
Ask HN: Fellowship for school, but must work for USgov. What to do? - decidetogether
I am a student in a terminal masters program in information science on the west coast. I recently found out that I won a US government fellowship to pay for school (and a small cost-of-living stipend), but I would have to be employed by a US gov department upon graduation for 5 years.<p>The role seems to be more managerial than technical--effectively I would be a middle-manager for IT initiatives at embassies. Based on the interviews I have had with other people doing this work, it seems like the US government does help you do continuing education work.<p>I am using this degree to pivot from my previous career to the tech sector. My interests are in cybersecurity and data science. I have moderate student loan debt currently.<p>I feel conflicted about this because I would have to take 2 internships with the particular government department, and thus wouldn&#x27;t be able to work at Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or somewhere else. I have mild-to-moderate technical skills and would like to develop them. I am worried that I wouldn&#x27;t be able to do this in the government, regardless of what people say. It&#x27;s also hard to figure out what the tech climate is going to be like in the next 5 years, after my government tenure is over.<p>Can any HNers speak about making a transition from the US government to a tech company?
How has your managerial experience been impacted by your previous US government job?
Above all, should I take the fellowship? What would you do? Help me figure out my life.
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jamesmishra
I signed up for a similar government program and ended up leaving after 1
year.

If you want to dedicate yourself to public service, these programs are
_absolutely amazing_. You can get your foot into doors that many other civil
servants and contractors cannot.

But that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to work in Silicon Valley and
eventually start my own company. So that's what I did.

Whether this program is right for you depends on how seriously you want to
stay in government. If you want to work in the private sector, I suggest you
look for private sector opportunities instead of doing any government work.

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caw
Reasons for not taking the fellowship:

If you want to work at a particular company, interning there is a good way to
get in the door before graduation.

If you want to develop tech skills, you may develop them somewhat in the
internships (I can't see the internships making you a manager, that'd be post
graduation), but looking 5+ years after college it may not be to the degree
you're seeking.

Pay freezes are a thing in government. You may go a few years without a pay
raise if there's another recession.

Reasons for taking the fellowship:

You'll learn tons about dealing with people and their priorities. You'll have
to coordinate with different departments and agencies. Hugely underrated
skill.

Your work schedule will be 40 hours a week.

You mentioned middle-manager for IT initiatives. I can guess that the systems
targeted for those initiatives are 10-15 years old at least, and you'll be
responsible for maintaining the legacy whatever while transitioning to new
technologies. Great experience combination.

If you can obtain a security clearance as a part of your government work,
doors open in the private sector (Boeing, Lockheed, Harris, etc). Active
TS/SCI clearances are worth pretty good money because you can be productive
immediately and not have to do desk work for a year while you're cleared. If
you hate the pay/benefits you can always jump ship to a contractor. This
should still be true in 5 years.

~~~
Kevin_S
Just wanted to +1 for the note about the TS/SCI clearance. I am a contractor,
and my firm will pay an employee $10k for referring a new employee that
already has one. It took me 2 months of non-work before I received my interim,
and it's only because it was pushed up from the head of my client.

If you have a clearance, companies in the space will be falling over
themselves to recruit you.

~~~
tbihl
I'm always surprised when I see things like this, considering the somewhat
large number of military officers continually leaving service with this active
credential,many of them from pretty technical roles.

What sorts of roles is your firm having such a hard time filling?

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danjoc
IT for US Embassies must be incredibly challenging from a security
perspective. I think you would learn a lot. You might actually end up staying
with government for the benefits. There's more to compensation than the
paycheck. Also, nobody makes movies about cool spies who work for Amazon :) US
Embassies. I would do that. That sounds awesome, even before you get to the
patriotism aspect. The free school is just icing on the cake.

~~~
toomuchtodo
> IT for US Embassies must be incredibly challenging from a security
> perspective.

The pay is below market, but the benefits are fantastic.

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nataz
Would you be OCONUS working at an Embassy/Mission overseas, or would you be
CONUS working in DC or another U.S. city?

The Embassy lifestyle is a unique opportunity, and for the right person can be
amazing both from a comp/benefits point of view and as a cultural experience.
It can lead to a long term expat lifestyle, or it can be something you do for
a few years and then settle down with some great stories to tell your
kids/friends.

Also, if you want to get into real (state level actor) cyber work, you are
going to need a TS/SCI. Right now a TS (without SCI) can take up to 2 years,
and that's if you can find someone to sponsor you. Most contractors want folks
who already have a clearance so they can get working (and therefore bill
hours) as soon as possible.

~~~
decidetogether
I would be OCONUS for the majority of the 5 years, and in DC for one year.

All of the discussion around TS/SCI clearance is very good knowledge. I'm new
to the field and am feeling all this out.

If I have a successful background check, but don't take the position, do I get
to keep the clearance or no? I'd assume not...

~~~
nataz
So, This is way more then a background "check", it's an investigation. The
government will collect information that you provide, and then it will attempt
to validate it with multiple independent sources that they seek out. When you
give them names to interview, one of the first things they ask those people
are for another list of people to talk to. That's why it takes so long.

Once they issue a clearance it's good for around five years before you are re-
up for another investigation.

Because of that investment of time/money/resources, generally speaking once
you are issued a clearance, even if you leave government, the sponsoring
agency can continue to hold it as inactive for a period of time (it varies
from months to years). It's much simpler and faster to activate a clearer then
to revive a new one.

