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IMHO, those considering government service should be more concerned with serving their community and country than prestige. If you're seeking prestige you're in it for the wrong reasons. That said, DC is full of people with the wrong reasons, but thankfully many others are still actually committed to public service. Sorry, but I have to laugh at those who compare working for Congress as being prestigious. Good grief.
In my experience, most of the people who work for the federal government are in it for the job stability, benefits, and pension. That doesn't mean they don't have ambition. Many put in their time until they've earned their pension, and then go pursue their ambitions in the private sector.
And there are plenty of prestigious jobs in the government to pursue that ambition for those who choose to stay, and not just in the medical or legal fields. NASA scientists, Smithsonian archeologists, anthropologists, and zoologists, CIA covert operatives, to name a few.
Like all aspects of life, there are certainly jobs that may seem boring--maintenance workers, accountants, and file clerks. But while a groundskeeper in the private sector may spend their time mowing lawns in office parks, a federal maintenance worker may be polishing the Space Shuttle Discovery at Udvar Hazy or helping to care for the irreplaceable treasures of our national parks. A file clerk in the private sector may simply be managing procurement documents while in the private sector they may be managing public requests for access to official papers of our Founding Fathers.
And remember, it was a security guard that uncovered Watergate. And a secretary that blew the lid on Whitewater. And an assistant deputy that broke the silence at the January 6th hearings. For federal workers, there's always a chance they will be in the front row to witness history.
It’s really no different from private sector. Engineers, analysts, project managers, IT specialists, and managers are no more or less prestigious in the private sector than they are in Federal agencies. Is a Database Administrator for Apple any more or less prestigious than a Database Administrator for the SEC?
I saw a GS-15 on the very high end makes under 150k in the DC area.
You "saw" that, eh? Where? Not on the official Office of Personnel Management Web site (available for all to see.) A maxed-out GS-15 in the D.C. area makes $176,300.
You don't seem very bright, and you clearly have an enormous chip on your shoulder about feds. So, which agency did you apply for a job with and get turned down?
Actually, the 4.6% COLA would result in lower steps within GS 15 reaching the cap, as the cap does not change. A different bill would be required by Congress to raise the $176,300 cap.
That problem arises every year that there is a federal pay raise. And every year Congress votes to raise the cap to accommodate the pay raise.
You know there are plenty of doctors and lawyers that are employed by the feds, right? Federal positions run the gamut from janitors to actual rocket scientists but folks talk as though it's all paper pushing. Many positions are but plenty are impactful and substantial, even if they aren't necessarily considered prestigious by the masses.
Stock broker and hedge fund manager may have been prestigious in the 90s or so, but not so much post-recession IMO.
Most janitorial jobs at the federal government are contracted out, but your point is well taken.
The question of whether working for the Federal government is prestigious is equivalent to asking whether working for the private sector is prestigious. Which agency/company and doing what? An engineer for NASA working on the next Mars rover is probably more impressive than an engineer for some company you’ve never heard of working on ball bearings.
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