government job vs grad school

Parents Forum
1

<p>I left a job at a private company with the intention of graduate school. Now as I'm about to start my masters, I have an offer from the government. </p>

<p>I won several prestigious national level scholarships and was looking forward to grad school. I think my dream job would be becoming a research scientist or professor for which i know a phd is required. The research group that i'm planning to go into has great placements for the students, everyone gets a job so i'm not too concerned about that. This group has interesting research and the strongest government connections of any group I've seen, i would be collaborating with a government research center. Working for this government research center after graduation would be absolutely amazing but its definitely not a guarantee. PhD students from this research group have gone on to become Professors although to be honest, i've mostly been paying attention to what the masters students have gone on to do.</p>

<p>The way i see it, i have two options and they are as follows.</p>

<p>Option 1: Go to grad school and reject the government position.</p>

<p>Pro: This would allow me to take up my scholarships and possibly get a research oriented government position. </p>

<p>Con: While all students get jobs, most aren't with the government and are out of state. I would prefer to be in my current state due to family reasons. I would HATE to give up the a chance to work in the government and end up back in the private sector. </p>

<p>Option 2: Take the government position and go to grad school</p>

<p>Pro: I'd be in the government making a stable income with awesome benefits</p>

<p>This organization has educational leave so if i work there for a number of years, i could take time off and go to grad school while being supported (recieve 80% of my salary) and have a job guaranteed when i complete my graduate degree. </p>

<p>Con: Educational leave would take a few years so i wouldn't be able to start graduate school for a while. If i say started a family within this time, grad school might not happen at all.</p>

<p>While the government position that I'm not offered is much better than my previous job, its not as good as a position in a research center.</p>

<hr>

<p>So in the end, is it worth giving up a government position in a good location for the possibility of a better government position down the road? Should i be concerned about my age? I'm 23, if i have to work for 2 years before being eligible for educational leave, i'd be 25 before starting my masters.</p>

<p>Is there more information that I should gather before making a decision?</p>

<p>thanks so much everyone</p>

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<p>IF the grad school offer provides you with enough to live on, take it. Life has a way of impinging on education, and you may not ever go back. When you’re younger, generally speaking you can live on much less. (Are you married already?)</p>

<p>With a successful graduate school career, even more opportunities may open up - those you haven’t even thought of yet.</p>

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<p>the grad school offer provides more than enough to live off of. I was very fortunate in the scholarships i recieved.</p>

<p>The thing is, I’ve spoken to graduates from this research group and I know what types of jobs they hold after graduating from a masters. I would rather do this government job than those positions. </p>

<p>I’m unsure about the PhD students though.</p>

<p>No, I’m not married.</p>

4

<p>Understood. But think five years down the road. You might get shut out of future opportunities because of the lack of a piece of paper. Or you might end finding it advantageous to continue on for your Ph.D. I work in state government, and actually hold a position that supposedly requires a Ph.D. (I managed to get there without it), and, sadly, many positions are paper-driven. And, you might find opportunities you never knew existed. </p>

<p>You have the opportunity to study easily now - it may never come again.</p>

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<p>"This organization has educational leave so if i work there for a number of years, i could take time off and go to grad school while being supported (recieve 80% of my salary) and have a job guaranteed when i complete my graduate degree. </p>

<p>The thing is, I’ve spoken to graduates from this research group and I know what types of jobs they hold after graduating from a masters. I would rather do this government job than those positions."</p>

<p>If you put those two paragraphs together, it makes me wonder why you would not take the government job. You would rather have the govt job than hold the type of positions that you’d get after the masters, plus this job will let you go to grad school with 80% pay and a job guarantee afterwards??</p>

<p>Why are you even asking this question? And you can actually get most of your pay to go to grad school? Yeah, I think you could find the time to go to grad school (especially if it was instead of going to work). This sounds like a steal, what’s the catch?</p>

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<p>My S opted to take the govt job he was offered than stay an extra year in his U & get a masters. He was ready to take a break in studies and work a bit. The government DOES allow him to go back to school, so he did take his GREs & LSAT. Could you see if any of your grad schools would defer your acceptance?</p>

<p>You can become overqualified for some jobs & have a tougher time getting hired AFTER you get a grad degree, which you have already noticed. Great that your govt job will offer your 80% pay & a job guarantee afterwards. Congrats!</p>

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<p>"Understood. But think five years down the road. You might get shut out of future opportunities because of the lack of a piece of paper. Or you might end finding it advantageous to continue on for your Ph.D. I work in state government, and actually hold a position that supposedly requires a Ph.D. (I managed to get there without it), and, sadly, many positions are paper-driven. And, you might find opportunities you never knew existed. </p>

<p>You have the opportunity to study easily now - it may never come again."</p>

<p>The good thing about this government job is that it’ll allow me a chance to go back to school. I get what you’re saying though, if i do the masters now, i will definitely have it whereas if i don’t, i may or may not have it. </p>

<p>"Why are you even asking this question? And you can actually get most of your pay to go to grad school? Yeah, I think you could find the time to go to grad school (especially if it was instead of going to work). This sounds like a steal, what’s the catch? "</p>

<p>The only thing would be if i were to luck out and through grad school, get an ever better government position than the one i’m offered. Even though most students haven’t done it, there is a slim chance that i might be able to pull it off. …I’m realizing that i write this that it sounds like a pretty risky idea.</p>

