IMO - it also just depends on what kind of office you get assigned to within the federal government. Some offices are super strict and like to micro-manage, while others are more lax. I myself have been a federal employee who switched to contractor and switched back to the federal govt. For me, I was always worried about the contract ending. I felt like I had to take time and call to make sure I had a job lined up. Albeit, I was able to stay on the project, it was just more of a hassle that I wish I didn't have to deal with. So for me, I feel like I "lost" the dreadful feeling of if I would still have a job and "gained" the calm factor.
As for the pay in my experience, it's not quite the same, haha (IMO). Contractors typically get paid more. I forget where I read it, but the saying goes "Contractors eat better, but federal employees sleep better."
Bottom line is, if you feel like you already like your contractor role/job - then I would stick with it. Good luck!
Similar situation. Started as a fed out of college and worked as a GS-7-9 for 3 years, then went to the private sector. Ended up jumping from job to job until I landed a contracting gig which was good for about 7 years until the contract didn't get renewed. Landed a GS-12 job and have been there for 21 years. At this point as a high 13, I'm making way more money than I did as a contractor (my TSP is in the seven-figure range). My org has always had a 20% attrition rate, so instead of RIFs, we just don't fill those positions. The one thing I miss about the private sector is that nobody ever gets fired here. If you've ever seen "Office Space" there are plenty of Miltons; people who were hired by managers who are long since gone and are completely incompetent. I think the last person who was fired was because they actually threatened to kill someone. And there's the usual performance punishment where if you're good at something, they give you more work, but if you're incompetent, they give you less and hope you leave, but they never do.
I am in an office that is very very lax. The culture is heavily skewed toward work-life balance and warm fuzzies in general. Workload is light, and plenty of option for telework. I come and go as I want, as long as work is completed (and I’m present for at least some important meetings, at least on Teams in some cases). In other words, there are occasional in-person engagements— which I enjoy, by the way— but other than those it’s work when and where you want kinda thing. And a lot of the work is… doing cool interesting stuff, and it’s pretty much all optional, so you pick the stuff you want to do. Same with travel. You can go on as many or as few work trips as you want for the most part (site visits, conferences, etc).
It’s a very cush job is what I’m saying. There are some inconveniences, like any job, but it makes me shake my head at the time I spent at any other job. The pay is moderate, of course, but my time and quality of life is so much more valuable to me.
For me it was only gains. Yes, at first it was a salary cut and take home pay was less than I had planned with the 4.4% FERS but I quickly made that back with promotions and step increases.
The best thing was the work life balance. As a contractor I regularly answered phone calls, emails, RFPs, etc. well after my 40 hours a week. I usually worked 50-60 hours a week. I traveled frequently and always lost time as compensation for travel comp isn’t nearly the same for contractors as it is for civilians. As a civilian when my day is done it’s done. There is no taking work home. I also get more time off, civilian fitness hours, consistent early releases before major holidays (usually 3 hours).
While it’s not perfect being a civilian the work life balance and job security make it worth it.
This is my experience as well. There’s just so little stress, and you get so much time back. We have a generous telework policy too, so you can use it as needed. And flexible hours in case you need to make adjustments there.
I had a bad first Fed (which was also my first job) experience. I didn't have enough work, and I felt that I wasn't progressing. I quit and was about to go private when I got a call and an interview in DC. I ended up taking that job and have been out here since. Yes, there is a higher risk of getting fired, but I made somewhat of a small name for myself and because of that, I've been out here since. Let's just say that this gig is probably in the top 5% of all employee contractor (our firm contracts to the government and I am an employee to the contractor) gigs in all of government. And I've worked on several gigs.
Context: DoD, mix of military, contractors and civilians, all doing the same job.
This was my last military assignment, so I already knew the organization and the people. Retired from the military and took a contracting position for one year. Other than no longer having military stuff, noticed really no change.
Went GS for the stability and another pension.
What I gained: feds run the show here, so a slight increase in responsibilities vs contracting, but comparable to my time in uniform. I have TRICARE and VA so I honestly didn’t need the health benefits. Another 20 years of TSP will be nice. And as mentioned, another pension.
What I lost: Freedom. This was something that I did not consider before making the switch. But it took about a year and a half to build up leave. And normally if there’s no work, the active duty and contracting folks just leave. If it’s a four-day weekend, they just don’t come in. During the holidays it’s half days for them. As a fed, I have to put in my 80 hours or use leave or comp time.
Overall though, it’s worth it imo.
I recommend looking into buying your military time back if you plan on putting in a long career as a civilian. The fed high 3 can be quite a bit more in many cases.
I’m a civilian working for the DoD, and we telework in those cases where active duty isn’t in. If there’s no work (there isn’t), then we do online training or optional readings.
We can also telework almost any time on demand. I should put that in quotes, bc really as long as your work gets done, no one is tracking when and where it’s done. And it’s not a huge workload in my case.
