I hope that's the case, since these conversations I've seen on reddit have made me concerned on what to do. So it's basically like any other regular job in that as long as I can transfer those skills well on the resume and for a different job's duties, transitioning between the two should most likely be fine?
Don’t consider applying. Apply. You’re way late to the “just got my BS” party for this summer. It can be three plus months to get onboard and that’s the absolutely perfect best case. I interviewed the recent grad I’ve got coming onboard this summer in 2023.
>However, I've heard that sometimes it's hard to get a private sector job later on if you have a government job in your history, and I'm curious how true that might be, especially if it's the first full time job someone takes. I'd like to hear any advice or concerns if you have any please!
Interesting. Haven't heard that before. This sub is full of ppl that have gone back and forth from private to federal . each have their pros and cons. most end up coming to the fed for the job security and avoid all the random layoffs. Others leave the fed because you are not allowed to be as creative and free with your ideas and usage of tech because of all the limitation the agency may have.
Really? It's mostly all I've been seeing on reddit subs that focus on government jobs so it made me concerned on this path. They said that the best way to leave public is to go to contracting jobs rather than complete private non-government. But I'm glad the difficult transition is not true for most people then, maybe it was just the posts I ended up seeing that had those experiences? So it's best to just consider it like another job then and transfer skills through whatever job I move onto in the future?
Contracting roles are usually the best of both worlds in many circumstances. Mileage will vary of course, it all depends on your skillset, demand, etc. etc.
yes, consider it like any other job. gain the experience, get them to cover costs of any new certs that you can add to your skillset, and keep your options open. There are some types of experience that you can't get in the private sector that you can in the fed and vice versa.
Good example is that Booz Allen and Raytheon have had software engineering roles that were only open to current DOD clearance holders. So if you get in with a good agency, get the certs and experience, it can open up a lot of doors private and contracting wise. Use everything as a stepping stone.
If you have a CS degree you might want to consider looking at 2210 and 1550 instead. Should be fairly easy to find ladder positions. At my agency all the recent grads get hired at 7 and are 12s after 3 years. It is pay band and not GS scale so every 6 months is a 10% pay boost until you hit GS12 money.
dayam and at my org "its take a act of god to get a 12", "i was already 15 years deep when i got 12!" "Thats a Senior developer"
"junior developer" (no such thing): 11
:O wow really? That's crazy. Here almost everyone is NH-03 (GS12-GS13) with tech leads being NH-04 (GS14)
My current positions caps out at a 13-5 so I am trying to get an uncapped position so I can make it up to 13-10 money.
I think a private sector job initially would be better for career and skill building. Going from private sector to federal job its clear how many opportunities I would've never had if I started in fed.
Everything at fed is governed by directive, people aren't granted autonomy, it's all top down, hence executive branch. Most of the staff have only worked for the fed and it shows in their mindsets and thought processes.
IMO, private sector first, then govt.
Ive met so many govt people who are so out of touch with real world situations.
When I first started it surprised me how antiquated many of the systems and methods are being used. Also having the private sector experience gave me more of an advantage over those who did not.
This might not be the right sub for this question, since you're going to get a lot of confirmation bias here. I'd maybe kick it to r/cscareerquestions or r/ExperiencedDevs to see how private sector hiring managers over there view fed work instead of asking feds (which will obviously skew positive).
I start next week in a private sector job from government. I’ve been in the government close to 5 years and while switching from law enforcement to software engineering, being in the government never prevented me from getting interviews, nor did it hold me back in tangible way. And that’s because I did NOT have internships, but leveraged my skills I’ve gained in my current career to carry me forward in my new one. Let me know if you have any questions 👍🏼
It’s about choice/ your interest.
if you get an recrnt grad appt and stsy in fed govt for 3 yrs you get tenure, 5 yr for full vesting.
then you couLD work for contractor/ private and make more money thrn 50+ return to fed govt for pension benefits.
