Are Fed jobs really that great?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Wrong. All the financial regulators have non supervisory positions that pay at least as well as GS-15. Most of the banking agencies pay better than the SEC.

And the DOJ has tons of nonsupervisory GS15s.

DCUM is OBSESSED with financial regulators. Brass ring. Pretty hard to snag.

They employee 15 or 20k people in the area. It's not unreasonable to discuss them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been working as an IT contractor for the past 18 years now. Never had an issue finding/securing a job. I was just offered a position with a federal agency, but I would have to take a 22k+ pay cut. Is it worth it? I've been at my current company for over 10 years now and they offer a great benefits package and lots of flexibility so I'm hesitant to leave. Everyone says being a fed is the holy grail but is it really?

No way! Fed jobs are like realtors. Kind of like the last option for people. Stay with your current company!

LOL, no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know in DCUM land $100k isn't that great, but do you realize how much more $100k is than your median house hold income? Many federal jobs pay well over $100k, have stable benefits, a pension, and stability that will almost never go away if the economy has a downturn.

I mean yeah, we all wanna make $300k, but the number of people who make that much is extraordinarily low.

Whatever helps you justify it.

More money, more problems

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been working as an IT contractor for the past 18 years now. Never had an issue finding/securing a job. I was just offered a position with a federal agency, but I would have to take a 22k+ pay cut. Is it worth it? I've been at my current company for over 10 years now and they offer a great benefits package and lots of flexibility so I'm hesitant to leave. Everyone says being a fed is the holy grail but is it really?

No way! Fed jobs are like realtors. Kind of like the last option for people. Stay with your current company!

And yet, I bet my money that you won’t be able to find one. What does it say about you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to four major benefits:

- pension
- health care after retirement
- flexibility
- job security

Only you can evaluate relative benefits of each. For most people, these are tremendious plus but may not for you.

I became a civilian after working 2 years as a contractor for my agency. Now I have 8 years of government work under my belt. I saw civilian employees leaving government for better private sector jobs. Also, don't assume that Fed jobs are secure; we had one employee fired after being with government 10+ years ( who really didn't deserve to be fired). Pensions these days are not that great either, they take money from your paycheck to fund them; it might be worth it, if you stay with government for a long time. Flexibility- well, in my agency, it's very hard to move from one place to another. I all depends on your specialty.

[Anonymous]

The pension is expensive for anyone hired after 2012 and the job security isn't what it was for the boomers and GenX. My agency had to make a furlough list and I was at the bottom of it in my division with 12 years of service (list based on seniority and get preference). Any time a Republican wins the presidency you could find yourself with a cut budget, forced relocation, RIF, or even have your position reclassified as at-will. I don't typically advise GenZ job seekers to pursue fed gov employment unless they really love public service.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My agency had to make a furlough list and I was at the bottom of it in my division with 12 years of service (list based on seniority and get preference).

I so wanted to be furloughed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It comes down to four major benefits:

- pension
- health care after retirement
- flexibility
- job security

Only you can evaluate relative benefits of each. For most people, these are tremendious plus but may not for you.

I became a civilian after working 2 years as a contractor for my agency. Now I have 8 years of government work under my belt. I saw civilian employees leaving government for better private sector jobs. Also, don't assume that Fed jobs are secure; we had one employee fired after being with government 10+ years ( who really didn't deserve to be fired). Pensions these days are not that great either, they take money from your paycheck to fund them; it might be worth it, if you stay with government for a long time. Flexibility- well, in my agency, it's very hard to move from one place to another. I all depends on your specialty.

Haha such mixed messages. You don’t think it’s worth it yet have been there EIGHT years. Not secure, we had ONE guy fired in 10 years! Why haven’t you taken off for those better jobs (and how do you define better)

For me, it’s been a stable job while my life became less stable as a sandwich generation — dying parents and small kids and spouse with demanding job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The pension is expensive for anyone hired after 2012 and the job security isn't what it was for the boomers and GenX. My agency had to make a furlough list and I was at the bottom of it in my division with 12 years of service (list based on seniority and get preference). Any time a Republican wins the presidency you could find yourself with a cut budget, forced relocation, RIF, or even have your position reclassified as at-will. I don't typically advise GenZ job seekers to pursue fed gov employment unless they really love public service.

Oh, well, depending on your Agency that can happen with a Democrat in office too (different agencies are favored under different administrations) so you can’t even count on that over a long career.

I do think you’re correct about the pension because I pay like .8% and people hired after 2012 pay 4.4% and that is a consideration people should take into account.

[Anonymous]

Federal Career is a long game. If you don’t plan to stay, you won’t get the benefits people come to get, but after over 20 years, I have a commitment to Federal Service and I like that I have never once made a decision at work based on making money for the company. Not that I think there is any shame in that work. People have to do that or our whole economy would collapse. This is just preferable to me for my particular personality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know in DCUM land $100k isn't that great, but do you realize how much more $100k is than your median house hold income? Many federal jobs pay well over $100k, have stable benefits, a pension, and stability that will almost never go away if the economy has a downturn.

I mean yeah, we all wanna make $300k, but the number of people who make that much is extraordinarily low.

Whatever helps you justify it.

More money, more problems

Not in my experience!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Federal Career is a long game. If you don’t plan to stay, you won’t get the benefits people come to get, but after over 20 years, I have a commitment to Federal Service and I like that I have never once made a decision at work based on making money for the company. Not that I think there is any shame in that work. People have to do that or our whole economy would collapse. This is just preferable to me for my particular personality.

Why do you think mission doesn’t exist in the private sector? That’s such a myopic viewpoint.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know in DCUM land $100k isn't that great, but do you realize how much more $100k is than your median house hold income? Many federal jobs pay well over $100k, have stable benefits, a pension, and stability that will almost never go away if the economy has a downturn.

I mean yeah, we all wanna make $300k, but the number of people who make that much is extraordinarily low.

Whatever helps you justify it.

More money, more problems

Not in my experience!

good 4 u

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know in DCUM land $100k isn't that great, but do you realize how much more $100k is than your median house hold income? Many federal jobs pay well over $100k, have stable benefits, a pension, and stability that will almost never go away if the economy has a downturn.

I mean yeah, we all wanna make $300k, but the number of people who make that much is extraordinarily low.

Whatever helps you justify it.

More money, more problems

Not in my experience!

good 4 u

It is! Life is grand.

[Anonymous]

I know I cannot invest 4.4% of my income and get the guaranteed returns that my pension will give me. I am all for diversification, and me adding a pension to my spouse and my retirement plans make sense.