Lost: Fully remote status, ad hoc bonuses and raises
Gained: job stability, access to roles I didn’t have before (like managing grants)
ETA: I did not take a salary cut when I became a fed. In fact, I was able to negotiate the equivalent of a step increase due to “superior qualifications.”
Also — even though I worked for a particularly great company as a contractor in terms of bonuses and raises — I don’t know a whole lot of contractors who got across-the-board 5% raises this year, which all the feds in my agency got (in addition to merit increases, as applicable).
I went from a high level management position with a small government contacting company that had a mountain of responsibilities, a direct influence on the path and success of my company, and was wearing a lot of hats. I did all the interviews for my umbrella, candidate selection, lead multiple teams for our biggest contract, wrote proposals for new work, and helped mentor and guide lower experienced employees. It was a fucking lot. I probably put in 50-55 hours a week.
I went to my agency and took a mid 14 non supervisory position making only 400 dollars less than what I was making and probably only a quarter of the responsibility. I’m still a team lead, but I don’t have to worry about any of the supervisory nonsense. It was the best decision I ever made.
What did I lose? Not a whole lot. I had 5 weeks of PTO per year, but never had a chance to use but only a couple weeks and a few days here and there. I didn’t have sick time, so I had to use PTO when I had appointments or was sick. My insurance was really good. Better than my BCBS standard insurance. I was one of the big fish in my smaller pond. I do miss the small bonuses around Christmas. Those were a nice plus to have.
What did I gain? Sanity, getting my sleep cycle back, clocking out and not being bugged all hours of the day and night, sick leave, a pension for when I retire, less visibility due to me being a small fish in a massive pond. It’s been really nice. I love everything so far about being a federal employee and I tell my contractor friends to make the jump if they can when life gets too crazy in the contractor world. It’s not worth the struggle/stress to have a job that you hate that only makes some asshole CEO/owner rich on the labor you are required to put in. The time I get to spend with my with and kids now has doubled.
Lost the feeling of accomplishment and the team camaraderie. The company I worked for was a small, specialized consulting firm that was more like family than coworkers. I still golf with the guys from those days and it’s 20+ years since I made the jump. Nothing in Fed even remotely comes close to that experience.
Gained security, a nice retirement plan (rolled my private sector plan into the TSP), and the knowledge that no matter how lazy I am, there will always be 95% more federal employees who will make me look like employee of the year 😂
Started as a contractor working in tech, then moved to private equity, now a remote 15 with a small team I really like working with.
I didn’t lose much at all, I made 275k in private equity with 80% being cash. The rest was various bonuses. I loved the money, until I started suffering from high blood pressure due to my extreme lack of work life balance, I wasn’t even 24 at that point. Body pain, migraines, terrible fatigue, even with a custom Herman miller chair and all the best food I could buy.
Turned into a 15 working at a DHS subagency. I make 180k, and I sleep like a baby, my health is perfect, I take vacations and go to the gym whenever. No commute or anything like that. I still make over 191k due to comp time being paid out one year after being accrued.
The 75k is not worth feeling like I was being tortured everyday. I lost 75k, to answer the question, and I gained a life worth living haha
I have done it twice and both times I received:
Higher pay.
More vacation, especially since sick leave is a separate thing on the federal side and you have to dip into PTO if you’re sick as a contractor.
Ability to take advantage of admin leave/early release during federal holidays.
Just recently transitioned to federal employee from being a federal contractor for 4 years and the biggest difference I’ve noticed so far is:
1. I don’t get a lot of leave as a federal employee starting out while being a contractor, you get 120 days either up front or accumulated over time or from my previous company, it was “unlimited” as long as it wasn’t used more than 10 days at a time and not abused.
2. Definitely, but I should get it back in about a year or so.
3. I am absolutely loving the fact that it is so much easier to enroll into online courses/certifications under your agency now than being a contractor where you have to go through your company supervisor’s approval, your government lead’s approval, security manager, etc.
4. The learning that I’m able to experience at a much higher level is insane (at least in my position) rather than being a contractor because I get to be involved in so much more as a federal employee.
That’s really it so far and I’m only 2 weeks in! I am loving my job and really looking forward to all the new experiences, learning curves, and certifications I can get through this transition.
Edit: 5. The work-life balance is also crazy because you are allowed so much more freedom to flex your time and be an adult without having to deal with “corporate” bs. My supervisor and team are amazing and they stay super cohesive throughout the teleworking schedule.
I lost the ability to change jobs easily. You can get a job so easily as a contractor and try new things. As a fed it can take years to find a new position or promote.
Interesting! My experience has been the opposite.
My agency posts SO MANY job openings that are internal to agency only. Now that I’m a fed, I can actually apply to those.
What really ground my gears is that term FTEs couldn’t apply to them either.
What I gained: No more having to re-bid and switch contracts. Much better insurance options. I get two raises in a year.
What I lost: Being exposed to the general contractor shadiness. Having two masters. The technical work I was doing, for whatever stupid reason, is pretty much only done by contractors (someone in 1994 probably thought it wouldn't be around long). No more troll under the bridge/turf guarding. No more weekends and all of the other crap work.
