening to a podcast? You think we’re all a bunch of idiots processing TPS reports? Gfy

There are absolutely GS-7 jobs that are not intellectually taxing. And that's almost 60k.

You are not getting those if you are not a veteran.

This is the key. You are not going to get an entry-level job at the federal government unless you are a veteran or have some other preference (eg disability). Try looking at state/local government.

[Anonymous]

OP. I appreciate the genuine responses. I’ll take a look at higher ed as well. I think the question of why Big Job to something slower pace is easily explained with having a young family. Kids are ES. IME no one thinks it’s strange for working moms to say “I need better work life balance in a stable field”.

Those are good personal reasons, but of course, in the interview you want to focus on giving back to the community, using your skills for good, etc. But I think you know that.

Professional skill sets are concentrated in economic development. Think project design, implementation, evaluation and management of $500M+ portfolio. I genuinely like completing complex analysis and research, it sounds like an analyst or IC role could be a fit.

That's a good area. I think you could go for non-supervisory GS 12-14 roles. If I were you, I would make a USA Jobs account and set an email alert for phrases like "economic development" and "community development" and "analyst" (you can also filter for location, etc) just to get a sense of what's out there... see if you think you match the experience required and if you would like that kind of job. See what agencies hire in those positions and look at their websites.

Then, if you're still interested in pursuing it, start reading Kathryn Troutman's website/books and the fednews and USAjobs subreddit and work on tailoring your resume for these types of positions.

It's not that easy to get a fed job. Look at timelines on reddit. Some people have put in 100s of applications and get barely an interview.

I was really good at what I was doing, so I kept getting promoted, kept getting new projects, and ended up C-Suite accidentally. i had a reputation for being able to mentor and develop staff, people who worked for me ended up leapfrogging into leadership roles and performing exceptionally well. I’m not some magical manager, I just hired well and invested a lot into staff PD.

Knowing what I know now, there are ways to work well without ending up in charge of everything. That doesn’t mean being lazy.

I get what you're saying and agree. Even if the fed world, there's a personality type that takes on more and more responsibility, while still within their job description, and gets overwhelmed (there's been threads like that here). That's more your personality type and something to be mindful of.

What employers provide "retirement healthcare" except federal government? Do state and local governments and universities provde that?

Most government jobs provide that. Not sure about universities. I don't necessarily think state and local jobs are easier than feds. Many have a lot of nepotism and gaming of civil service lists.

Can you get federal insurance if you retire at 55?

Also, OP is 43 and would need to work for 12 years to get to 55.

For feds, you have to have 5 years + MRA which is 57 (and then your pension would be reduced because you're under 62). But OP is young enough to work 15-20 years so I don't see an issue.

[Anonymous]

OP, analyst roles could be good. Also consider a grant specialist or financial assistance position in the economic development arena. You could probably get in at GS-11 but move up a couple levels fairly quickly as you got fed-specific certifications. It would apply your expertise without requiring you to lead teams and strategy.

[Anonymous]

The health insurance isn't free when you retire BTW. It just means you can take whatever you had with you into retirement. You pay the same premium as if you were working. Same benefits copay/coinsurance, etc. You can pair it with Medicare, but not for free, you have to pay a reduced Medicare premium and the two will coordinate benefits.