Should I leave private sector for govt?

[Anonymous]

please tell me what you're experience has been. Do you regret it?

[Anonymous]

If you can get a job, yeah, sure. Not easy to get a Govt job thou.

[Anonymous]

What field are you in and how much do you earn, is your work interesting, and how are your hours?

I work in an interesting and relevant field (in the newspaper headlines). I make $145k, and I telework 2-3x per week. I have great sick and vacation, and reasonable hours. I have 5 percent match (almost) on a TSP, public transit benefits, student loan repayment, and a pension. I'd never have as good a set up in the private sector-in my field. My friend is in-house at a Fortune 40 company. She also has great hours, benefits, and telework, and she makes $100k more than me. So it just depends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in and how much do you earn, is your work interesting, and how are your hours?

I work in an interesting and relevant field (in the newspaper headlines). I make $145k, and I telework 2-3x per week. I have great sick and vacation, and reasonable hours. I have 5 percent match (almost) on a TSP, public transit benefits, student loan repayment, and a pension. I'd never have as good a set up in the private sector-in my field. My friend is in-house at a Fortune 40 company. She also has great hours, benefits, and telework, and she makes $100k more than me. So it just depends.

What field do your friend and you work in? Is it network security? Are you GS15? I thought it was difficult to get a gov salary over $140k unless you were managing staff/contractors.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends. I came into the govt as a high up 15 and it is so much different than private sector in all the bad ways. Outdated technology, layers upon layers of approvals, hard to get anything done and often i feel like there is some absurd rule for everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends. I came into the govt as a high up 15 and it is so much different than private sector in all the bad ways. Outdated technology, layers upon layers of approvals, hard to get anything done and often i feel like there is some absurd rule for everything.

This. It might be a good move financially (because of the stability and pension). But you might also lose your mind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends. I came into the govt as a high up 15 and it is so much different than private sector in all the bad ways. Outdated technology, layers upon layers of approvals, hard to get anything done and often i feel like there is some absurd rule for everything.

This. It might be a good move financially (because of the stability and pension). But you might also lose your mind.

Financially? I thought govt pay was lower for professionals. What field is OP in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends. I came into the govt as a high up 15 and it is so much different than private sector in all the bad ways. Outdated technology, layers upon layers of approvals, hard to get anything done and often i feel like there is some absurd rule for everything.

This. It might be a good move financially (because of the stability and pension). But you might also lose your mind.

Financially? I thought govt pay was lower for professionals. What field is OP in?

In some fields it can be equal financially but for most- it caps out much lower than private sector.

[Anonymous]

It depends on your profession and skillset. I was working in international development and for that, working for a USG agency is usually better than being on the contractor side in terms of influence, hours, and pay.

But I have a transferable skill set and good degrees, so when I decided to leave the field, I went private and got a 50% pay increase, kept the good hours, and got a major improvement in my day-to-day morale as the work culture is just so much healthier in a thriving corporate environment than in government.

[Anonymous]

Government is good, I guess. I've been in my position for 4 years and feel kind of down about it though. You feel "locked in" and most people are inundated with work because they can't hire many new people and a lot of seat warmers haven't retired yet.

If you get your projects/work done, you just get more and more and more. The GS-15s are still fighting for SES and want their pet projects carried out successfully. Guess who has to do all the work?

[Anonymous]

I'm a fed contractor and have been for almost 10 years. I suppose that is the worst of both worlds! I'd like to go to the "true" private sector at some point but I am well-paid for what I do and don't have to work any overtime. However, my agency is full of drama (especially in this political climate) and most of what I do is mind-numbing.

Keep in mind that your government experience will vary wildly. Some love it, some hate it just like anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends. I came into the govt as a high up 15 and it is so much different than private sector in all the bad ways. Outdated technology, layers upon layers of approvals, hard to get anything done and often i feel like there is some absurd rule for everything.

This. It might be a good move financially (because of the stability and pension). But you might also lose your mind.

Financially? I thought govt pay was lower for professionals. What field is OP in?

In some fields it can be equal financially but for most- it caps out much lower than private sector.

NP. I am in aerospace engineering and find for staff engineers salaries are similar. Maybe for director level or business development it goes up, but unless you are at startup with hot RSUs govt and private are similar.

[Anonymous]

Left private for govt this time last year, NO regrets. Finance/Accounting is my profession, joined as a GS13 so the pay was comparable.

I was a Sr. Consultant at the Big 4, all I did was powerpoint presentations and spent evenings and weekends working on proposals and firm stuff As a fed I do more of the analysis and reporting that I love. Hours are long quarter and fiscal year-end but I'm used to that, it's having my life back as a whole that was most important to me instead of living/breating "my job" 24/7/365.

[Anonymous]

I am in the same situation. I have a great private sector job in the IT cyber security field with wonderful benefits (unlimited vacation, paid life insurance, etc) but I am going to take a leap of faith with a Fed job (even with a 14% pay cut). Hoping to go back into managing people in the Fed a year from now. Being only 4 Metro stops away (compared to a 28 mile "reverse" commute) is very appealing as is being home by 5PM and not stressing about what could go wrong at work and constantly looking at my phone.

Wish me luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your profession and skillset. I was working in international development and for that, working for a USG agency is usually better than being on the contractor side in terms of influence, hours, and pay.

But I have a transferable skill set and good degrees, so when I decided to leave the field, I went private and got a 50% pay increase, kept the good hours, and got a major improvement in my day-to-day morale as the work culture is just so much healthier in a thriving corporate environment than in government.

What exactly do you do? How did you get started in this field, and what is your educational background? This is a career I am interested in.