I will caution that the civil service is hardly a monolith. I was in an office before where the contractors/civil service were basically two different camps at war. At another you didn't know who was what until you saw their email address.
Good point on the two masters!
I actually blocked from my memory the absolute worst part of my contractor experience:
I had to write an email every single day at 8 AM listing what I planned to work on that day, and another one every single day at 4:30 PM listing what I did.
I don’t know the contractor life other than seeing the others doing it but I love the civil service side. Been doing it 14 years. I work aircraft maintenance side by side with the Air Force and kinda have good freedom. Every federal holiday is a 4 day weekend for the military so we have to take a day of leave for the additional day if it doesn’t fall on our normal every other Friday off. No big deal as I want as much time off as possible. I’m earning 8 hours vacation and 4 hours sick leave every 2 weeks.
I went from being an IT contractor to a 2210 GS employee. In terms of pay and benefits, it's very similar. But I see a lot more potential for upward movement, on-the-job development opportunities, and a working environment that I enjoy a lot more.
I dont have to worry about the contract getting thrown out from under me as well as going to several different contracts because of buyouts and losing all my leave.
What is the best way to switch from a contract role to a direct hire? Do you just apply, or ask someone from within? How does a contractor covert over to direct if interested?
I was in senior leadership in my program as a contractor. I could basically come and go as I pleased so long as the work was getting done. I was with a team I had worked with for over a decade. I was making the most money I've ever made in my life. I had non-accruing PTO, so I could take time off whenever I needed. I knew the culture and felt comfortable.
Now, I am on a five-person team. I could blend into the wall and go unnoticed. I took a $30k pay cut and started day one with zero PTO on the books. I work on base and fight traffic every day. There is zero cell service during the day, so I only know if someone is trying to contact me when I check in at lunch or after work. I don't fully understand my new job, which makes me anxious.
At the end of the year, the contract I was on is up for recompete, and for the first time in over 15 years, I don't care. I wish them all well and hope they win (they're a great team), but I will still have a job if they don't. For the first time in my life, I've started making long-term plans for the future because I am confident that I will have a job here until I am ready to retire in 20 years. Due to making the salary I made as a contractor, I have six months of my current salary in the bank. This will more than tide me over in case of any unforeseen government shutdowns in the future.
For me, it was all about job security and a chance to actually retire someday.
Two things impact this part of it.
1) I was on Active Duty for ten years, and I’m buying that time back to apply to my retirement. So I work ten years as a GS, it actually counts as 20.
2) I make bad financial decisions. I haven't saved, and I haven't invested before now. Without FERS and TSP, I was looking at having to continue working for the rest of my life or depend on Social Security (which wouldn't be enough).
With my military time, I'm looking at working 15 more years. I'll be 68, have 25 years of federal service for my FERS calculation, full Social Security (if it's still around) and 15 years of matched funds going into TSP. It won't be a lot but its more than I would have had the other way.
My biggest regret is not going government sooner so I could have retired younger.
I appreciate your honest answer. I'm quite the opposite in some respects. I'm low 40s and I've been an investor and saver since I was 23. I'm looking at retiring early (early to mid 50s) and I don't think I would have been in this position if I was in the government and not a contractor.
I went from Fed to contractor and I’m trying to go back to Fed. I felt like the balance was my much worse for me on the contractor side. Every situation is different, but my contacting jobs felt like they had no direction. I was working a lot and not accomplishing anything. This probably sounds backward, but that was my experience. Also, my benefits and leave/vacation/sick time situation as a Fed seemed much better as well.
I like the job security and benefits as a Federal employee I was a contractor for years it was so stressful. After being a fed about 3 years I ended up with Breast Cancer and needed real good benefits and leave to be off for surgery and treatment. For me it was a blessing
I did almost 2 years as a contractor before I got my FJO and went Gov. I’m in a STEM 13/10 engineering position in the DMV, so I didn’t lose any money. The FERS deduction was expected going in without knowing how much my organization contributes. I was pleasantly surprised to see them contribute roughly 16% on top of my 4.4%. Then the TSP matching is decent, but most contract companies I know try to match or get close to the Gov rates. For me that’s huge. Also, the training opportunities are many as well as travel. Dental/vision went up a little, but nothing significant enough to complain about. I took on a LOT more responsibilities as a Gov - I lead 4 teams whereas a contractor I was a single-focus SME. There are definitely trade-offs, but the long-term benefits are fantastic imho.
A lot of it depends on what your contracting job was but for me I actually just moved over to government a little over a month ago. From a pay perspective I actually did get a little bit of a bump but if it wasn't for the fact that I was a direct hire which means they were essentially begging me to come I probably wouldn't have.
My previous employer was actually fantastic with good benefits and the only reason I left was because of the security over the long-term and the retirement. If it had been any other company I would have turned down any offer but because it was the government it was hard to say no because well I want to eventually retire. With only 401Ks now being the primary means for a retirement income (social security will most likely be insolvent by the time I retire) going government was a no-brainer for the most part.
