What it’s really like to work for the US government

When I first starting working for the feds, I was transitioning into my junior year of high school. I had always heard rumors about working for the government or the “man,” but now I’m here to disprove or credit these myths.

First off, my job isn’t located in Washington, D.C. This idea probably springs from the connection between politics and government, but even then plenty of government agencies have nothing to do with any political matters.

In my experience, working for the feds has actually shown quite the payoff. Some of their benefits include health insurance, dental insurance, ROTH accounts, Thrift Savings Plans, and a hefty amount of government discounts at select restaurants and stores. Keep in mind, I’m still just a part time employee/student in a pathways program and are eligible for all of these. The Savings Plan is probably one of the best benefits, especially since the government matches up to 5% of your weekly pay if contributed. Definitely one of the best ways for a poor college student to try and save some money.

One myth that has held its strength is the unsurmountable amount of security required on the job. Security is doubling with every job, but as a student working in a government office, I have to jump through at least three barriers to starting my job every day. We all are required to have “smart cards.” Each one has the picture of the employee, the branch of the government they work for, and a chip that allows it to be inserted into a special smart card reader.

Each day I go to work my card must be scanned to enter the building and then inserted into my computer combined with a password to log on. After just a week of government work, I realized I needed an app to store all the passwords that were piling up, not to mention how complicated the requirements for passwords are becoming. On top of all of this, in order to look at or edit any type of computer files, you must have the correct permissions from your IT staff.

This all makes sense, especially after the rise in hacker attacks specifically targeting government employees. I’ve been a government employee for two years and have already been exposed by hackers leaking my social security number and who knows what else. This is definitely an element to consider when applying for government jobs, but at the same time, they most likely have the most updated, tightest security you can find. There will just always be some hacker trying to break that security for the confidential information.

All government employees also don’t know mass amounts of secrets about aliens, JFK’s assassination or work for the FBI. There are plenty of other types of jobs you can obtain in the government, maybe you could be a biologist, chemist, geographer, physical scientist, zoologist; the list is really never ending. Our government is competing with private companies and other nations to have the most supported scientific knowledge and advance faster than any other place on earth. Which means we need research centers in every state that can continually be funded.

Funding. Funding can definitely be an issue for some government employees. Most of the employees I work with are some type of scientists that have to continually apply for funding for specific projects, but in my experience, it’s not that hard to find the right money. Government employees also have to be weary of government shutdowns from lack of appropriations. Just working there two years, I’ve already seen close calls and had to sit through long seminars to plan ahead just in case.

All in all, working for the government is actually a sweet gig, but expect a lot of paperwork, a lot of online training sessions, and a lot of boring seminars. Of course, each office is different and there are many different sectors of the government you can work for. The security may be the tightest of any employers you’ve ever had, but it’s probably for good reasons and doesn’t annoy you that much after you see your paycheck and enjoy the task of signing up for your first health insurance plan.