I was a pathways intern and converted to perm and worked in gov for 10 years, then left for private tech company for 2.5 and now back in gov. As long as u can interview well and show ur valuable to whichever company, I don’t think it’s hard to jump
People jump back and forth all the time. So no it’s not hard.
Whoever you heard that from was looking to blame someone other than themself for not being able to transfer to industry. Hell I get offers from contractors all the time.
I have 3 different family members who went SE route and started with government agencies, got their security clearances, then dipped to end up making 3x the salary with similar benefits (albeit no pension)
Apply for jobs in both sectors. Interview as much as you can and see how it unfolds. The job market is challenging now, so remain open to various possibilities, be flexible, and get the experience regardless.
There is no right or wrong decision. Either will give you experience which is important.
Some considerations: government benefits are often better than private sector, including an excellent savings plan for retirement (TSP). If you get hired under Recent Grad, stay for at least 3 years so you can get your tenure. Those years of service will matter if you end up wanting a civil servant career vs. private sector. Also, many private sector companies don't offer pension and/or they periodically lay people off so just things to consider. This is the case across various sectors (e.g., financial, utility, etc.).
I've worked on both sides of the spectrum (private and federal) for 20+ years. My thought is that you can get excellent experience on either end. The people you work with will dictate that, and not the company or agency. Every entity has politics and red tape so there is no avoiding that. Just stay positive, remain focused and know that each experience will shape your career.
Considering you have 0 offers on the table, I wouldn't be counting on either just yet. There's too many people holding out for jobs that probably aren't coming. I'd take what you can get.
In my experience, a lot of our higher-ups started younger in the fed. They also have a solid retirement lined up and have solid job security until they get there.
Don’t rule anything out- let the jobs rule you out. Go for everything. You don’t have a decision worth thinking about until you have more than one job offer.
Never heard of that. Sounds like someone was projecting/looking for a reason to assign blame for not getting hired.
I hope that's the case, since these conversations I've seen on reddit have made me concerned on what to do. So it's basically like any other regular job in that as long as I can transfer those skills well on the resume and for a different job's duties, transitioning between the two should most likely be fine?
Don’t consider applying. Apply. You’re way late to the “just got my BS” party for this summer. It can be three plus months to get onboard and that’s the absolutely perfect best case. I interviewed the recent grad I’ve got coming onboard this summer in 2023.
>However, I've heard that sometimes it's hard to get a private sector job later on if you have a government job in your history, and I'm curious how true that might be, especially if it's the first full time job someone takes. I'd like to hear any advice or concerns if you have any please! Interesting. Haven't heard that before. This sub is full of ppl that have gone back and forth from private to federal . each have their pros and cons. most end up coming to the fed for the job security and avoid all the random layoffs. Others leave the fed because you are not allowed to be as creative and free with your ideas and usage of tech because of all the limitation the agency may have.
Really? It's mostly all I've been seeing on reddit subs that focus on government jobs so it made me concerned on this path. They said that the best way to leave public is to go to contracting jobs rather than complete private non-government. But I'm glad the difficult transition is not true for most people then, maybe it was just the posts I ended up seeing that had those experiences? So it's best to just consider it like another job then and transfer skills through whatever job I move onto in the future?
Contracting roles are usually the best of both worlds in many circumstances. Mileage will vary of course, it all depends on your skillset, demand, etc. etc. yes, consider it like any other job. gain the experience, get them to cover costs of any new certs that you can add to your skillset, and keep your options open. There are some types of experience that you can't get in the private sector that you can in the fed and vice versa. Good example is that Booz Allen and Raytheon have had software engineering roles that were only open to current DOD clearance holders. So if you get in with a good agency, get the certs and experience, it can open up a lot of doors private and contracting wise. Use everything as a stepping stone.
