Reply to Federal job vs contractor job in mid-40s

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Thank you for all of these replies and great advice!

For various reasons I've decided not to go after the fed position, but appreciate all of the advice here.  [/quote]

Can you elaborate??[/quote]

One of the reasons is that, after more discussions, it's looking like the position would pay substantially less than what I'm paid now.  Given the benefits I have now, including a high level of flexibility and telework options (which I think are not a given in government), I'm not convinced that the pension is worth it.

Also, there are a number of private sector firms that I would love to work for, and I want to keep aiming for these.  Going after this fed position felt like making decisions based on fear rather than what I want to do.  [/quote]

Curious how much difference was the salary?  True flexibility can be less in Fed, but as a contractor your contract could change tomorrow and after your badge swap (assuming you are high value and will be retained) you can have a radical change in benefits.

What kind of places where you want to work? I’m in IT and I dreamed of working at Palo Alto Networks or Salesforce, but I eventually realized my contractor experience was in no way applicable to those places.  If you are in your 40s and you want to achieve a reach job at a more prestigious corp you need to step up NOW, because I think doing that in your 50s is unlikely unless you bring something amazing to the table.

So I would take this moment of decision to solidify your plan for that reach job, and be prepared for the next recompete.  Let us know your plan b/c I hope to do something similar but have not gotten beyond offers from my 2nd tier companies (and the pay was only like $30k over my current contractor salary).  [/quote]

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