How to pivot from Federal to Commercial? I'm no longer passionate about Federal work, so I can't pivot to Booze or Deloitte. I'd like to switch to commercial, but no one internal or external will look at me b/c I'm a Defense person and don't have 15 years of Healthcare, or whatever. The higher I go the more I feel locked in. Advice?

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Deloitte has a massive commercial segment lol

likesmart

I came from a small consultancy with only gov experience and joined commercial. I just made it clear I was looking for a faster pace with more innovation and was willing to come in one level under where I would be in government work for them (sc instead of m). Worth it and I love it

uplifting

Bad idea right now. Commercial not doing good. Wait for economy to improve.

likehelpful

Take time now to network and learn more about commercial teams you might be a fit for. Set linkedin job alerts, and track what's going on. Set a goal of making the change in one year.

What has your scope been? I switched from federal to commercial and would be happy to help if I can. I think certain skillsets makes it easier to switch than others, to your point.

uplifting

So, to your point, business development is the biggest piece of the move. You may have it in spades on the federal side, but commercial is different.

The higher the level, the more time you spend on business development, while less is spent on the project. The network as well as the hard skills are a great combo, with the network being valued more at that level. You need to be able to sell your skillset and experience for that SOW and have the network to find and sell it to.

I think there are a lot of capable employees at commercial firms that can manage people, timelines, etc. your value in federal is the experience to cut through the noise.

likehelpful

I've worked between both back and forth. If you're a defense person what's stopping you from doing aerospace and defense industry client projects? That's the clearest move to commercial (i.e., project with Boeing, Ball, SpaceX, Raytheon, or smaller companies in the space)

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