[nytesky]

Interesting you don’t mention a huge option that opened up after 2001 — govt/defense work. There was a huge ramp up in military spending in the 2000s and it was still “tech” work, albeit often of the more “move slow, change incrementally” variety.

[pokstad]

I spent the start of my career in Defense in the late 2000s. People told me it was foolish to leave defense for less money/benefits in tech startups where nothing was guaranteed. I ended up finally leaving and it was the best career decision I ever made.

[nytesky]

Without question. I had a kid around that time so startup life seemed really mismatched, so now kinda stuck.

[CoastalCoder]

I worked a decade in the DoD, and then another decade in various tech companies. I was laid off from a startup 12 months ago.

There are definitely pros and cons of both sides. Here's my take on working for the DoD:

- PRO: Having a long tenure means you really get to know the software systems you're developing, and the people with whom you're collaborating.

- PRO: Lack of commercial / profit pressure lets you focus on what seems good for the country, rather than for stockholders.

- CON: Congress is insane. They still haven't passed a defense budget for FY24. The DoD is the only employer I've ever had that missed payroll.

- PRO/CON: Supporting the U.S.'s military might is good or bad, depending on how it's used. A lot of soul-searching may be required to do the work. But working for the private sector can also feel awful, especially in this age of surveillance capitalism.

- PRO/CON: The pay is okay-ish compared to the private sector (PRO), but there's no potential for major bonuses / RSUs (CON).

- PRO: Layoffs are far less common than in the private sector. There's no boom-and-bust cycle tied to interest rates (AFAIK).

- PRO: The hiring process is 10000x better than what I've endured from the private sector since being laid off about 12 months ago. No LeetCode tests, no 5 rounds of interviews followed by being ghosted. And yet, despite the far simpler hiring process, my corner of the DoD generally managed to hire good people.

- CON: Bureaucracy. It can be soul-sucking. But since leaving the DoD, I've learned that it's just a symptom of massive organizations in general. E.g., I encountered a lot of the same frustrations working at Intel under Brian K and Bob Swan.

- PRO/CON: Physical facilities. At least where I worked, the DoD offices were generally run down compared to typical big-corporation offices. On the other hand, the DoD workspaces weren't under financial pressure to maxize programmers per square foot. So there weren't any open-office floor plans. Everyone at least had a cube, more senior people generally had offices.

- PRO: No significant ageism. If you start working for the DoD, and don't egregiously screw up, you don't need to worry about being laid off because of your age. But beyond that, many of these systems / problem domains have long learning curves, so long-tenured developers generally command a lot of well-deserved respect.

**

Right now I'm actually interviewing for private sector jobs (Microsoft) and DoD jobs. I might have to take an offer from Microsoft because of financial considerations. But I'm also kinda hoping I end up back at the DoD.

[nytesky]

How did you transition from govt work back into tech. Ive made some efforts but never seem to be able to bridge it.

[CoastalCoder]

> How did you transition from govt work back into tech. Ive made some efforts but never seem to be able to bridge it.

Probably a combination of factors:

- I finished my PhD in computer science shortly before looking for work outside the DoD, and that probably lent me some credibility.

- I'd had good success with several unclassified software projects while inside the DoD, and I was able to talk about them during the interviews.

- I put some effort into interview prep. E.g., I'd done very little with networking, so I brushed up on DNS, etc., before interviewing for a company that does internet stuff.

- Luck and timing. I'm sure there was some luck regarding which interviewers / hiring managers were interested in my resume.