Hacker News Reader

Comment by rdouble | Hacker News Reader

In America (and the UK), government jobs are also the ones with the highest job security, best pay and benefits.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-03-04-federal-pay_N...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8501369/Workers-in-...

And yet, perhaps because of the reasons mentioned, having a Government job is in many ways an embarrassment in this country.

I'm curious if people have done the math on Govt jobs ... especially with respect to pensions? Whenever I've looked into it, I've felt some disbelief. Many govt employees in the US and Canada have defined benefit pension plans ... I sometimes think I'll never be able to save half that much because of my low-risk savings/investment style.

I've never considered such jobs personally because I don't feel it is what I want out of life. As I get older, I do wonder whether I am just being a fish missing the larger world of opportunities :)

Wait - Are you talking about the US? If so, how is having a government job an embarrassment? Gosh, it must be so shameful to work for the White House, the FBI, the Treasury, Homeland Security, the Military, the CIA, the Senate, the Justice Department, the Supreme Court...What sap would ever want to be president? /sarcasm

Even the USPS has more impact than the vast majority of SV startups...combined. Just sayin'.

What sap would want to be the guy at the DMV counter that has to deal with a 20 year old computer system and loads of irate customers who want their tabs renewed right this minute? What sap wants to be the guy at the post-office counter at 11:30 pm on April 14th? Do you really think that TSA screener wants to feel you up/look at naked pictures of you when you go through the airport queue?

There are plenty of crappy jobs in government, just like in the private sector. Romanticizing it doesn't do anyone good.

I agree wholeheartedly - there are plenty of jobs that suck in any industry and, likewise, there are plenty of jobs to be proud of. The blanket statement that "in this country, government jobs are embarrassing" is extremely unfair and, well, ignorant.

p.s. I do not work for the Gov't.

I was speaking as a former government worker who loved his job. I'm not trying to put down government workers, it's just a fact that unless you are in something "flashy" like the FBI or CIA most people in the USA think you are not very ambitious for settling into a civil service career. You don't often hear people dreaming about being postal workers.

I do work for the US government. Government jobs, even the good ones, combine all the worst parts of working for a large multi-national with all the worst parts of working in academia. You have reams of bureaucracy and even simple things can take months or years to accomplish, while at the same time advancement happens based almost entirely on seniority and politics. For GS positions, the pay is good and the job security is second to none, but the entire system is almost constructed to sap away your motivation.

How much status your job has depends on what circles you travel in. I remember meeting a guy in SF who worked for the IRS... he said it in a really embarrassed way. I used to have the same embarrassed tone when telling people at cool startup parties that I worked at McKinsey.

In other parts of the country/world, the IRS guy or the McKinsey guy is the highest status person in the room.

I work for the state of Massachusetts. It's embarrassing. It's not degrading. I see it around me, the glazed looks, the countdown timers to retirement, the pathetic work for exorbitant pay... It's sickening. It saps the life out of you. It makes you jealous of their lavish wages, but destroys your soul all the same to see them, the living dead, diminished to joyless 8 hour days, the struggle to complete remedial tasks. I hesitate to imagine they live outside those hours as I have seen so little joy. Am I respected? Sure, most everyone is amazed at what I do (just being honest), but it's sad as hell.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com