In my experience, civil sector jobs suffer greatly from the Peter Principle. Aside from bennies and pension, perks are shit (coffee? water? buy your own). And departments are heavily balkanized and have SERIOUSLY obsessive control freak issues. Thatās before you get into the arcane paperwork. Oh, and in many cases, the general public is so anal about spending money that you should consider yourself lucky if you have a work party of any kind.
Just like any other job, entirely dependent on your particular unit/department and manager. In the US Fed govāt thereās a huge difference between working for CBP, civil Marines, and NASA, just to name 3 random agencies.
The difference with the feds is that you get a basically predictable paycheck (as long as Congress does its damn job), health benefits that make life habitable, the best possible version of a 401k around (TSP), and youāre extraordinarily unlikely to get downsized.
Last I checked, the plurality of civilian federal employees make GS-13, which in 2023 was between $98k and $153k depending on where you were located, and how long youāve been at that pay-grade. Itās not an overwhelming plurality, butnitās not unusual to promote into a GS-13, and then hang out there for most of your career.
Retirement is a three-legged stool: your TSP (aka 401k), Social Security, and a small pension. People hired before 1985 were the ones who got the sweet fat pensions, but it doesnāt work that way anymore.
Aside from bennies and pension, perks are shit (coffee? water? buy your own)
You are correct. It is definitely not a flashy career option. However, if someone is unable to get ahead financially, but then turns down that government IT job because āI have to buy my own coffeeā, then they are their own worst enemy. Theyāre the reason theyāre drowning.
Yup. I am an engineer and have worked government and private sector. Private sector pays way more and is more exciting because of the hugely reduced bureaucracy. If you have a fun career you love government can really kill the passion.
But if your goal is stable employment with good work/life balance and guaranteed raises? Government is fantastic.
I havenāt found a WFH government position, so even the work-life balance is terrible.
@RandomPancake Okay, but the flip side is how long said person can survive in that environment. I lasted two months. š
And it wasnāt things like no coffee or the āwater clubs,ā it was things like an inept manager, the nonsensical tasks, the sheer inability to get any resources, the butting heads with hoardy other teams, and the best part, the managerās brain-numbingly boring meetings where she simply read from her own badly made powerpoints that put me to sleep.
So it aināt for everyone :)
an inept manager, the nonsensical tasks, the sheer inability to get any resources, the butting heads with hoardy other teams, and the best part, the managerās brain-numbingly boring meetings where she simply read from her own badly made powerpoints that put me to sleep.
That sounds like it could be just about any job, but itās the opposite of what Iāve experienced in civil service. Iām glad you found someplace you like better!
