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I have been offered a GS-14 step 10 job at a federal agency. I am currently at a top tech consulting company, I get to work on latest and greatest technologies..work with all kinds of customers and companies, pay and bonus are good. Fed job offer has matching salary, I was also able to negotiate on getting good number of vacation days. It comes down to stable, steady routine job vs exciting and little bit risky job. I'm 40 and have two young kids. I feel the need to be around them to attend their events, games etc..which I have missed in last few years travelling at my current job....Should I accept the offer? My worry is I will soon get bored of it...btw, a few years ago when I wrote down my goals, my career goal was to be a top tech guy at a small tech startup/company...which I won't be able to achieve If I join fed. I will probably continue and retire there..Is it too much compromise for kids and family?
There are far too many variables to analyze as an outsider.
One thing to consider is that you can always leave the federal job if it truly get to the point where you feel you need to jump back into the private sector...
I have been offered a GS-14 step 10 job at a federal agency. I am currently at a top tech consulting company, I get to work on latest and greatest technologies..work with all kinds of customers and companies, pay and bonus are good. Fed job offer has matching salary, I was also able to negotiate on getting good number of vacation days. It comes down to stable, steady routine job vs exciting and little bit risky job. I'm 40 and have two young kids. I feel the need to be around them to attend their events, games etc..which I have missed in last few years travelling at my current job....Should I accept the offer? My worry is I will soon get bored of it...btw, a few years ago when I wrote down my goals, my career goal was to be a top tech guy at a small tech startup/company...which I won't be able to achieve If I join fed. I will probably continue and retire there..Is it too much compromise for kids and family?
Take the steady routine. You've already missed very important time with your kids. They need you around.
It's an extremely subjective topic. But I do agree with the others.
I personally think that you'd be able to have more options by taking the Fed job. Your key here is to have more time with the kids. The Fed job will be better at providing that freedom. You can also look for that "excitement" as a side gig, or even try and stay "relevant" through your vendors/resellers. I don't see how the flip-side would give you that opportunity.
But only YOU would know exactly how much of a priority is maintaining that work excitement vs. kids and stability.
oh yeah, forgot to mention it but the fed does do research/work on new things to, so it could be more exciting than private sector since they get somethings first and there's less "budget" issues, aside from getting congress to approve it I mean.
It really depends on what your current salary is. Are you facing a nominal salary decline that won't impact your lifestyle that much, a larger decline, or possibly even an increase? I would take the federal job as you face much less risk of being "obsolete" due to ageism in tech down the line.
I ended up accepting the offer. Have not yet joined. Will post my thoughts after I joined. My thinking is same as other replied. If I don't like it, I can always switch back to private sector as I believe my tech skills are in demand in current market. Fed job would relieve me of pressure to keep my skills up-to-date in years to come when I have bigger family responsibilities and need to allocate more time to personal stuff.
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Personal decision...