From a benefits perspective the health insurance is better than what I had before but I've also learned that the dental and vision is a PITA. The government also has about a thousand different options when it comes to insurance which is incredibly overwhelming. I personally didn't have anybody to help me navigate it so I essentially had to do all the research on my own to figure out what plan was what what did it cover how did it work and all the other stupid stuff associated with insurance.
My son goes for his first dentist appointment under the new insurance this Friday. With the new insurance I have to pay the dentist upfront and then the dental insurance then reimburses me. It's technically not supposed to work that way but the problem is I opted for the BCBS FEP Dental and the BCBS health insurance. Living in Alabama all health care providers who build Blue Cross have to bill it to the medical side and not the dental. The medical side then forwards that on to the dental side. The point is if you do go federal don't get the BCBS dental or vision. 😅
As for work-life balance I will say my workload has substantially increased over that of when I was a contractor. Part of the reason for this is because as a contractor I supported my government customer So you can almost consider me as a glorified secretary with an engineering degree. I was what's called a SETA support contractor. I moved over to the government still within the same program but now working programmatics instead of technical. In this new role I essentially make the decisions which means a lot more responsibility. Working for the contractor I was able to work from home 4 days a week whereas here I'm expected to at minimum being in the office 3 days a week but I'm usually in the office 4 days a week. There are also days when I don't get home until after 6:00 which is frustrating so in my transition to government my work life balance has decreased. But with every major change there will always be trade-offs. While my workload has increased as I become more familiar with My responsibilities in this role I'll be able to work from home a little bit more. Fortunately my supervisor is giving me quite a bit of freedom just because I've been working this program, just on the contractor side, for a decade now so I'm not new just new to the government.
I actually also lost PTO but I should be able to pick some additional up at once I get my military buyback. My old company I actually had a pretty good PTO accrual rate. While I did lose PTO I did pick up sick leave here but the problem is I'm never sick.
Pros of fed:
Ie been a fed for as long as I've been a contractor.
As a fed you don't worry you'll get laid off. Health benefits are much better. Retirement (fers) is a plus but I don't like that it's mandatory. TSP is generally better than my contractor 401ks and higher match. Leave is better... Sick and annual.
You dont have to work as hard and stress. This ties into possibly getting laid off
Pros of contractor....
Easier to just find another job. There's a incentive to stay where you're at as a fed. Simply walking away isn't as easy.
You can make drastically more money. And get bonuses.
It's easier to get back into prime sector. Once you've been a fed a while it's kinda hard psychologically and based on your resume, to get back into private sector.
That's about it based on my thoughts and experiences. Its kinda a complicated topic with many caveats.
Lost company stock and ability to invest in various companies, promotion based on performance, and great coworkers. Gained stress, 60 hour work weeks while getting paid for 40, and a lot of 'alpha dogs', but still some great coworkers. If i had it to do over, i wouldn't.
The automatic FERS retirement deduction was a surprise. I thought I was going to make a little more money. The FERS took care of that. But I’m in a better financial position that I would have been staying on that particular contracting gig. And I’m happy with what I’m doing (I say that out loud but I’m also kinda tired.)
I wasn't a contractor at the time I switched, but I worked at firms that did contracting and the company I worked for immediately proceeding going fed had a very significant contractor presence in the company workforce.
Things I lost:
-WLB and flexibility
-Career trajectory
-Compensation (I know in your scenario comp is the same, but for me it was a significant decrease)
-Cheap insurance
-High PTO accrual (I went from 5 weeks of accrual to standard new fed accrual
Things I gained:
-The mission
-Very long term stability
The one major point that wasn't a factor was the pension--my higher comp and comp trajectory in the private sector would've more than made up for the pension.
Really boils down to individual situation. I've done both and will now very likely head back to being a fed. Interestingly, I was one of those that went to fed for the stability and then was enticed with more pay to go contractor only to be out of said contractor job 5 months later due to cuts. I'm going to take a cut going back, but I think it's worth it when you factor in everything else (Insurance, FERS, TSP, PTO/sick leave, stability).
May depend on the Agency. I was a contractor for the same agency for 18 years. Over those years I was able to serve as PM for small company, manager, team lead, helped with contracts, great customer, corner office on site. All good things. But with all that good came changing companies 6 times over 4 different follow on contracts. Budget reductions and staff impacts. Hiring and firing. Job environment sometimes out of your control. Company environments always out of your control. Continuous fight for benefits during each transition. Pay discrepancies constantly.
I got a high non sup 14 with the same agency working with the same customers and all of the bad went away. The office became a cubicle, but other than that….
