Weighing out my options staying as a contractor or making the jump to GS. What are the benefits going GS? It seems like salary growth is capped and the pension benefits aren’t as great as what it used to be. I am also a veteran and still in my 30s.

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Former GS-14 and GS-15 here.

Coming from the contractor side, the only real benefits to being a fed are the stability and potentially the pension if you stay long enough for it to make a difference at retirement.

Even there, though, the pension isn't all that great and you could make up the difference by earning a high enough contractor salary differential.

All that said, I do plan to go back to being a GS for a few years before retirement just to coast and pad my comparatively meager pension a bit before retiring.

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Hey. Did you exit gs-15 to your MD position?

I haven't updated my position here on fishbowl, but made the switch to GS 3 years ago and while I've had to switch jobs within the government, I'm so glad I made the move to the other side. I ended up moving up a few GS levels as well and love where I'm at now from a culture/workload standpoint. The job security is really nice, and I'm pretty happy with my pay as a GS-13 for now. Given that you're a veteran, you can always hop back to industry and can easily go to govt again at another point - the pay bumps coming from the govt are pretty significant depending on your area or expertise.

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People jump back and forth all the time. I say give it a try.

But yes, eventually you will be constrained by the limits of the federal pay system if that is something that is of concern. I was a former fed and left Govt service almost 9 years ago. I will never go back.

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From what I understand it would only be for stability. Contracting will pay more but can be volatile

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“Contracting”

You’re a fed at heart, no doubt

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This is obviously highly subjective but unless you want to do a specific job that’s off limits for contractors, I have no idea why anyone would switch to GS.

Yep that’s another very reasonable driver as well. Good luck on the job hunt.

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