Cons of Government Job?

[NickEE]

What are the cons of having a government job? I've heard the pros - job security, pension, benefits, etc. From my separate post, my best friend wants to work for the government (either defense industry or related government work), and he's leaving a very successful job as an Electrical engineer in the private sector to pursue a Masters degree. He's young (25 years old), and I think he's acting impulsively because he has this ideal view of government work from tv, movies, and attractive websites. He claims he wants to be challenged, doesn't like politics at work and doesn't want to get frustrated with work, be it the work or the people. Yet, from all I've heard, that's exactly what he's gravitating towards. I thought government jobs were full of politics and hostile work environments, and it's frustrating and not challenging because things move so slowly as a result of the bureaucracy and that many employees are just there to collect a pension and thus lack a sense of urgency and motivation. I realize there are exceptions to this, but on the whole, is this true? And wouldn't the defense industry be no different?

 

[IRstuff]

I would think that most government engineering jobs are involved with subcontractor management, as opposed to design engineering, unless you're working for a government lab.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[KENAT]

There is an element of truth to the various cons you list.

People are people wherever you work. There's always a chance of a few 'bad apples' be it private or government.

I suspect if he gets a job at a research lab it should be technically challenging though.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[pyro]

Being DoD, I can say that in my short experience there is little politics involved in working-level engineering. Get to the PMA level and you are no longer an engineer but a politician.
The services all differ on how much is contractor oversight, but the trend is unfortunately heading towards just that. Transfer of risk and whatnot. AFRL, ONR, DARPA, and other subgroups with the engineering commands still do their own (challenging) work and will for the foreseeable future. Of course there are frustrations with pay, Congress making decisions for us, and generally stupid ideas being touted as "the new thing that will save us all." Usually that idea has been tried and disproved approx 10 years prior, but such is the cycle of the govt. All in all, I've chosen to stay within my command when I transferred cross-country and I'm still happy with the decision. There are still some extremely fascinating engineering positions in the govt, but they are usually in places most humans wouldn't want to live.

 

[mshimko]

20 years ago, the general consensus was the government had better benefits & security, contractors had better pay.

In the past 10 years this has changed; the government has better pay in addition to better benefits and security (and as a result, I've "lost" more employees to the government than all other competitors combined).

Politics? I'm now on the contractor side of things, and lord know I have to deal with "politics" every day. And, EVERY political decision the government folks has to deal with has even greater implications on the contractor side, hence it's even worse.

Just one person's opinion, of ourse.

 

[KENAT]

pyro

"There are still some extremely fascinating engineering positions in the govt, but they are usually in places most humans wouldn't want to live."

You mean places like China Lake?

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[pyro]

That would be one. I used to work for the Weapons Division under that command.