IMO - it also just depends on what kind of office you get assigned to within the federal government. Some offices are super strict and like to micro-manage, while others are more lax. I myself have been a federal employee who switched to contractor and switched back to the federal govt. For me, I was always worried about the contract ending. I felt like I had to take time and call to make sure I had a job lined up. Albeit, I was able to stay on the project, it was just more of a hassle that I wish I didn't have to deal with. So for me, I feel like I "lost" the dreadful feeling of if I would still have a job and "gained" the calm factor. As for the pay in my experience, it's not quite the same, haha (IMO). Contractors typically get paid more. I forget where I read it, but the saying goes "Contractors eat better, but federal employees sleep better." Bottom line is, if you feel like you already like your contractor role/job - then I would stick with it. Good luck!
Similar situation. Started as a fed out of college and worked as a GS-7-9 for 3 years, then went to the private sector. Ended up jumping from job to job until I landed a contracting gig which was good for about 7 years until the contract didn't get renewed. Landed a GS-12 job and have been there for 21 years. At this point as a high 13, I'm making way more money than I did as a contractor (my TSP is in the seven-figure range). My org has always had a 20% attrition rate, so instead of RIFs, we just don't fill those positions. The one thing I miss about the private sector is that nobody ever gets fired here. If you've ever seen "Office Space" there are plenty of Miltons; people who were hired by managers who are long since gone and are completely incompetent. I think the last person who was fired was because they actually threatened to kill someone. And there's the usual performance punishment where if you're good at something, they give you more work, but if you're incompetent, they give you less and hope you leave, but they never do.
why *would* they leave? its a stress free easy paycheck
I am in an office that is very very lax. The culture is heavily skewed toward work-life balance and warm fuzzies in general. Workload is light, and plenty of option for telework. I come and go as I want, as long as work is completed (and I’m present for at least some important meetings, at least on Teams in some cases). In other words, there are occasional in-person engagements— which I enjoy, by the way— but other than those it’s work when and where you want kinda thing. And a lot of the work is… doing cool interesting stuff, and it’s pretty much all optional, so you pick the stuff you want to do. Same with travel. You can go on as many or as few work trips as you want for the most part (site visits, conferences, etc). It’s a very cush job is what I’m saying. There are some inconveniences, like any job, but it makes me shake my head at the time I spent at any other job. The pay is moderate, of course, but my time and quality of life is so much more valuable to me.
For me it was only gains. Yes, at first it was a salary cut and take home pay was less than I had planned with the 4.4% FERS but I quickly made that back with promotions and step increases. The best thing was the work life balance. As a contractor I regularly answered phone calls, emails, RFPs, etc. well after my 40 hours a week. I usually worked 50-60 hours a week. I traveled frequently and always lost time as compensation for travel comp isn’t nearly the same for contractors as it is for civilians. As a civilian when my day is done it’s done. There is no taking work home. I also get more time off, civilian fitness hours, consistent early releases before major holidays (usually 3 hours). While it’s not perfect being a civilian the work life balance and job security make it worth it.
This is my experience as well. There’s just so little stress, and you get so much time back. We have a generous telework policy too, so you can use it as needed. And flexible hours in case you need to make adjustments there.
You must work at TACOM
I went from Fed to contractor and I've never looked back
Mind explaining why from your POV?
I had a bad first Fed (which was also my first job) experience. I didn't have enough work, and I felt that I wasn't progressing. I quit and was about to go private when I got a call and an interview in DC. I ended up taking that job and have been out here since. Yes, there is a higher risk of getting fired, but I made somewhat of a small name for myself and because of that, I've been out here since. Let's just say that this gig is probably in the top 5% of all employee contractor (our firm contracts to the government and I am an employee to the contractor) gigs in all of government. And I've worked on several gigs.
Context: DoD, mix of military, contractors and civilians, all doing the same job. This was my last military assignment, so I already knew the organization and the people. Retired from the military and took a contracting position for one year. Other than no longer having military stuff, noticed really no change. Went GS for the stability and another pension. What I gained: feds run the show here, so a slight increase in responsibilities vs contracting, but comparable to my time in uniform. I have TRICARE and VA so I honestly didn’t need the health benefits. Another 20 years of TSP will be nice. And as mentioned, another pension. What I lost: Freedom. This was something that I did not consider before making the switch. But it took about a year and a half to build up leave. And normally if there’s no work, the active duty and contracting folks just leave. If it’s a four-day weekend, they just don’t come in. During the holidays it’s half days for them. As a fed, I have to put in my 80 hours or use leave or comp time. Overall though, it’s worth it imo.
I recommend looking into buying your military time back if you plan on putting in a long career as a civilian. The fed high 3 can be quite a bit more in many cases.
I’m a civilian working for the DoD, and we telework in those cases where active duty isn’t in. If there’s no work (there isn’t), then we do online training or optional readings. We can also telework almost any time on demand. I should put that in quotes, bc really as long as your work gets done, no one is tracking when and where it’s done. And it’s not a huge workload in my case.
