Are Fed jobs really that great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It must be OP because we get a ton of apps for every job posting. no shortage of people wanting to come in

That’s because they don’t know any better.

Please educate us. Where do you work where the pay is better with a steady 40 hrs and you can know you hard work will lead to a job you can keep into your 60s?

Alternatively I’ll take higher pay and steady hours for fewer years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a paralegal that went from a big law firm to the feds and it is a night and day difference and the grass is far greener on the fed side to me. My day ends at 4:30; no if and or buts about it. No more having to deal with those "Oh shit, I need it now" calls after hours or on vacations. My office actively encourages taking time off.

But for reason, that’s not a good thing to some. Go figure.

I’m sorry. No idea what your are saying. So people enjoy made up fire drills and working late for the same pay?

Some people have unhappy home lives and prefer an excuse not to be home and work makes for a very good excuse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve already got great benefits, maybe not. The main draw of federal jobs is the benefits, especially for retirement. I also had a great work experience with reasonable hours (which was huge coming from BigLaw), but that depends heavily on which office you’re in, as well as the agency.

There are a lot of companies with benefits that rival or exceed what the government gives you and they also pay significantly more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve already got great benefits, maybe not. The main draw of federal jobs is the benefits, especially for retirement. I also had a great work experience with reasonable hours (which was huge coming from BigLaw), but that depends heavily on which office you’re in, as well as the agency.

There are a lot of companies with benefits that rival or exceed what the government gives you and they also pay significantly more.

Very few give as much leave and none have a pension or FEHB.

But the best benefit is the stability of many roles in government and the generally 40 hr work week. Hard to quantify that in private company and variable based upon manager usually.

[Anonymous]

I quit my Fed job earlier this week and I have never been so certain about leaving a job. I am getting $80K base pay increase, large bonus, better benefits, 9% into 401K and actually working with competent people. I am so looking forward to my new role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my Fed job earlier this week and I have never been so certain about leaving a job. I am getting $80K base pay increase, large bonus, better benefits, 9% into 401K and actually working with competent people. I am so looking forward to my new role.

That tracks the consensus is that it’s worth it if you can bump $100k. Money helps a lot of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I quit my Fed job earlier this week and I have never been so certain about leaving a job. I am getting $80K base pay increase, large bonus, better benefits, 9% into 401K and actually working with competent people. I am so looking forward to my new role.

Oh, so you haven’t even started the new job yet.

[Anonymous]

I really like mine, but I'm non supervisory 15 equivalent for a financial agency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like mine, but I'm non supervisory 15 equivalent for a financial agency.

So you make in-house pay. Not typical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve already got great benefits, maybe not. The main draw of federal jobs is the benefits, especially for retirement. I also had a great work experience with reasonable hours (which was huge coming from BigLaw), but that depends heavily on which office you’re in, as well as the agency.

There are a lot of companies with benefits that rival or exceed what the government gives you and they also pay significantly more.

Very few give as much leave and none have a pension or FEHB.

But the best benefit is the stability of many roles in government and the generally 40 hr work week. Hard to quantify that in private company and variable based upon manager usually.

Keep telling yourself that. I know more and more people who have been fired from the fed govt for political and arbitrary reasons. It’s not what you think it is.

[Anonymous]

For those with professional degrees, there are pros and cons. In the past few years, government has come closer to private sector benefits by offering parental leave and telework. When I started, there was zero parental leave and zero telework permitted. I also took a 50% pay cut. While there's been vast improvement, government still falls behind in compensation significantly, even when considering pension and stability of the position and more consistent hours. This could be solved by raising the salary cap in the DC area to reflect the skyrocketing cost of living. It's a very real problem and will continue to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those with professional degrees, there are pros and cons. In the past few years, government has come closer to private sector benefits by offering parental leave and telework. When I started, there was zero parental leave and zero telework permitted. I also took a 50% pay cut. While there's been vast improvement, government still falls behind in compensation significantly, even when considering pension and stability of the position and more consistent hours. This could be solved by raising the salary cap in the DC area to reflect the skyrocketing cost of living. It's a very real problem and will continue to be.

One major problem is the fact that the DC area is combined with West Virginia and Pennsylvania for COLA purposes on the GS scale. I’ve never understood that. So the result is that a GS-14 salary in WV allows you to live like a king, while it’s really nothing to write home about if you’re living in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like mine, but I'm non supervisory 15 equivalent for a financial agency.

As far as I know, only the SEC hands those out with any regularity, and even then it's not a given. Congratulations on your golden egg. Your luck has served you well.

[Anonymous]

No!! My government job was extremely stressful and long hours. Much easier to be a government contractor or work in tech and pay is double. But I’m in cybersecurity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you’ve already got great benefits, maybe not. The main draw of federal jobs is the benefits, especially for retirement. I also had a great work experience with reasonable hours (which was huge coming from BigLaw), but that depends heavily on which office you’re in, as well as the agency.

There are a lot of companies with benefits that rival or exceed what the government gives you and they also pay significantly more.

Very few give as much leave and none have a pension or FEHB.

But the best benefit is the stability of many roles in government and the generally 40 hr work week. Hard to quantify that in private company and variable based upon manager usually.

Keep telling yourself that. I know more and more people who have been fired from the fed govt for political and arbitrary reasons. It’s not what you think it is.

Political? How would that even work?