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Here is where I am coming from: if a person has the skills and ability to be a success in private industry their earnings will more than offset any fringe benefits offered by the Feds. Oh, that medical 'til you die: Medicare is primary. Take a close look at the OPM retiree cost of health insurance, that is what you are paying for essentially medi-gap insurance.
There is BS everywhere but Fed agency BS is harder to escape within the Fed sphere because it operates in silos. In private industry if you tire of your employer's BS you just find another opportunity.
Lol good one... "find another opportunity". Must be nice for you baby boomers and gen-Xers who can actually get new jobs
That matters far more than "new and exciting opportunities," particularly in a nation with a dying economy, such as this one.
If you get a better offer, consider it, but don't quit and start looking around, IMHO. The private sector is full of nothing but abuse, cost-cutting, out-sourcing, and staggering idiocy. I'm sure some of that shows up in the public sector as well, but I suspect you have better job security than most private sector workers, as well as a better retirement package and benefits. In a nation rapidly heading towards zero job security and no-benefits / part-time / contract work for everyone (if they are lucky), you shouldn't be quick to give up what you have.
Long story short - consider yourself lucky to even have a real job. Many of us once had such things and are no longer so fortunate. Now, we scrape by, grossly underemployed or completely out of work, with almost zero chance of finding meaningful employment, much less new and exciting work. I'd count your blessings and focus on find ways to move up the ladder in your current job if I were in your position.
I did this when I was younger. Like you, I thought I was the bomb. Consulting firms fell all over themselves to get me. I was hired at greater pay from my fed position. I was happy for a few months until I understood that twentysomething consultants are cannon fodder. They work insane hours and the PM (who is usually a senior former fed or a current fed delaying retirement) get all the credit. Cool assignments? Make up your own rules? Uh, not so much. You march to the beat of whoever writes the checks. I did get to travel a bit, some interesting places, some not so interesting, but I was normally so bogged down with work I barely got to see where I was traveling too. Competition was fierce, and you were only as good as what you had done lately. It reminded me a lot of when I worked in a really high pressure sales environment over summers during high school. It was not for me.
Quite simply, your friends are trying to convince you to make the same choices they did. By all means try it, but don't be surprised if the grass isn't greener. And good luck getting back into the fed. If you leave, I would say plan on being away for at least 3-5 years. The climate right now is absolutely chilling in terms of budgets: I work for a very well known entity in the DC area that generally has carte blanche to do whatever it wants. There is no end in sight for the next several fiscal cycles.
If it were me, I would try to find a more rewarding job at another federal org. They do exist. If you want to do consulting, at least do it with a few more years under your belt so you get more respect and have more autonomy. And as a word of advice, no one cares about where your degree came from unless they are in your alumni chapter. I went to Georgetown but no one gives a flying fig. Check your collegiate pride and remember that no matter what you have accomplished, DC is the seat of power: there will ALWAYS be people with more impressive credentials than yours.
If you really want to try your hand in the private sector, I suggest you get your GS14 first. Switch agencies if necessary. There is no point to switching to the private sector for a GS14-level salary when you can get that salary in the fed (in DC) with the right skills and a consistent record of 4.5-5.0 performance reviews. At that point, if you still want to try the private sector, see if that consulting firm will give you a mid-to-upper level GS15 salary. If you decide to come back to the fed in a few years, you may be able to come back as a GS14 Step 10. It will be much easier to make the case for a GS14 Step 10 if you were previously a 14.
You might also consider applying to the SEC, FDIC, or another agency which pays an additional 20-30 percent (+additional benefits) on top of the standard GS salary. A 14 at one of these agencies tops out at $185K. Federal benefits are worth up to another $20-30K.
I did this when I was younger. Like you, I thought I was the bomb. Consulting firms fell all over themselves to get me. I was hired at greater pay from my fed position. I was happy for a few months until I understood that twentysomething consultants are cannon fodder. They work insane hours and the PM (who is usually a senior former fed or a current fed delaying retirement) get all the credit. Cool assignments? Make up your own rules? Uh, not so much. You march to the beat of whoever writes the checks. I did get to travel a bit, some interesting places, some not so interesting, but I was normally so bogged down with work I barely got to see where I was traveling too. Competition was fierce, and you were only as good as what you had done lately. It reminded me a lot of when I worked in a really high pressure sales environment over summers during high school. It was not for me.
Quite simply, your friends are trying to convince you to make the same choices they did. By all means try it, but don't be surprised if the grass isn't greener. And good luck getting back into the fed. If you leave, I would say plan on being away for at least 3-5 years. The climate right now is absolutely chilling in terms of budgets: I work for a very well known entity in the DC area that generally has carte blanche to do whatever it wants. There is no end in sight for the next several fiscal cycles.