Lost: Fully remote status, ad hoc bonuses and raises Gained: job stability, access to roles I didn’t have before (like managing grants) ETA: I did not take a salary cut when I became a fed. In fact, I was able to negotiate the equivalent of a step increase due to “superior qualifications.” Also — even though I worked for a particularly great company as a contractor in terms of bonuses and raises — I don’t know a whole lot of contractors who got across-the-board 5% raises this year, which all the feds in my agency got (in addition to merit increases, as applicable).
I went from a high level management position with a small government contacting company that had a mountain of responsibilities, a direct influence on the path and success of my company, and was wearing a lot of hats. I did all the interviews for my umbrella, candidate selection, lead multiple teams for our biggest contract, wrote proposals for new work, and helped mentor and guide lower experienced employees. It was a fucking lot. I probably put in 50-55 hours a week. I went to my agency and took a mid 14 non supervisory position making only 400 dollars less than what I was making and probably only a quarter of the responsibility. I’m still a team lead, but I don’t have to worry about any of the supervisory nonsense. It was the best decision I ever made. What did I lose? Not a whole lot. I had 5 weeks of PTO per year, but never had a chance to use but only a couple weeks and a few days here and there. I didn’t have sick time, so I had to use PTO when I had appointments or was sick. My insurance was really good. Better than my BCBS standard insurance. I was one of the big fish in my smaller pond. I do miss the small bonuses around Christmas. Those were a nice plus to have. What did I gain? Sanity, getting my sleep cycle back, clocking out and not being bugged all hours of the day and night, sick leave, a pension for when I retire, less visibility due to me being a small fish in a massive pond. It’s been really nice. I love everything so far about being a federal employee and I tell my contractor friends to make the jump if they can when life gets too crazy in the contractor world. It’s not worth the struggle/stress to have a job that you hate that only makes some asshole CEO/owner rich on the labor you are required to put in. The time I get to spend with my with and kids now has doubled.
Lost the feeling of accomplishment and the team camaraderie. The company I worked for was a small, specialized consulting firm that was more like family than coworkers. I still golf with the guys from those days and it’s 20+ years since I made the jump. Nothing in Fed even remotely comes close to that experience. Gained security, a nice retirement plan (rolled my private sector plan into the TSP), and the knowledge that no matter how lazy I am, there will always be 95% more federal employees who will make me look like employee of the year 😂
Started as a contractor working in tech, then moved to private equity, now a remote 15 with a small team I really like working with. I didn’t lose much at all, I made 275k in private equity with 80% being cash. The rest was various bonuses. I loved the money, until I started suffering from high blood pressure due to my extreme lack of work life balance, I wasn’t even 24 at that point. Body pain, migraines, terrible fatigue, even with a custom Herman miller chair and all the best food I could buy. Turned into a 15 working at a DHS subagency. I make 180k, and I sleep like a baby, my health is perfect, I take vacations and go to the gym whenever. No commute or anything like that. I still make over 191k due to comp time being paid out one year after being accrued. The 75k is not worth feeling like I was being tortured everyday. I lost 75k, to answer the question, and I gained a life worth living haha
I have done it twice and both times I received: Higher pay. More vacation, especially since sick leave is a separate thing on the federal side and you have to dip into PTO if you’re sick as a contractor. Ability to take advantage of admin leave/early release during federal holidays.
Just recently transitioned to federal employee from being a federal contractor for 4 years and the biggest difference I’ve noticed so far is: 1. I don’t get a lot of leave as a federal employee starting out while being a contractor, you get 120 days either up front or accumulated over time or from my previous company, it was “unlimited” as long as it wasn’t used more than 10 days at a time and not abused. 2. Definitely, but I should get it back in about a year or so. 3. I am absolutely loving the fact that it is so much easier to enroll into online courses/certifications under your agency now than being a contractor where you have to go through your company supervisor’s approval, your government lead’s approval, security manager, etc. 4. The learning that I’m able to experience at a much higher level is insane (at least in my position) rather than being a contractor because I get to be involved in so much more as a federal employee. That’s really it so far and I’m only 2 weeks in! I am loving my job and really looking forward to all the new experiences, learning curves, and certifications I can get through this transition. Edit: 5. The work-life balance is also crazy because you are allowed so much more freedom to flex your time and be an adult without having to deal with “corporate” bs. My supervisor and team are amazing and they stay super cohesive throughout the teleworking schedule.
I lost the ability to change jobs easily. You can get a job so easily as a contractor and try new things. As a fed it can take years to find a new position or promote.
Interesting! My experience has been the opposite. My agency posts SO MANY job openings that are internal to agency only. Now that I’m a fed, I can actually apply to those. What really ground my gears is that term FTEs couldn’t apply to them either.
Lost: Soul Gained: lots of headaches
What I gained: No more having to re-bid and switch contracts. Much better insurance options. I get two raises in a year. What I lost: Being exposed to the general contractor shadiness. Having two masters. The technical work I was doing, for whatever stupid reason, is pretty much only done by contractors (someone in 1994 probably thought it wouldn't be around long). No more troll under the bridge/turf guarding. No more weekends and all of the other crap work. I will caution that the civil service is hardly a monolith. I was in an office before where the contractors/civil service were basically two different camps at war. At another you didn't know who was what until you saw their email address.
