Getting Ahead in Your Government Career
Succeed by Understanding the System
Serving in the U.S. government provides many opportunities for fulfillment and reward. But making the most of these opportunities calls for understanding some of the unique characteristics of the public service and how to work them to one's advantage.
What's Different About Government Service
The most striking differences fall under the category of bureaucracy. This is not to say that large corporations, non-profits, and insurance companies don't have voluminous rules, procedures, and paper trails. But in those settings it's often possible to demonstrate to colleagues and decision-making superiors the kind of performance that earns promotions and pay raises.
In the government setting, those recognitions and rewards are governed by laws, regulations, and individual agency policies and processes. Getting a promotion may entail competing against dozens of candidates by filing a resume that is screened by a computer programmed to seek phrases relevant to the open job. If that roadblock is passed, it may also involve interviews with total strangers in another organization.
Government agencies are also subject to "budget crunches". Unanticipated crises may require shifts of funds that must be compensated for by curtailing promotions, monetary awards, and the training that enhances qualifications for advancement. Agencies also vary in their sensitivity to workforce diversity. If women and minorities are underrepresented in specific organizations, the odds may be against a white male in a promotion competition.
A recent development has been a halting move toward "pay for performance." Some departments are authorized to move superior-performing employees to higher pay levels without formal competition, and seemingly inevitably, more agencies will have this power. However, these processes are constantly being challenged on grounds of fairness and objectivity with sometimes chilling effects on managers.
What To Do About the Differences
The crucial initial step is to learn about an employing agency's "system," both the formal and informal. Published regulations, policies, and procedures tell the first part of the story. Consulting more senior co-workers can yield much useful information on "how things really are," like:
- which organizations are open to newcomers and which only nurture their own
- which managers value initiative and creativity and which prefer to play it safe
- which skills, knowledges, and attributes are particularly valued in promotions and pay raises
- which agency missions are the true priorities
- which problems have been found most difficult to solve
- is there really pay for performance
Armed with this type of knowledge, an employee interested in getting ahead can begin to target the organizations and leaders worth working for and ways to acquire the skills and knowledges which will best enable him or her to make significant contributions. Aside from the aforementioned budget crunches, government agencies are usually generous in supporting formal training and continuing education relevant to their missions. But the employee should also integrate things like on-line courses and temporary and project assignments into a skills development plan.
Turning the plan into actions and revising it as circumstances change can go a long way toward the advancement that yields the desired recognition and rewards.
