However, one of the private sectors I worked with while I’m with the government agency contacted me about a job opportunity oversea. The job will become available at the end of the year. This kind of job is very hard to get and you need to have the right connections to get it. Also, opportunity like this from a private sector doesn’t come very often. If I reject the offer I might not get another one in the future. If I do take the offer, I will have to resign from my government job and give up on my government pension for a private sector job. I can retire from my government job in 20 years and I’m 9 years into it. It also took me a few years to get this prestigious government job and everyone wants. This is a tough decision. Do I want job stability with the government or should I take a risk and advance my career with a private sector job? I also have to consider moving my family, selling/renting/emptying out my house and leave my friends and extended family behind. I’m not talking about a few years deployment but a permanent job oversea.

I don’t have the full details yet as to what the private sector job will offer me in terms of salary and the benefit. I hope they will be comparable to that of the government compensation. Any advice from anyone who had working for private sector oversea is welcomed.

Excellent point. I can only speak for my international experiences with the fed gov, but it is interesting to hear of the similar benefits in the private sector. I know a few fellow engineers that chose the petroleum industry out of school – excellent salaries and benefits.

Just thought I’d add; there’s not much of a point specifically looking for a job somehow related to a U.S. government.

You get the same type of benefits in the private sector, albeit I think they’re a bit more accommodating. When I lived in Zurich, my company gave me a “personal travel allowance” equivalent to the value of 4 round-trips to the U.S. on business class. Any business-related trips were on a separate post, this cash allowance was purely for personal travel.

Most companies will cover all your living expenses in the foreign country, including car costs, but they will discount your salary level with a given percentage. You’ll still probably get an effective 75% raise out of it.

It’s not so much about working for the U.S. government abroad, it’s just about being willing to work abroad. Most major companies will want to bring in some of their own nationals to be a part of international teams, so you can get a job on virtually any level.

I’m in private banking, and these kind of deals are quite usual. Most of the time, telling the boss you’d like to work internationally is enough to get you a transfer. Some of my friends in the oil business describe similar accommodations, although in my opinion, they have a tendency to end up in some … interesting places: Nigeria, Angola, Iran. Private banking will take you to Mauritius, the Caymans and Switzerland. Take your pick.

Just FYI, the Forest Service has anti-discrimination language regarding gay employees. As a gay FS employee in a very conservative state where you can be fired for your sexual orientation, it is a little reassuring.

Thanks again!

To those that criticize the benefits for civilians overseas, I agree that it is healthy to question where tax dollars go. Fed employees are tax payers as well! The cost of living in Yokosuka, Japan, was very expensive and would be prohibitive for the majority of civilians without the benefits Uncle Sam provides. And until the economic downturn, not many people criticized our salaries, which (at least in my field) were not even close to the salaries of our counterparts in the private sector. We accepted lower salaries for the security and stability of government work. Now, we’re at a time when that stability and security mean something, and private sector folks have begun to criticize the salaries. Year over year, though, our salaries don’t fluctuate much – and a holiday bonus is a rare treat, and a fraction of what some of my private sector friends have admitted to receiving.

As for my job, I worked for an engineering command, which allowed me to assist with construction projects and compliance requirements. I provided much of the coordination between our military customers and the contractors that worked with us. I additionally managed as much of the effort as we could muster in-house with the resources we had available.

@9 Roo and @26 Adrian – Coping with the language barriers was difficult at first. We lived off base (on the economy), and had to adapt to the kanji, katakana, and hiragana characters as best as we could in the limited time we had. I had Berlitz Japanese on my iPod the entire tour there, and picked up very limited conversational Japanese. More often than not, Japanese who were interested in talking to me approached with English, as it was a great opportunity for them to brush up on their foreign language skills also. Culturally, Japan is a wonderful experience from my Western perspective. In so many ways, Japan has adopted the Western culture and in others, Japan is doing its best to preserve its unique history. There are always challenges and differences of views, but I feel that way about my neighbors and friends here in America, too.

@11 Marsha – I have been in various jobs within the fed gov. Not all of them are created equally. Sounds like you might have experienced one of the awful ones.

@14 grrlpup – Looks like comment #34 provided you an accurate response, and I agree that it is still not equal. Perhaps in time…

@36 Vernor – Sometimes it is difficult to know who is going to “crack” when they get overseas. The government has agreements with our host nations that spell out how to respond when individuals don’t represent well the intended purposes of their overseas tours. We can be told to leave at any point, which is generally enough of a motivator to keep us all minding our P’s and Q’s.

Your comparison of ESLs (in S. Korea or even in Japan) to civilians is a comparison of apples and oranges. Generally, ESLs go overseas right after college graduation with the intention of fully indoctrinating themselves into the host nation environment. I would argue that ESLs accept the lower pay and lack of American benefits as part of their “easy in” to the host nation. Some good friends of mine are ESLs in Japan, and they have absolutely enjoyed it – but they are also Japanophiles… people who just had to be over there regardless of wages or benefits.

@37 Becky and others who mention the challenges of finding government employment – I don’t know what to tell you. USAJobs isn’t the easiest of websites to navigate, but I would double check to make sure you’ve listed your resume properly. If you don’t indicate exactly where you’re seeking employment (I keep mine open to worldwide opportunities, pretty much everywhere where kids are allowed), you might run into some difficulties. Also, someone mentioned “keywords”… very important.

Another tip, start calling and emailing possible “ins” that you might know. I’ve interviewed folks in the past who simply “knew someone who knew someone who was in the system”, who created a networking opportunity (much like in the private sector). I’ve seen all kinds of turnover this past year in my current job, and we’re picking up new people all the time from outside the fed gov. If it’s something you’re interested in, just keep trying!

Personally, I loved this story and hope that I can someday experience a job experience that is very similar. I love learning about and experiencing other cultures, but I’ve only been able to do so in small doses (one 3 month work assignment and 1 month long study abroad). If I can get fantastic financial and health benefits out of it – bonus!

I do agree with many of the posters that these kind of benefits help to attract and RETAIN good candidates for these jobs. Not only because they’re qualified for the work but also because their personality enables them to thrive overseas. If you were just getting a small bump in pay, not many people would apply and stay in a job that can take them into a foreign culture and away from extended family – especially if you’re talking about older or more experienced workers.

Anything you buy that’s not local (or that is local but is delivered by trucks, or fertilized with synthetic fertilizers, or by fertilizer delivered by trucks), anything you own that’s plastic. Any travel you do. All part of the oil conglomerate. If you spend 28K at all and aren’t Amish, chances are that all of that has been touched by the oil industry in some way. You’re stuck paying some 27 year old engineer in Siberia extra hazard pay unless you want to join a survivalist cult.

And it is very likely that you’re getting some value out of that 28K you pay the gov’t, if that’s where that number is coming from. It isn’t all going to people overseas. You enjoy the beaches and the parks and the roads and national defense etc. etc. etc.

Pure rubbish. If they crack, they have no business living overseas. The incentives that you mention for fed workers living overseas is nothing but a gravy train for slackers.

Case in point: South Korea.

It’s a massive suck-hole for the US taxpayer. The DOD employees are hardly “qualified workers” that need special incentives yet they get them by the bundles. South Korea isn’t that tough of a place to live, just ask any ESL teacher over there that doesn’t have all the overly-generous benefits that the fed workers have. They have to make it on their own in the local economy. They don’t live in “Little America” and isolated from the rest of the host country’s culture. Most fed workers living overseas only get a superficial expatriate experience because they are constantly attached to Uncle Sam’s teat.

And the biggest waste of US taxpayer money of all:

“Commissary and Base Exchange Privileges — Generally, military bases have grocery stores and shopping areas to meet the needs of the active duty personnel stationed to the base. We had use of these facilities, where purchases could be made without considering the typical sales tax many of us are familiar with in the USA.”