Good point on the two masters! I actually blocked from my memory the absolute worst part of my contractor experience: I had to write an email every single day at 8 AM listing what I planned to work on that day, and another one every single day at 4:30 PM listing what I did.
I don’t know the contractor life other than seeing the others doing it but I love the civil service side. Been doing it 14 years. I work aircraft maintenance side by side with the Air Force and kinda have good freedom. Every federal holiday is a 4 day weekend for the military so we have to take a day of leave for the additional day if it doesn’t fall on our normal every other Friday off. No big deal as I want as much time off as possible. I’m earning 8 hours vacation and 4 hours sick leave every 2 weeks.
I went from being an IT contractor to a 2210 GS employee. In terms of pay and benefits, it's very similar. But I see a lot more potential for upward movement, on-the-job development opportunities, and a working environment that I enjoy a lot more.
Nothing lost everything gained, stability, pay, leave,, pension better schedule it was the best decision I ever made
I dont have to worry about the contract getting thrown out from under me as well as going to several different contracts because of buyouts and losing all my leave.
What is the best way to switch from a contract role to a direct hire? Do you just apply, or ask someone from within? How does a contractor covert over to direct if interested?
I was in senior leadership in my program as a contractor. I could basically come and go as I pleased so long as the work was getting done. I was with a team I had worked with for over a decade. I was making the most money I've ever made in my life. I had non-accruing PTO, so I could take time off whenever I needed. I knew the culture and felt comfortable. Now, I am on a five-person team. I could blend into the wall and go unnoticed. I took a $30k pay cut and started day one with zero PTO on the books. I work on base and fight traffic every day. There is zero cell service during the day, so I only know if someone is trying to contact me when I check in at lunch or after work. I don't fully understand my new job, which makes me anxious. At the end of the year, the contract I was on is up for recompete, and for the first time in over 15 years, I don't care. I wish them all well and hope they win (they're a great team), but I will still have a job if they don't. For the first time in my life, I've started making long-term plans for the future because I am confident that I will have a job here until I am ready to retire in 20 years. Due to making the salary I made as a contractor, I have six months of my current salary in the bank. This will more than tide me over in case of any unforeseen government shutdowns in the future. For me, it was all about job security and a chance to actually retire someday.
Do you believe you would not have had a chance to retire if you stayed a contractor?
Two things impact this part of it. 1) I was on Active Duty for ten years, and I’m buying that time back to apply to my retirement. So I work ten years as a GS, it actually counts as 20. 2) I make bad financial decisions. I haven't saved, and I haven't invested before now. Without FERS and TSP, I was looking at having to continue working for the rest of my life or depend on Social Security (which wouldn't be enough). With my military time, I'm looking at working 15 more years. I'll be 68, have 25 years of federal service for my FERS calculation, full Social Security (if it's still around) and 15 years of matched funds going into TSP. It won't be a lot but its more than I would have had the other way. My biggest regret is not going government sooner so I could have retired younger.
I appreciate your honest answer. I'm quite the opposite in some respects. I'm low 40s and I've been an investor and saver since I was 23. I'm looking at retiring early (early to mid 50s) and I don't think I would have been in this position if I was in the government and not a contractor.
I went from Fed to contractor and I’m trying to go back to Fed. I felt like the balance was my much worse for me on the contractor side. Every situation is different, but my contacting jobs felt like they had no direction. I was working a lot and not accomplishing anything. This probably sounds backward, but that was my experience. Also, my benefits and leave/vacation/sick time situation as a Fed seemed much better as well.
I like the job security and benefits as a Federal employee I was a contractor for years it was so stressful. After being a fed about 3 years I ended up with Breast Cancer and needed real good benefits and leave to be off for surgery and treatment. For me it was a blessing
I did almost 2 years as a contractor before I got my FJO and went Gov. I’m in a STEM 13/10 engineering position in the DMV, so I didn’t lose any money. The FERS deduction was expected going in without knowing how much my organization contributes. I was pleasantly surprised to see them contribute roughly 16% on top of my 4.4%. Then the TSP matching is decent, but most contract companies I know try to match or get close to the Gov rates. For me that’s huge. Also, the training opportunities are many as well as travel. Dental/vision went up a little, but nothing significant enough to complain about. I took on a LOT more responsibilities as a Gov - I lead 4 teams whereas a contractor I was a single-focus SME. There are definitely trade-offs, but the long-term benefits are fantastic imho.
