By Paul Cecala, GCDF, February 26, 2025
Photo by Emily Studer on Unsplash
With all the media coverage (rightly so) of the activities of DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency) run by Elon Musk, I thought it might be helpful to share my career experiences spanning the private and government sectors. I have worked for the County and State government as well as a state public college and I have had a career beyond those rolls!
Yes, I have done many things in my career including working for non-profits, social services, higher education, trade schools, corporations (big and small), and government positions. I suppose 40 years in the workforce will do that.
There is life after a government job
I can tell you from my personal experience as well as that of a host of clients, there are jobs for you after leaving the government. The tricky part is understanding the differences in government employment versus corporate employment. Two big differences lie in the jargon and experiences of government employees versus corporate employees and the disparity in the culture of each. I found a third distinction to be in the key performance indicators or expectations for success in each.
How I transitioned careers
Let me share my experiences. Whenever we transition from one industry to another, we have to connect the dots for the interviewer because they will often not make the connections between how your previous work fits for the new role. This was most evident when I moved from corporate aviation sales to higher education career services.
The college dean was asked to interview me because of my networking but could not see how I fit into her career services department coming from a corporate sales role. First, I had to stop talking in corporate speak and start talking in academia speak. The jargons are different. In order for the interviewer who would also be my boss to understand my background, I had to find the common language and experiences we shared or convert my experiences to ones she could relate to communications 101! Instead of sales quotas, I had to talk about employment rates and the like.
I had to breakdown the core elements of career services selling employers on hiring graduates and selling graduates on taking jobs they really did not want. When the manager recognized that truth, it was then easy for me to explain how my excellent sales skills could be put to work for the school. But I had to spell it out. She would not have made the connections on her own. Then I had to prove myself and learn the culture of the new employer (corporate culture is very different from higher education culture!).
Cultures clash!
The government office I worked in had these as some of the cultural norms:
My government roles – provide customer service, but don’t take any crap from them. Don’t like the way you are being treated, push them up to the boss who gets paid to deal with the crap. Corporate world, It is your job to provide great customer service while maintaining profit margins. Make the customer happy AND make us more money. After all everything you do is in service of making more profit for the company.
At times, I felt like I had a split personality during the transition from one to the other.
The day started at 8:30 and ended at 4:30, not 8:29 or 4:31. My coworkers admonished me for starting even a couple minutes early and shutting down a few minutes late. It made them look bad. The private sector often has no such boundaries. You work until the job is done.
I did not get paid to think out of the box in my government job. I was given the parameters of what I was to do. Stay inside the lines. Corporate bosses (at least the good ones) expect you to be problem solvers and make their lives easier. Not solving problems for the boss, your out the door.
Defining Success in the role
My experiences with the government roles I had were to keep things moving. That’s all, just keep things moving. Push the paperwork to make it seem like stuff was happening. Try to make the public happy in your interactions but just keep the wheels of government turning. I never had true metrics-based performance indicators in my government roles. I hear from some clients that this seems to be changing, but career lifers are pushing back hard and making the change happen VERY slowly.
Most corporate roles come with very clear metrics-based expectations. Meet this goal by this date or you’re fired. Often these goals seem to be impossible to reach or require herculean efforts. And, yes, your boss expects you to put in the time and effort to succeed. If you cannot or will not, there are a hundred other people who will, and they will take your job.
Finding Success in transitioning
I recognize this makes the transition sound difficult and maybe even bleak. It is for many a reality. As a career coach, I need to prepare you for reality whether you want to hear it or not.
But I also made the transition between these sectors several times! It can be done! People do it every day! It takes preparation. It takes time. And, it takes a process or methodology in your job search.
I believe the keys to finding a new job in a new industry are:
- Learn and speak the jargon of the new industry,
- Identify your transferable skills play them up, and learn any new skills to fill in gaps,
- Network like crazy (preferably, if possible) into the new industry/private sector before you lose your current job.
- Learn the current best practices of job search!
Things are different today than when you started your government job. They are different today than they were just 6 or 12 months ago. Career Development Professionals (career coaches) are constantly training and learning both from their clients, recruiters and employers as well as through professional development courses to offer you the best guidance and advice on how to proceed successfully.
Career transitions are never easy. That can feel even worse when not in your control or in your timing. I often suggest folks take a couple of weeks to grieve the lost job, rest and rejuvenate before starting their next job search, especially if you have been at the same job for many years.
When you are ready, there are lots of resources available to help you, some even from that government that just let you go! Set aside your pride. Understand that in most cases, you are not at fault when you get laid off or downsized or rightsized or whatever term is used. This one job does not define who you are or can be. So take advantage of ALL the resources at your disposal from your local, state and federal government, non-profits, NGOs, and private sector corporations.
Remember there are always career coaches like me ready to assist you! Just reach out!
Paul Cecala
Paul Cecala, a Global Career Developmental Facilitator (GCDF) certified career coach, is a principal at Cecala Career Consultants with decades of experience as a career coach helping individuals with finding career success. He has taught over 500 seminars and workshops on conducting successful job searches. Mr. Cecala can be reached at pcecala@cecalacareer.com . Follow him at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cecala-career-consultants.
Paul Cecala can help you navigate to your success. Learn more about his services here.