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

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by reeze

That's your opinion of your marketability, but you're not the hiring manager. Most guvies never leave the government because they're too used to having goof off time and can't adjust to the rigors of the private sector. That's why there's a big market in hiring private contractors to do the work the government should be doing instead of having goof off time.

If you move back to Scranton, you'll be taking a pay cut also.

Another great post! you seem to know alot about how this all works.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by rvasonicbloom

In my experience, the average salary in NOVA for an entry level position right out of college for someone with a bachelors degree in a technical field is about 60,000. Looks like you may have gotten hosed...

That's a salary for someone with an engineering degree. Right? Engineers, particularly those who can program, can begin with a contractor at that salary, stay 2 years, get a clearance or two, and move on to make lots more money. That's why engineers are more likely to work outside the government.

Most other college graduates in the government do not begin at $60,000. In fact, the government cannot pay a recent college graduate that much to start.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by rvasonicbloom

Meaningless work for less pay? Whatever floats your boat.

That may be true, but there's lots of leave, including mental health days, and you can never be fired, even if incompetent, lazy, use every day of sick leave the second you get it, spend your days on the phone, etc. Those things are very important to some people. Job security is very important to some people.

I am NOT saying that all government employees are that way. We have some wonderful, hard working, dedicated, civil servants. Most are like that and our country is lucky to have them. But there's also some who aren't. There is little to be done about them. It's simply too difficult to fire the deadwood. It's a bureaucracy. Those rarely work as well as the private sector. There is little or no incentive to work as well. jmo

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

I think you should change your comment from "Most guvies" to "Some guvies" because there are many hardworking government employees that CAN and DO work up to the same rigors of employees in the private sector. My husband is one of those employees who works for the Department of Defense and spends many weekends working overtime supporting our national defense. I take issue with your comment because it's not fair to portray "most guvie" employees as being lazy and having time to goof off on their job!

That seems to be true for men and women with military backgrounds. They have tremendous work ethics. We are lucky to have them keeping us safe.

[reeze]

Originally Posted by Denton56

You are so right! Every 23 year old I know would be THRILLED to make $52,000! it's a great salary for a new college graduate! Most make FAR less than that but still manage to have fun, drive cars, go on vacations, share houses with friends, live the typical life of 23 olds. The definitely would not say that they were ''struggling'', they are lovin' life even on a measly $35,000 to $40,000!

What you make coming out of college isn't just about who you work for. It's most importantly about what your degree is in.

Someone who's doing budget/finance may get low $40's coming out of college, but someone who's technical will get a lot more. The government has a technical GS and a regular GS schedule. In the WMA, they even offer locality pay to adjust for the higher cost of living.

Again, it's not just about the college degree, but what kind of college degree.

I have a friend who had an internship with the government, graduated with a guaranteed job with the government, and started off at $62k. Oh, by the way, the government paid for his tuition, room/board, and books. He is an electrical engineer.

[reeze]

Originally Posted by still_waiting

An acquaintance of mine works for Booz Allen in Herndon, and I am starting a job as a Gov't employee specifically an Intel analyst at one of the agencies. My "friend" and I were talking and she was saying how Booz is always getting Gov't workers to come to them and that overall they are a better and more flexible career option that Gov't.

To that I said that I think that Gov't is more flexible because you can get cross trained and start a entirely new career path within the same agency, or even transfer agencies. Also Gov't is more likely to provide the extra training needed whereas the private entities expect you to be on the ground and running. Not to mention full tuition reimbursement UP FRONT.

What are some of you guys opinions...I am interested to know.

BTW by WarPigs I mean Northrop, Boeing, Lockheed etc.

Calling contractors "warpigs" is erroneous. Contractors don't make the decision to go to wars, they just provide the means.

[rvasonicbloom]

Originally Posted by Denton56

That's a salary for someone with an engineering degree. Right? Engineers, particularly those who can program, can begin with a contractor at that salary, stay 2 years, get a clearance or two, and move on to make lots more money. That's why engineers are more likely to work outside the government.

Most other college graduates in the government do not begin at $60,000. In fact, the government cannot pay a recent college graduate that much to start.

The engineering guys tend to make even more! I was referring to technical as in IS, CS, Statistics, Finance, etc.

[rvasonicbloom]

Originally Posted by LVMYDACH

Oh my God, I hope my daughter, who is starting grad school at VCU in Richmond in a few weeks, doesn't run into this certain person at a bar in the Fan. That could be her Dad's worst nightmare!

What's her name?

[still_waiting]

Originally Posted by reeze

Calling contractors "warpigs" is erroneous. Contractors don't make the decision to go to wars, they just provide the means.

Seems like someone is taking things too literal. It was a term of endearment that we used when I worked as a sub-contractor for Boeing and Northrop. For the semantic police, by Warpigs I mean the major Non-Government Entities of the Military Industrial Complex. For the acronym lovers out there that's the NGEMIC. Lighten up guys...remember these are opinions that I asked for and depending on an individual viewpoints/beliefs they are bound to be different and varied.

[NOVAmtneer82]

Originally Posted by Denton56

You are so right! Every 23 year old I know would be THRILLED to make $52,000! it's a great salary for a new college graduate! Most make FAR less than that but still manage to have fun, drive cars, go on vacations, share houses with friends, live the typical life of 23 olds. The definitely would not say that they were ''struggling'', they are lovin' life even on a measly $35,000 to $40,000!

I agree with you 100% here. I don't know where a lot of people are getting information that the majority of people out of college start at 60-70k in the DC area. That is not the case even at most of the contracting/consulting firms. The vast majority in this area start at between 45 and 55K. Are there exceptions? Yes. DEFINITELY with some engineering positions along with various law fields but that is far outside the norm. Of course there are also plenty of people who start out making less than 45K.

Find a job that makes you happy regardless of government or private sector and let things fall into place after that.