Booz Allen/SAIC/L3/WarPigs Versus Gov't Intel Agency Career...Your Opinions (Reston: DMV, salary)

[still_waiting]

I often ask myself this question... How many people whether Gov't or Gov't contractors actually like the job that they are doing and appreciate the importance/relevance of what they are doing.

I wonder about that because it seems as if the Federal Agency/Gov't/DoD career field is just a huge pissing contest where people SEEM more interested in the agency/department they work for, GS pay rates, level of clearance, retirement packages/benefits, etc. I wonder how much effective the gov't would be if more emphasis was put on being productive.

It brings me to one of the so called "benefits" of working for the gov't. People always tell me "oh you are going to love working for the gov't...you almost can't get fired". I appreciate job security, but not in the sense of not doing any work or being inefficient and not having to worry about losing my job. I just hope that my ambitious, motivated, and energetic attitude doesn't **** off or annoy my coworkers once I start. I feel genuinely honored and privileged to be able to do this work, even though I'm not even going to start at a double digit GS rate. Maybe more money will come my way later, but for now I just want to learn my craft and be the best human resource that I can be.

Anybody with me on that?

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

I often ask myself this question... How many people whether Gov't or Gov't contractors actually like the job that they are doing and appreciate the importance/relevance of what they are doing.

I wonder about that because it seems as if the Federal Agency/Gov't/DoD career field is just a huge pissing contest where people SEEM more interested in the agency/department they work for, GS pay rates, level of clearance, retirement packages/benefits, etc. I wonder how much effective the gov't would be if more emphasis was put on being productive.

It brings me to one of the so called "benefits" of working for the gov't. People always tell me "oh you are going to love working for the gov't...you almost can't get fired". I appreciate job security, but not in the sense of not doing any work or being inefficient and not having to worry about losing my job. I just hope that my ambitious, motivated, and energetic attitude doesn't **** off or annoy my coworkers once I start. I feel genuinely honored and privileged to be able to do this work, even though I'm not even going to start at a double digit GS rate. Maybe more money will come my way later, but for now I just want to learn my craft and be the best human resource that I can be.

Anybody with me on that?

I am with you on this. As you may have gleened from any of my other posts on contractor-to-government experience, the MAIN reason I left was for more meaningful work. More meaningful, to me, that is. As a contractor, I often felt adrift and not overly tied to a project. As a contractor, I never had the ultimately responsibility for anything nor could I make any real decisions on how a project or program progressed unless I happened to have a client that allowed me that sort of leeway.

I work much harder in the government but I have so much more job satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment than I ever did when I was a contractor. I do lean towards actually "loving" my job some days now.

I would like to add that this is just my experience. I think there are many contractors out there, who work different types of contracts than I did, that have very meaningful, productive positions and never felt like I did.

[still_waiting]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

I am with you on this. As you may have gleened from any of my other posts on contractor-to-government experience, the MAIN reason I left was for more meaningful work. More meaningful, to me, that is. As a contractor, I often felt adrift and not overly tied to a project. As a contractor, I never had the ultimately responsibility for anything nor could I make any real decisions on how a project or program progressed unless I happened to have a client that allowed me that sort of leeway.

I work much harder in the government but I have so much more job satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment than I ever did when I was a contractor. I do lean towards actually "loving" my job some days now.

I would like to add that this is just my experience. I think there are many contractors out there, who work different types of contracts than I did, that have very meaningful, productive positions and never felt like I did.

As always ChristineVA thank you for your candidness. You are definitely one of the posters that make this sub-forum enjoyable!!

And that "loving the job" feeling is so awesome. True story THE most rewarding job I have had up to this point in my life was working a summer day camp at the YMCA. Didn't pay diddlysquat and it was only part-time, but the smiles on the kids faces I'll never forget. Guess I'm kinda corny like that.

[ChristineVA]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

As always ChristineVA thank you for your candidness. You are definitely one of the posters that make this sub-forum enjoyable!!

And that "loving the job" feeling is so awesome. True story THE most rewarding job I have had up to this point in my life was working a summer day camp at the YMCA. Didn't pay diddlysquat and it was only part-time, but the smiles on the kids faces I'll never forget. Guess I'm kinda corny like that.

