Surviving a Government Career

There are many excellent reasons for choosing a career in government, or at least a term of several years in federal service. Challenges, rewards, and meaningful associations abound for ambitious and capable professionals in a wide array of occupations. But an understanding of some unique characteristics of government employment is necessary to forestall disappointment and frustration.

Constraints That Can Affect Employment

Most agencies live on annual appropriations by Congress. Political imperatives for Presidents and Congress change rapidly and range from balancing budgets to supporting military expeditions. Programs unable to command priority consideration from year to year are subject to sudden and prolonged deprivation. Engineers involved in the glamorous, multi-billion dollar manned space program of the 1960's found themselves looking for work after the moon landings as attention shifted to the Viet Nam war and domestic turbulence. Biomedical researchers on crash programs to find cures for menacing diseases have found their dollars dwindling as resources are shifted to more palpable threats to homeland security.

Unanticipated needs for expenditures to deal with crises frequently cause demands for belt-tightening all across government. Or the President and Congress may be in such wide disagreement on fiscal issues that agencies are forced to live month-to-month on stop-gap appropriations. In either of those circumstances, authorizations for travel, promotions, and training must frequently be deferred.

Funding is subject to so much scrutiny both within the Executive Branch and before Congress that most managers and many supporting personnel spend far more time on budget matters throughout the year than they would in comparable private sector positions.

Innocent Victims of Politics

In addition to funding government agencies, Congress has a legitimate role in overseeing its operations as part of an exemplary democratic system of checks and balances. But human factors come into play when Senators or Representatives become suspicious of executive activities or executives deem Congressional inquiries to be overly intrusive or to amount to micromanagement.

Under the best conditions, government employees spend much of their time responding or reacting to correspondence from Congress. When the atmosphere heats up, they must also deal with accusations of mismanagement or worse. And when controversies rage, political appointees, or even high-visibility career officials and the projects with which they have become identified, may become sacrificial lambs to enable peace to be restored. These personnel changes or program shifts may rob the staff of valued leadership and significant work.

Antiquated Human Resources Rules

While the government has made some notable advances in its HR system with recruitment bonuses, college loan reimbursement, investment plans, and performance pay experiments, many of the rules and processes remain well behind the times. The great majority of employees advance in pay on the basis of seniority rather than work contributions. The financial rewards for outstanding performance below the executive level remain meager.

As to those who don't deserve rewards, the procedures for weeding out sub-par performers are viewed as so burdensome that most managers don't even try. It can be very frustrating to depend for support on associates who don't carry their share of the load.

Red Tape in Government Work

It's still alive and well. Despite repeated and partially successful efforts to simplify procedures and reduce paperwork, much of government work remains bound in rules and processes designed to provide a fool-proof paper trail in case of suspicions of wrongdoing. Clearances, reviews, and voluminous documentation challenge the patience of many just trying to get the real work done.

Ultimate Job Satisfaction

A knowledge of these obstacles can help a potential government recruit to judge whether they will detract too much from the chances for a productive career or interlude in government. For many, the opportunity to work with world-class experts on national security, cutting-edge science, sophisticated information systems, medical advances, and innovative social programs makes opting for federal service worthwhile.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds