Quit? A fictional short-short story

A Whistleblower's Tale: A fictional short-short story

Drone: A short-short story

Escaping from Golden Handcuffs: Letter from a "Trapped" Government Employee

This is today's installment in my PsychologyToday.com series of composite letters of complaint about one's worklife and my responses.

Will You Actually Make a Bigger Difference in a Government Job?

Conventional wisdom is that you're more likely to "make a difference" working for the government or a non-profit than for a company.

My AOL.com article today raises questions about that.

A bit more complete version of the article appears as "Truth" #5 in the transcript  of a talk I gave, Eight Career "Truths" That May Not Be So True.

Me Talking Careers on AOL as the "Opening Act" for Sheryl Sandberg?!

AOL video-interviewed me today for a half-hour. HERE is the three-minute highlight reel.

The interviewer asked me about resumes, landing a government job, and who should and shouldn't go to college or graduate school.

The video continues with Marlo Thomas asking Sheryl Sandberg about  whether college is still a wise choice.I never thought I'd ever be the"opening act" for Sheryl Sandberg!

HERE is the full interview. In the first few minutes, two unemployed college graduates tell their tale. Then I try to help them, after which the interviewer asks me various career-related questions.

Where the Jobs Will Be

Heretofore, businesses sold mainly to consumers (B to B) or to other businesses (B to C.)

Under the new Obama/liberal Congress/liberal media regime, the U.S. is fast moving toward becoming a much more centrally run economy. So the largest or certainly fastest growing segment will be B-to-G: business-to-government. The federal government will be issuing large numbers of requests for proposals from private businesses.

The implications:

1. If you run a business, consider becoming a federally certified contractor. To learn how, click this link and/or this link

Government-contracting opportunities will likely be best in federal, not state or local government because the federal government can print money and has more sources of tax and fee revenues that can be increased. That's why so many states and municipalities are now joining the bailout conga line at the federal government tax-dollar trough.

2. If possible, become a woman-owned or especially a minority-owned business. That will give you priority over white-male-run businesses. So, if you are a white man, consider getting a partner who's a woman or a minority, ideally both. Here's a link to the federal goodies set aside for women. Here's a link to federal goodies set aside for minorities.

3. If you're a job seeker, seek work at such contractors (find your local ones here by searching on your zip code) or for the federal government. The professional-level federal government job titles that are already hot and seem poised for the greatest growth: management analyst, program analyst, budget analyst, , IT management specialist, financial administrator, inspector, investigation and compliance officer.

One cautionary note: This article cites growth in government contracting but reports that profits in such businesses are often not as obscene as the public thinks.

Who's Hiring? No Surprise: the Government

I'm not sure it's good news for taxpayers--government isn't the most efficient spender of your money--but it is good news for job seekers: USA Today reports government statistics that while the private sector is cutting jobs, government is hiring so vigorously, you'd think the economy was booming.

Government is the last bastion of well-paying, fully benefited jobs, rarely requiring you to work more than 40 hours a week, in which it's almost impossible to get fired--except, perhaps, if you're a white male who tells a woman she looks attractive. ;-)