Government Work (Is Kind of a Dream?)

How often do your motivations change? Ever since I was in college, I always dreamed of working for a prestigious brand name company. As an officer of a cybersecurity club, I had my eyes set on big names in the tech world such as Google or Microsoft. My dream company didn’t necessarily have to be known for tech, just as long as it was brand name. Companies such as Disney, Adobe, or Blizzard could have fit hte bill as well. But after spending most of 2024 unemployed, I finally was able to get back on track with my cybersecurity career, this time in a government role. I have had many qualms about working government in the past despite my dad working there for over 30 years. I keep hearing about how government is where your skillset goes to die. I very much steered clear of government jobs for awhile because of this. However, I have heard the positives as well such as pension and benefits. At the end of the day, I did always plan to end up in government eventually, but not this soon.

I wanted to work for a brand name company straight out of college and I did get my wish as I ended up starting my career at KPMG, one of the biggest consulting firms in the world. My excitement was immense at starting this role. I would be traveling around the country, eating at nice restaurants and talking with a plethora of clients from big name firms. The networking opportunities were supposed to be plentiful, but unfortunately covid came around and I ended up spending 2020 as an unintentional gap year. Once I did get started, I was place in a completely remote role. Still, I was thankful that I at least had a job to jumpstart my career. Imagining the amount of new graduates who struggle to find that first opportunity made me realize how great of a position I was in. The work was diverse and I ended up growing in my skillset in multiple ways.

However, I eventually found that the consulting world was not quite my speed. The environment proved to be very cutthroat and as a new hire, it was intimidating. If you ever worked a customer service role, imagine that except hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars were at stake. The clients wanted things done yesterday and if you give them a timeline, they would want to move that timeline a few weeks ahead. There was one video I saw in training that perfectly illustrates the life of a consultant but I also feel this example applies to many private company roles.

Essentially, to summarize the comedy sketch, the expert consultant hired by the company is asked to draw 7 perpendicular RED lines using green and transparent ink. When the expert discusses how impossible the task is, the managers respond with “Then make it possible.” Day in and day out, my career in private was filled with situations such as this. While I am thankful for these opportunities in how they shaped me, I do admit that after only 3-4 years of working for private profit-driven companies, my motivations have changed.

In this government role, the first thing I notice is how nothing is profit driven. An environment such as this leads to a less stressful life with very reasonable deadlines. Long gone are the days where my team’s job was reliant on the next financial report and the days where it was sink of swim. At private firms, work needs to get started immediately after hire with no time to learn and understand what you are doing. There is a focus on getting things done, but not getting things done right. These first few months of government work have my team showing me the ropes very slowly and gradually. There is such a huge emphasis on not dumping me into a situation where I need to adapt very on the fly. I can take my time to learn how to not just do my tasks, but do them right. I do understand the misgivings many professionals may have about the government. It is slow moving and you do not always work with the latest technology. However, I do believe that all depends on what department you work in for government. I have been blessed to find myself in a department that is self revenue generating. Basically, my department does not rely solely on taxpayer dollars and has other sources of revenue such as fees and other business activities. In situation like this, the department would have more funds than usual for getting the latest in technology and additionally would have higher priority in the department list. I have certainly blessed to have landed here.

Once in a while, I still imagine what it would be like to work at a Google or Microsoft level company with all the prestige and fancy office spaces. I still keep in touch with friends who work at gaming related companies such as Blizzard and Nvidia often wondering how fun that would be to have a job in an area of entertainment. While all the perks you get at these firms are certainly tempting, I have heard from these friends of mine how quickly they burn out. Most folk on my LinkedIn do not event stay at these big name companies for more than a few years. Perhaps I should be thankful for where I am at now. With this role in government, I can focus my attention on other aspects of my life such as family, friends, and endeavors that can make a difference in the world.