So... coming from a "youngin"... I'm on about 10 year career/employment at this point. This is just personal experience and what I've observed. I've been comparing notes with my friends and we think we've figured it out. haha! Granted it varies from on field to another but we've all made similar observations or know someone who has gone through this.
First 3.5 years I worked for a consulting firm. Next 3.5 years for a government contractor. And close to 2 years now with feds. (Yeah... I know... someone is going to do the math... not 10 total but 1 year in there I did some related internship work while in grad school. So there!) And, yes, over the last 19 months I've gotten the calls and emails, letters, LinkedIn messages promising this and that, and offering great opportunities. I respond to all of them and thank them for their time, file them, just in case. So far, I've counted 23 unique contacts. That 10-15 year experience range is really sought out so get used to the offers.
Now to explain where I'm coming from...
- My best paying and sweetest job was with the government contractor. High salary with a masters, bonuses for performance and when products we worked on sold well, freebies at work, great insurance, great benefits, loads of vacations, great flexibility, freedom to do what I wanted on a project to make it happen etc... But when things got tight, the ax came down fast. Hunting for internal work and making sure you were billable was priority, sending out white papers and trying to get work contracts regardless of your level, volunteer time off came around without guarantee that things were going to get better, and eventually layoffs. Now... this happens everywhere but the odd thing is that the company was doing well. They just were not meeting quota for a number of products that they kept shooting higher and higher to sell to the government. So, when the government wasn't buying, to them that was "red" and needed to be compensated by letting people go to keep shareholders and the stock market happy. It ended up backfiring though because people don't like feeling unsettled. They got rid of "extras" I suppose and kept "key" people. The "key" people got uncomfortable and found new jobs right after the layoffs. The company ended up trying to get others to come back or hiring new people. Not a good situation.
- My "worse" was the private consulting firm. But I was also starting to work and had no actual experience so it's understandable. The hours were often crap, the managers were not people I found particularly bright, the benefits were mediocre, the learning experience was mediocre. I did learn a lot because I was starting from zero but beyond that, it was a dead-end exercise. I had one younger manager who was good and cared about your progress. There were a couple of others who I managed to get some good experience working under once I figured out their personalities and managed to be useful to them. The rest were people who did well in college, just shooting to be PM and eventually making VP. That's where the "security" was because they become shareholders at that point. The board has to pay them to leave if they're not happy with them. In any event, when things got tight, again, layoffs. Again, that's not uncommon anywhere but this is what got me.... 2 months before the layoff, they gave bonuses to everyone, had a party, etc... When I brought up that I'd want to go to school full-time and work part-time because my workload was light, I was told that no one is guaranteed 40 hours of work nor pay but had to be in the office 44 hours per week. Hummmm ok.
- Current job is with the feds and is somewhere in between but closer to the "sweetness" of the contractor in terms of satisfaction. I think I lucked out with some supervisors who came from private and understand how things are meant to work. So I've had it a bit easier than most with the government red tapes, slow processes and nonsense that people usually have to complain about. It also takes a lot of advanced planning and anticipation on my end but at least that works. Also, the wealth of knowledge and people willing to share and teach so far has been great. I'm given more responsibility without a manager trying to take credit for my work. Knock on wood but it's been quite fitting so far. The salary is about what I'd be getting at a private consulting firm but that might be only because I got lucky with negotiations prior to accepting the job. Though, it is lower than what I'd get with the contractor. The benefits/matching are about the same in terms of 401K equivalent. Now, I haven't figured out the pension thing. Maybe I don't understand it very well but it didn't seem that impressive. People on the old pension have a better payout. The flexibility is better than private and the other benefits are just as comparable (insurance, sick days, discounts etc...). But yeah... no considerable bonuses.
So, I think overall, I can make more in private than I'm making with the Feds when you consider salary, benefits, bonuses etc... But, what I'm getting now and in the long run is much more worth it. Especially that I value my time and sanity a bit more in my "older" age.
Ok... now you know my story, this is what my friends and I figured out having been on these three sides... Before you take that jump, consider what kind of business these private firms are in. If you're not one of those people who network, make contacts, a shaker as they say, know the ins-and-outs of contracting and getting contracts.... be careful. A lot of these companies won't come out upfront to say it but they're essentially looking for someone who can get their foot in the door to a government contract/job. If you can't deliver, you'll be dropped really fast. More of your time will be about customer service and you have to find your own leads. I've seen it with both the private consultant and the contractor. Private companies are all about getting jobs in to keep going so if you're not able to contribute, you're not in a good position. Also, if you're switching to private, you don't want to move in for a high salary alone. You want to negotiate that shareholder/VP package or whatever "security" enticement that they offer. It makes it harder to get pushed out. Private company I worked for had a number of lame ducks around just because it was too pricey to get rid of them haha! They changed the requirements to be VP really fast after the recession.
Morale of the story, it might look greener on the other side but if you're not looking at the business' growth and needs strategy, you're not looking at it right. The people I know who have done it best went at it this way, by design or accident... They started out in private and got all that private "efficiency" business model down. So, when they go to a Fed or State, I suppose that becomes valuable. They stick around for the retirement (20 years or whatever), do some personal consulting during that time on the side, then go back to private when they retire if they don't want to just to their own consulting anymore. If you think about it, that could be: Age 21 to 31 gives them 10 years in private, then 31 to 51 that's 20 years with feds, then 51 to 65 for close to 15 years back to private if they don't want to stick around. A lot of times, they become private consultants for a private company. That fetches a lot of money but you have other headaches to deal with. Other times, they go work for the company but again they negotiate that shareholder package and high salary. At that point, they left government with a GS-15 (a number were GS-13), and could bring that experience from the other side. But more often than not, they're working to help that private company win government jobs because they have the experience and know the processes.
So... if you're not there, thread lightly.
My 2 cents. Good luck!
