| Topic Name: |
DI Promotion |
| Message Name: |
Gov't v. contractor |
| Date Posted: |
01/27/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Indeed, it is unfortunate, and debilitating for the IC (and by extension the country), that the government is unable to keep up with market forces.
Personally I have a strong desire to work for the government but must consider if a government salary will be sufficient to pay my bills (most importantly, my student loans which at this point is equivalent to a mortgage) when I graduate. If I can start at a GS-12 and move up a few grades (or steps) in a few years then I think I will be fine. It would also help if the CIA would institute a program to repay student loans. As far as I know they do not currently have one.
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| Message: |
As someone who has worked in the intel community as both a gov't employee and a contractor, I can say with certainty that the pay is better on the contractor side. My leaving the gov't to become a contractor resulted in an almost 66% pay raise.
That being said, I would caution those of you with no prior gov't or military service from going the contracting route. Few companies will spend the money getting someone their first security clearance (and if they have to shell out that money, it will be reflected in a lower starting salary pretty comparable to that of the gov't). Instead, IC/DOD contractors want people who already have that ticket punched, and the military or gov't service is pretty much the only way to do that.
This is especially true for contracting at CIA, because there not only do you need the clearance, but you need to pass a lifestyle (or "full scope") polygraph. Only a few agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI - a small part of DOD) give such polys, and most contractors won't pay to get you one.
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