<p>“You can become overqualified for some jobs & have a tougher time getting hired AFTER you get a grad degree, which you have already noticed.”</p>

<p>With a masters degree, theres not really a problem getting a job but with a PhD theres a HUGH problem of overqualification. If i say no to the government, i’d next make the decision of PhD vs. masters</p>

<p>Masters: not too difficult to find work but not as good as the position i’d be turning down</p>

<p>PhD: Hard to find work, could be in an undesirable location, <em>might</em> get a better position than the one i’m turning down</p>

<p>…writing this post is making lean toward the government position.</p>

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<p>Do what makes you feel comfortable.</p>

<p>However, I would note that in my state, the educational benefits for employees have been indefinitely suspended due to budget cuts.</p>

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<p>Also look at what you consider your dream
Is it to be a public servant- or as you call it, “the government”?
Is it the private sector?
Is it to stay in school?
While it is hard to define, I think there is a changing feeling about those who choose to be a public servant. Right or wrong, but I think I see the public desiring more oversight over those who serve them than in the past. More of the public seem to be mindful that those who choose government jobs are really the employees of the public. If this feeling grows, those who choose public service may not have their total compensation as lavish as in the recent past and the present.</p>

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<p>If this is a federal gov’t position make sure it is not an overhire position. An overhire is at greater risk of having the funding pulled, which means back out on the street.</p>

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<p>How does one determine whether a particular position is or is not an “overhire”? My S was hired by the federal government as well & we never heard of the term overhire before. In H’s workplace, they keep terminating positions and not filling vacancies created for whatever reasons, meaning he & others have to do more & more folks work.</p>

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<p>“Also look at what you consider your dream
Is it to be a public servant- or as you call it, “the government”?
Is it the private sector?
Is it to stay in school?”</p>

<p>I would like to do research so being a prof would be great. However, these positions are really hard to come by and profs work really long hours. The scientists that i know in the government work regular hours so that would be the best of both worlds. </p>

<p>“If this is a federal gov’t position make sure it is not an overhire position. An overhire is at greater risk of having the funding pulled, which means back out on the street”</p>

<p>Not sure that an overhire is either…The way it would work here is that I would be on a contract for a few months and then be hired in perminantly. Or at least that would be the plan.</p>

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<p>With this in mind, I would recommend to take the government position, and try to go to school part time when working, or when you can take advantage of the educational leave program.</p>

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<p>My FIL recently passed away. Trying to maitain his estate has caused all us “kids” to open up our finances to one another while deciding how long to float his house, etc.</p>

<p>Out of 7 of us adults (kids and in-laws), my SIL who works for the federal governtment is very well situated. She can retire at 55. She has been insulated from the skyrocketing health premiums and co-pays the rest of us have. She has a govt pension and is not subject to social security concerns. All her home searches/pruchases were done through work in a seemless process (they narrowed the houses, took care of all the mortage pre-approval, etc.). We were jealous of her paid time off before, but the length and depth of her comp & benefits were beyond what any of us imagined.</p>

<p>She is in a large organization. When she gets bored with her job, she simply puts in for a transfer to another department or 2 year stint at another location. She has had all the benefits of changing jobs without the drawbacks of losing seniority.</p>

<p>IMO - If the govt job is with a larger agency, look at the long term. The security may provide you with more opportunities than just a leave for education. What else are they offering? </p>

<p>Best of Luck – either decision sounds like a wonderful opportunity!</p>

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<p>You are young. You don’t need to think about security and retirement at this point. You have a unique opportunity to continue your education without any financial hardship - go for it! Sounds like you will not end up jobless afterwords, and what you will give up is not your “dream job”. You don’t know what will happen in a few years - you may get married and have to move away. The job might be terminated due to budget cuts, who knows.</p>

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<p>You will never regret a free education.</p>

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<p>thanks so much for all the replies so far. </p>

<p>I’ve recently worked in the private sector and at least at my company, everyone wanted to get into the government because of all the benefits, like a pension. </p>

<p>I’m pretty sure i won’t end up jobless after my masters because nobody else from this group has but i’d really hate to give up my shot at getting into the government. Who knows when a chance to get into the government will come again. </p>

<p>I am really interested in the research that i’d get to do in my masters and would love to chance to determine if i really do have research potential.</p>

<p><em>sigh</em></p>

18

<p>I would take the government job, if you really want that path.</p>

<p>I just got hired to a federal natural resources agency through a student-to-career gateway, and will be working summers while studying for my master’s degree the next two years - then I convert to permanent career status. When I was lucky enough to be offered this deal, there was no way I could say no. Getting a government job these days is so difficult, there is just no way you should give up that opportunity.</p>

<p>If you hate the work, you can always quit - but there’s no guarantee that if you go to grad school now, you will easily find another government job.</p>

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<p>As someone who went pt to grad school, after I had kids, I can tell you that it is hard, very hard trying to juggle kids and family and school. good luck, you have two nice choices.</p>

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<p>You are in your twenties. This is not the time to worry about pension. This is time to invest in yourself, and find where your passions are. The government may run out of money by the time you retire. Take the opportunity to further your education and pursue your interests.</p>