Nah, not corny. You are just one of those people that, what you do at your job, is important to you. And you need to feel like you contribute something. I never knew I was that way to the degree I am until I found a job where I really got to do something. Now I know how important it is. You will find, in the government, that for many people showing up and getting a paycheck is what it's all about. I shouldn't limit that to the government, though. Plenty of people in my private-sector company were the same way and were actually thrilled that they had no accountability. Different strokes...

[katyusha25]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

And that "loving the job" feeling is so awesome. True story THE most rewarding job I have had up to this point in my life was working a summer day camp at the YMCA. Didn't pay diddlysquat and it was only part-time, but the smiles on the kids faces I'll never forget. Guess I'm kinda corny like that.

Same with me; my most enjoyable job was a dog trainer awhile go - but there's no money in it. If I didn't have to make a real income, I'd go work with animals all day.

[LVMYDACH]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

Same with me; my most enjoyable job was a dog trainer awhile go - but there's no money in it. If I didn't have to make a real income, I'd go work with animals all day.

I just thought of a group that I came across a while ago on Facebook called "I Picked a Major I Like and One Day I Will Probably Be Living in a Box"! After reading several posts on it, so many know that certain career choices that give the most satisfaction and meaning in life pay little, but are truly rewarding. My daughter is wondering if her choice to major in Social Work might lead her in this direction, but her desire to one day make a positive difference in less fortunate peoples lives outweighs the financial gain.

[katyusha25]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

I just thought of a group that I came across a while ago on Facebook called "I Picked a Major I Like and One Day I Will Probably Be Living in a Box"! After reading several posts on it, so many know that certain career choices that give the most satisfaction and meaning in life pay little, but are truly rewarding. My daughter is wondering if her choice to major in Social Work might lead her in this direction, but her desire to one day make a positive difference in less fortunate peoples lives outweighs the financial gain.

I totally get that, but unfortunately, I'm not in the position to be so picky.
My love for animals won't pay my bills; and I'm not willing to live in a rural, inexpensive area at my age just yet =/

[LVMYDACH]

Originally Posted by katyusha25

I totally get that, but unfortunately, I'm not in the position to be so picky.
My love for animals won't pay my bills; and I'm not willing to live in a rural, inexpensive area at my age just yet =/

Yep, so many people would love to do a job they truly love but for financial reasons can't do it. That is especially true living in our area with the cost of living so high! I am wondering if my daughter will face a different reality when she gets her first social work job after grad school and it doesn't pay enough to make ends meet. I'm also wondering if the money that will be invested for her two degrees (BA and MA in Social Work) will pay off in the end. Maybe in job satisfaction but certainly not financially!

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by Denton56

I have a friend who spent 35 years in the government, under the old system. She left with not one day of sick leave. She used every day, every year. She was not chronically ill, never been hospitalized, and had no children. She simply took days off when the weather was bad, when she thought she might be coming down with a cold, when her foot itched, anything and everything. Granted her job was not critical. She has a master's degree and did some kind of analyst job. Even some people on this board maintain that sick leave is personal leave to be used as they choose. All of that seems like cheating to me, but there is nothing to be done about it.

If your friend retired, she would have been paid for the days she earned with her Annual Leave that she had left but not paid for her days for Sick Leave. So the smart thing to do was to use up all the Sick Leave before retiring. Yes, there are regulations regarding use and abuse of Sick Leave.

But think about such situations such as bringing an infant to their pediatrician, taking an elderly parent to the doctor or running around and picking up their prescriptions of medical equipment, having a migraine, having cramps, eating something bad the night before, having pain from working on the roof the day before, or just feeling plain rundown and tired. Also some people suffer from autoimmune diseases and things like that -- not so extreme as, let's say, terminal cancer and don't care to discuss it with outsiders. They could have really off days where they are just plain exhaustive and don't care to comment except by saying, "I'm just taking the day off."

[perries]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

Yep, so many people would love to do a job they truly love but for financial reasons can't do it. That is especially true living in our area with the cost of living so high! I am wondering if my daughter will face a different reality when she gets her first social work job after grad school and it doesn't pay enough to make ends meet. I'm also wondering if the money that will be invested for her two degrees (BA and MA in Social Work) will pay off in the end. Maybe in job satisfaction but certainly not financially!

I met a VP of contracts at a defense contractor who used to be a psychologist....