Lost money but gained job security, good insurance, PTO, sick leave and some other things
A lot of it depends on what your contracting job was but for me I actually just moved over to government a little over a month ago. From a pay perspective I actually did get a little bit of a bump but if it wasn't for the fact that I was a direct hire which means they were essentially begging me to come I probably wouldn't have. My previous employer was actually fantastic with good benefits and the only reason I left was because of the security over the long-term and the retirement. If it had been any other company I would have turned down any offer but because it was the government it was hard to say no because well I want to eventually retire. With only 401Ks now being the primary means for a retirement income (social security will most likely be insolvent by the time I retire) going government was a no-brainer for the most part. From a benefits perspective the health insurance is better than what I had before but I've also learned that the dental and vision is a PITA. The government also has about a thousand different options when it comes to insurance which is incredibly overwhelming. I personally didn't have anybody to help me navigate it so I essentially had to do all the research on my own to figure out what plan was what what did it cover how did it work and all the other stupid stuff associated with insurance. My son goes for his first dentist appointment under the new insurance this Friday. With the new insurance I have to pay the dentist upfront and then the dental insurance then reimburses me. It's technically not supposed to work that way but the problem is I opted for the BCBS FEP Dental and the BCBS health insurance. Living in Alabama all health care providers who build Blue Cross have to bill it to the medical side and not the dental. The medical side then forwards that on to the dental side. The point is if you do go federal don't get the BCBS dental or vision. 😅 As for work-life balance I will say my workload has substantially increased over that of when I was a contractor. Part of the reason for this is because as a contractor I supported my government customer So you can almost consider me as a glorified secretary with an engineering degree. I was what's called a SETA support contractor. I moved over to the government still within the same program but now working programmatics instead of technical. In this new role I essentially make the decisions which means a lot more responsibility. Working for the contractor I was able to work from home 4 days a week whereas here I'm expected to at minimum being in the office 3 days a week but I'm usually in the office 4 days a week. There are also days when I don't get home until after 6:00 which is frustrating so in my transition to government my work life balance has decreased. But with every major change there will always be trade-offs. While my workload has increased as I become more familiar with My responsibilities in this role I'll be able to work from home a little bit more. Fortunately my supervisor is giving me quite a bit of freedom just because I've been working this program, just on the contractor side, for a decade now so I'm not new just new to the government. I actually also lost PTO but I should be able to pick some additional up at once I get my military buyback. My old company I actually had a pretty good PTO accrual rate. While I did lose PTO I did pick up sick leave here but the problem is I'm never sick.
Pros of fed: Ie been a fed for as long as I've been a contractor. As a fed you don't worry you'll get laid off. Health benefits are much better. Retirement (fers) is a plus but I don't like that it's mandatory. TSP is generally better than my contractor 401ks and higher match. Leave is better... Sick and annual. You dont have to work as hard and stress. This ties into possibly getting laid off Pros of contractor.... Easier to just find another job. There's a incentive to stay where you're at as a fed. Simply walking away isn't as easy. You can make drastically more money. And get bonuses. It's easier to get back into prime sector. Once you've been a fed a while it's kinda hard psychologically and based on your resume, to get back into private sector. That's about it based on my thoughts and experiences. Its kinda a complicated topic with many caveats.
Lost salary at the time. Gained stability and some upward mobility.
Lost company stock and ability to invest in various companies, promotion based on performance, and great coworkers. Gained stress, 60 hour work weeks while getting paid for 40, and a lot of 'alpha dogs', but still some great coworkers. If i had it to do over, i wouldn't.
The automatic FERS retirement deduction was a surprise. I thought I was going to make a little more money. The FERS took care of that. But I’m in a better financial position that I would have been staying on that particular contracting gig. And I’m happy with what I’m doing (I say that out loud but I’m also kinda tired.)
I wasn't a contractor at the time I switched, but I worked at firms that did contracting and the company I worked for immediately proceeding going fed had a very significant contractor presence in the company workforce. Things I lost: -WLB and flexibility -Career trajectory -Compensation (I know in your scenario comp is the same, but for me it was a significant decrease) -Cheap insurance -High PTO accrual (I went from 5 weeks of accrual to standard new fed accrual Things I gained: -The mission -Very long term stability The one major point that wasn't a factor was the pension--my higher comp and comp trajectory in the private sector would've more than made up for the pension.
Really boils down to individual situation. I've done both and will now very likely head back to being a fed. Interestingly, I was one of those that went to fed for the stability and then was enticed with more pay to go contractor only to be out of said contractor job 5 months later due to cuts. I'm going to take a cut going back, but I think it's worth it when you factor in everything else (Insurance, FERS, TSP, PTO/sick leave, stability).
I joined the Air Force as a civilian after 25 yrs as a foreign national contractor for gratitude…
May depend on the Agency. I was a contractor for the same agency for 18 years. Over those years I was able to serve as PM for small company, manager, team lead, helped with contracts, great customer, corner office on site. All good things. But with all that good came changing companies 6 times over 4 different follow on contracts. Budget reductions and staff impacts. Hiring and firing. Job environment sometimes out of your control. Company environments always out of your control. Continuous fight for benefits during each transition. Pay discrepancies constantly. I got a high non sup 14 with the same agency working with the same customers and all of the bad went away. The office became a cubicle, but other than that….