If it were me, I would try to find a more rewarding job at another federal org. They do exist. If you want to do consulting, at least do it with a few more years under your belt so you get more respect and have more autonomy. And as a word of advice, no one cares about where your degree came from unless they are in your alumni chapter. I went to Georgetown but no one gives a flying fig. Check your collegiate pride and remember that no matter what you have accomplished, DC is the seat of power: there will ALWAYS be people with more impressive credentials than yours.
That was very well said!
I think that when people such as the OP are young like this, they feel like they have a cape on and are a superhero, or something - ah, youth! lol.
OP, if you are reading this, you will end up doing what you want to do, of course- but people are trying to tell you something; the economy is not stable, and your current job is about as stable as a job can get, these days. If new adventures in the work world are what you are looking for? You probably should have gone into a different major, because accounting isn't it!
So in reality, federal employment does offer a far better benefits package than the private sector, when one takes the retirement, health care, work life balance, and overall job security into consideration.
I have direct and current experience on both sides of the fence. I worked for a Fortune 100 company - health care benefits were/are equivalent to federal employment benefits, except for the retiree benefit. Job security? yes, can't be beat - better on the public side. Work life balance? questionable....I find more stress, pressure and work on the federal side than I did on the private side....
Ok with respect to pension - that's where I have a question. Even though I'm in a fairly high pay grade and this boosts the formula for me, I am now so late in my working career, that I really only have a few years left until I will retire - so my length of service will not be that long by the time I leave - won't that severely limit the amount of my pension?...time in service is so critical to the formula.
Comments are appreciated.
I wonder what decision the original poster made on this question.
Ok with respect to pension - that's where I have a question. Even though I'm in a fairly high pay grade and this boosts the formula for me, I am now so late in my working career, that I really only have a few years left until I will retire - so my length of service will not be that long by the time I leave - won't that severely limit the amount of my pension?...time in service is so critical to the formula.
Yes. The calculation is simple. If you were hired after 1983, and you have between 5 and 19 years of service, you receive a federal "FERS" pension that is equivalent to 1 percent of your "high-3" salary (i.e., average of your 3 highest paid years) for every year of federal service, starting at age 62. Work 10 years, and you get 10 percent of your salary in retirement after age 62, plus Social Security.
The percentage jumps to 1.1 percent per year after 20 years of federal service, assuming you retire after age 62 (retire before age 62 and you only get 1 percent). Work 20 years, and you get 22 percent of your salary in retirement age after age 62, plus Social Security. Work 30 years, and you get 33 percent of your salary after age 62, plus Social Security.
Federal CSRS pensions -- the envy of private sector employees anywhere -- aren't available to employees hired after 1983. However, federal employees hired before 1983 receive a "CSRS" pension consisting of nearly 2 percent of their salary for every year worked (1.5 percent for first 3 years, 1.75 percent for next 5 years, and 2 percent for every subsequent year), although their government service does not count toward Social Security. Additional private sector service counts toward Social Security.
Federal retirees receive the same subsidized FEHB health care coverage in retirement.
Everyone in this thread discussing federal pension benefits is conveniently ignoring the fact that employees pay into their pension plan out of their salary - it is not a free benefit that you just happen to receive when you retire; thus, it's not accurate to suggest that your pension is an added bonus above and beyond what one would earn in the private sector. Take the same percentage from your significantly higher private sector paycheck throughout your career, invest it smartly, and you will end up with with an equivalent or higher annuity when you reach retirement. In general, your earning potential in the private sector is substantially larger than it ever would be in the government, so (again) if you manage your finances properly, you will come out far ahead of where you would be after a 30 year federal service career.
I was a successful, high-earning 8-10 year federal civil servant when I left to get an MBA -- it was probably the best decision I've ever made. There is abuse, back-stabbing, and petty politics no matter where you go, but it is FAR more extreme in government where there is no bottom line and no objective measure to demonstrate and defend your success. You also get power-hungry pricks no matter where you are, but if you are making money for a company, it's much harder for a petty manager to white-wash your accomplishments and then hide behind the bureaucracy (something that will always be endemic to the government given it's awful, poorly trained, poorly educated managers). And if you are the recipient of legitimate managerial abuse in private industry, you have much more opportunity to seek legal recourse (good luck trying to sue the federal government for getting passed over for well-deserved promotion).
Finally, April_InSpring, I would encourage you personally to leave the government since the it is already overrun with arrogant asses who think they are better than everyone else. Go to a company that isn't responsible for upholding the public good and creating positive change in society - you clearly belong there.
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