Besides the black marketing done by thieving locals employed on US overseas military bases–which burns up billions in US taxpayer monies–is it really necessary for Uncle Sam to provide subsidized supermarkets in Asia so fed employees can by Cheetos, Bud Light, and Twizzlers at a discount? It’s government-subsidized comfort food.

To: Stephen, if your resume is not using the same “keywords” as the announcement you aren’t making it thru the computer scanners to get an interview. Rework the resume as many times as you need using the same key words…if your resume says Responsible for and the job announcement says In charge of, change your resume. If you are qualified and haven’t gotten an interview I’m betting that is the reason.

You’re right. The government has to offer competitive compensation to attract employees. Like I said, I’m fine with that, as long as these people do good work.

You’re also right that my experience in a single branch of a single federal agency is not necessarily representative. It could be the only agency in the entire federal government that’s not very efficient. I’ve heard a lot of other stories from other branches of government that are similar, though, and I bet you have, too.

Is it *helpful* to discuss our tax dollars at work here? I don’t know, but it at least seems *relevant* in a post on government employment. Comments can just be food for thought, there’s no criteria that says they must be helpful directly.

@Adrian:
I did work for a federal government agency for a couple years. Some of the employees were very good. Many others had been there for decades and were just coasting along, finishing barely enough work to keep from drawing attention to themselves. These people are nearly impossible to fire anyway, so they don’t have to do a lot to keep their jobs. The *only* person I knew of getting fired while I was there was fired for making sexually inappropriate comments toward a co-worker’s teenage daughter. I really think that half the money paid in salaries at my branch of this agency was wasted. I *know* the level of productivity there was far lower than what I see now in the private sector. Mike’s experience may be different, but my viewpoint is colored by my personal experience.

Equally it seems that a lot of people are forgetting that “government” is a pretty large entity doing a lot of different things. Your experience and knowledge of one tiny aspect of goverment workings is not necessarily reflective of all the work, and its relative efficiency and importance, that is being done by goverment employees. I sincerly hope that nobody here is arrogant enough to suggest they have full knowledge and oversight of everything that the US government does.

How about we focus on the idea presented in this article – that taking an overseas job with great benefits is another way to do well financially. A lot of people haven’t considered this before.

I have studied and worked in Germany before and currently reside back at home in Australia, but I do think often about taking a job in my industry (oil and gas) overseas where I would get paid a lot more and pay less tax.

My take on the advice above is to make sure you get very, very good tax law advice and make the most of your situation. I know in Australia your tax status and how different income earnt oversesas is treated is quite complicated and I imagine it is the same in other countries.

You also need to factor in the additional cost of extra travel in your budgets. Will you be buying expensive flights back home for the family to attend Christmas? Will you suddenly want to spend way more than normal on weekend travel adventures now that you’re living somewhere exotic?

It is an excellent money-saving alternative that addresses moreso changes to the lifestyle and needs rather than altering the wants (an approach based on making more money rather than cutting back expenses) which is a fairly unique concept.

While I personally adore where I reside and simply could not see myself parting with the nostalgic and warm comfort and familiarity of my surroundings, it is nevertheless refreshing to hear a tale of one who has strayed from the common forms of savings, investments and other average personal finance lifestyles in order to not only achieve financial goals, but to have a great experience along the way!

PS. I must say that I admire your writing style and advanced vocabulary.

Now the one question I pose for you on a more personal level was how you dealt with the cultural shift? I would find the response quite fascinating in regards to residing in such a leading, foreign and exotic culture.

Please remember that this is just income. If you cannot manage your finances it doesn’t matter how much or how little you make. I know govt employees who make a great income and have great benefits, but whenever its time for a retirement luncheon or birthday they rely on others to pick up the check. You almost have to wonder what is the point of even going to work after that?