Background: 28 in a HCOL area (DC region) working in cyber security management for the fedgov. I make a pretty nice salary for the civil service, ~$130K due to special salary authorities for my skillset.
This was my first job out of college and I've been here for 5 years, but am now hitting my growth ceiling salary wise. I'm also feeling like my technical skills are beginning to deteriorate as moving up in government tends to have you doing the more 'pencil pusher' tasks of managing contractors and writing policy. Hypothetically the pension of the fedgov is nice, but I'm also not sure the 4.4% deduction and the years required for it to become substantial is worth the salary opportunity cost.
I've received an offer from a highly respected tech company (not FAANG but a rapidly growing, publicly traded and profitable company). This company would look amazing on my resume and it would have me doing more technical work that excites me. The pay raise isn't massive ($145K + performance bonuses) but there's opportunity to get that number up quickly. Benefits are honestly better than the fedgov and the company is renowned for its WLB. Both positions have remote flexibility.
The only thing that has me hesitating is a potential recession and losing the job security of working for the government. A few friends and my (highly risk adverse) parents think I'd be insane to leave for the private sector with the uncertainty in the economy and layoffs starting to pop up across the tech sector. Part of me agrees with them but I also feel like this would be a huge growth opportunity in my career. Thoughts? Is now the wrong time to leave such a secure job?
Submitted August 22, 2022 at 07:55PM by thisisnotanaccount74 https://ift.tt/mqVsT8H