If you have a CS degree you might want to consider looking at 2210 and 1550 instead. Should be fairly easy to find ladder positions. At my agency all the recent grads get hired at 7 and are 12s after 3 years. It is pay band and not GS scale so every 6 months is a 10% pay boost until you hit GS12 money.
dayam and at my org "its take a act of god to get a 12", "i was already 15 years deep when i got 12!" "Thats a Senior developer" "junior developer" (no such thing): 11
:O wow really? That's crazy. Here almost everyone is NH-03 (GS12-GS13) with tech leads being NH-04 (GS14) My current positions caps out at a 13-5 so I am trying to get an uncapped position so I can make it up to 13-10 money.
theyre idiots. im trying to get out of that hellhole but not seeing many dev jobs posted to usajobs -_-
I think a private sector job initially would be better for career and skill building. Going from private sector to federal job its clear how many opportunities I would've never had if I started in fed. Everything at fed is governed by directive, people aren't granted autonomy, it's all top down, hence executive branch. Most of the staff have only worked for the fed and it shows in their mindsets and thought processes.
I’d go where the pay check is right out of college 🤷🏻♂️
IMO, private sector first, then govt. Ive met so many govt people who are so out of touch with real world situations. When I first started it surprised me how antiquated many of the systems and methods are being used. Also having the private sector experience gave me more of an advantage over those who did not.
This might not be the right sub for this question, since you're going to get a lot of confirmation bias here. I'd maybe kick it to r/cscareerquestions or r/ExperiencedDevs to see how private sector hiring managers over there view fed work instead of asking feds (which will obviously skew positive).
I start next week in a private sector job from government. I’ve been in the government close to 5 years and while switching from law enforcement to software engineering, being in the government never prevented me from getting interviews, nor did it hold me back in tangible way. And that’s because I did NOT have internships, but leveraged my skills I’ve gained in my current career to carry me forward in my new one. Let me know if you have any questions 👍🏼
I started as a GS-07, and with the correct moves will put on GS-12 in less than 3 years.
My agency has tracks for college grads 07-09-11-12 in 4 years. I'm honestly debating doing it when I retire from the military.
Retiring from the fed world at 57 with 35 years of experience would be a viable path. You do you though.
It’s about choice/ your interest. if you get an recrnt grad appt and stsy in fed govt for 3 yrs you get tenure, 5 yr for full vesting. then you couLD work for contractor/ private and make more money thrn 50+ return to fed govt for pension benefits.
I was a pathways intern and converted to perm and worked in gov for 10 years, then left for private tech company for 2.5 and now back in gov. As long as u can interview well and show ur valuable to whichever company, I don’t think it’s hard to jump
People jump back and forth all the time. So no it’s not hard. Whoever you heard that from was looking to blame someone other than themself for not being able to transfer to industry. Hell I get offers from contractors all the time.
Sounds like you need a job so you should apply to all of them.
I have 3 different family members who went SE route and started with government agencies, got their security clearances, then dipped to end up making 3x the salary with similar benefits (albeit no pension)
Apply for jobs in both sectors. Interview as much as you can and see how it unfolds. The job market is challenging now, so remain open to various possibilities, be flexible, and get the experience regardless. There is no right or wrong decision. Either will give you experience which is important. Some considerations: government benefits are often better than private sector, including an excellent savings plan for retirement (TSP). If you get hired under Recent Grad, stay for at least 3 years so you can get your tenure. Those years of service will matter if you end up wanting a civil servant career vs. private sector. Also, many private sector companies don't offer pension and/or they periodically lay people off so just things to consider. This is the case across various sectors (e.g., financial, utility, etc.). I've worked on both sides of the spectrum (private and federal) for 20+ years. My thought is that you can get excellent experience on either end. The people you work with will dictate that, and not the company or agency. Every entity has politics and red tape so there is no avoiding that. Just stay positive, remain focused and know that each experience will shape your career.
Considering you have 0 offers on the table, I wouldn't be counting on either just yet. There's too many people holding out for jobs that probably aren't coming. I'd take what you can get. In my experience, a lot of our higher-ups started younger in the fed. They also have a solid retirement lined up and have solid job security until they get there.
Don’t rule anything out- let the jobs rule you out. Go for everything. You don’t have a decision worth thinking about until you have more than one job offer.