Interesting mission-driven work but slow promotion processes
Pros
Good mission-driven work and the technical problems are genuinely interesting if you like data at scale. Federal benefits package is solid — health, retirement, and leave are all competitive. Job stability is a real plus, and there's room to grow your skills across multiple programming languages and systems if you take initiative. Most coworkers are smart, helpful, and willing to share knowledge.
Cons
Promotion timelines and processes can be slow and opaque compared to private sector. Some legacy systems and tooling are dated, which means you spend time on workarounds that wouldn't exist elsewhere. Communication between layers of management is inconsistent, and getting clear answers on policy questions sometimes takes longer than it should.
