In this post, I wanted to share a recent job change, and some notes on working for the federal government, three ways to do it, choosing technical roles (for now), and coming to Boston versus DC. But first, happy Spring!

Happy Spring!

It is the middle of May in Boston and I am very happy right now. I was in my apartment all day feeling not so well but then decided to come outside onto the lawn behind my building. I passed some people, they seemed nice. One of them said hi. There was a child playing right in front of my building with his dad. There are things happening. It is May and it is not frigid. One can actually do things outside.

I am new here, only moved a month ago. Upon reaching the lawn I even discovered a chair. There is another person on the other side of the lawn (multiples of six feet away) on one of these chairs as well, and I realized I could move this chair to a part of the green space that I really like on-looking a cozy part of town. A small hill is in the distance covered in green foliage and a big tree completely covered in thick green leaves is closer to me in front. There is a small road being frequented by cars and pedestrians.

Moving to New England

People are walking and crossing this small road holding hands… young people. There is an abandoned but pretty-looking brick building to the left as well. I wonder what this building is. Two women just now left this lawn through a back-gate of sorts of this apartment complex and I have now discovered this shortcut way of leaving the place! How interesting. 

There are some bushes next to me and these have purple flowers on them. Huh, that made me laugh. I hope people realize sooner than later that I talk to myself and accept it… I am not dangerous just typing and laughing by myself. New England. I do love it here. I like green. And the hills. And that it is busy, people doing things… even abandoned spaces seem like they might be filled with busy and happening ghosts so it is not wasted.

Things are happening, life is alive. I chose this time as well because it is still daylight however not too sunny. But maybe I will come out here earlier and more often, this is really working out. Nobody is bothering me. I just realized the trees next to me behind the aforementioned bushes are Christmas trees! I think there are pine cones on them… hopefully, I am still correct in thinking these are evergreen trees and they definitely look like the right shape for Christmas trees, I could definitely put some ornaments on them. Not that I have any with me, I donated all of my Christmas decorations before leaving Ohio. 

Moving to Boston vs. DC for a career

I actually sat down to talk about how I decided to come to Boston. Why did I choose to take a job in this place versus some others? 

When I was job searching I did look into options in the DC area too, specifically at the Pentagon, since I am in the government sector. I even had some exciting interviews. I actually love DC and have visited a few times. And I love going there… however, I think DC is a place for transients. I think having a career there is exciting and people mainly go there for their career so it would be like oh we are all here for the job so let’s be friends which would be nice, but also, it would be temporary. Boston is for transients too such as students since LOTS of universities here but it also has a solid population of people who are from here or nearby-ish areas.

Long term versus short term kind of home/work situation

People leave their temporary situations all the time (which makes sense!)… and I don’t hold that against DC at all. In fact, it would have been really super fun to work there for a Summer or something! I had applied to some career broadening roles there, too, while still working for the Air Force. But, DC is not where you go for permanent jobs or to find a more permanent home (in this type of world, but also it all depends on the definition of long versus short term). I was working in Dayton, Ohio before now and didn’t want to be there long-term (I am not from Ohio and had no strong ties there besides work) which meant moving someplace I did want to be long-term or trying to find a “home” in the US. Because, I am not from the US, either, lol!

It was super exciting to get this opportunity to work at MIT LL including all of the exciting aspects of the job itself which makes the opportunity rewarding. But I can’t say too much about the job, it’s just cool.

I did have to transition from a government job (and its great benefits, including sick leave, which would have been real handy right about now when I am sick!) to a subcontractor role in order to make this change, though. Going to DC would have probably meant another government role and therefore, a very different kind of package, so in some ways, this is a risky move! But it is MIT LL which is supposedly a stable place, so that mitigates some of that risk.

With this role, I would have tried out all types of ways to work for the government that I know of. There are three ways as far as I know.

Three ways of working for the federal government:

• government contractor or the defense industrial complex (Booz Allen Hamilton which is a for-profit company, although there are even bigger ones like Boeing or Lockheed),
• government employee directly (Research Physicist role at AFRL),
• and now government subcontractor (contractor at MIT LL which is not for profit and a unique government partner or federally funded research and development centers, or FFRDC).

A govt job would have had govt benefits, and working at the Pentagon would have been cool. But I realized that cool is great for a short time. I want something sustainable. I still want to do cool things now and then but also figure out what my long-term sustainable plan is and find a home here in this part of the world. Also, my job here at MIT LL is a technical role. I realized that if I wanted to stay competitive for technical roles then now is the time. If I kept moving up in the government, it would be less and less technical, and I can do that later if I want. I certainly hope so, anyway! A career is hopefully long and one never knows what twists or turns one might chance upon. 

For now, I wanted to stay technical. Because losing your technical edge is not good if you want to contribute the best technologies to the country and the world, government employees are advised (humbly) to stay on top of technical skills in whatever ways they find suitable. This would enable them to effectively evaluate whether the work that contractors are doing is even needed or good or anything… I mean, I never understood why being technical in government was relatively so rare. And I mean, not just attending a technical talk! Doing the work is needed in order to stay sharp and that is more possible to do in technical roles. But that’s just me. I know this opinion is not shared by all and the experience, too, may be vastly different across different organizations. 

Technical roles versus working in the government

Govt roles can quickly become much more administrative or management-y than remain technical. These types of roles may be of interest further down the road, but I am more in a doing mode now. Besides, I wanted to learn more, new technical things, and with that, too, you can quickly become outdated within a relatively management-type role. While it is still acceptable to be technical (roughly speaking, I feel that this correlates with the number of years of service, maybe age, etc), I think it is useful to try out and contribute to various technical problems in order to bring a more comprehensive set of experience, understanding, and ingenuity to a leadership role (like Chief Scientist of Air Force, as an example) down the road.

I want to add, though, that in my book, it is always acceptable to be technical. There is too much nonsense/paperwork in other roles and that may not be one’s cup of tea.

When in doubt, choose technical roles (especially in this economy)

Also, to keep things simple, when in doubt, I advise going for a technical role because, in an uncertain economy, technical roles have more security, in my judgment. Lots of things can be automated or downsized… and do good technical people even really need a manager? (Podcast episode on a related topic) But technical people and what they do, what they bring, their skills, their interests, and their ideas, will always be needed. Having said that, though, I would just do whatever you want.

Do what you want whether that is trying out technical roles or management depending on what suits your life

I wanted to come to Boston because I had a good feeling about it and just really wanted to do this, if you want something, just go for it. There is not really much more advice than that that one needs. Besides, the ocean is very important to me. I haven’t been able to get out in the actual ocean yet, but I have booked a whale watch cruise that keeps getting postponed. Then I got sick with COVID anyway, and I am hoping soon one of these days I will be amidst the waves… and it is going to be awesome.

Honestly, being sick and in a new city, while still getting settled, and the actual move here – all have not been easy and I wanted to say that if you have been similarly going through a lot or if life is tough, I hope that things settle down for us all and that… everything is really going to be OK. Stay well, my friend! 

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