Government Contracting

I work in the D.C. metro area.

Federal contracting is all the rage. Every contract needs warm bodies sitting in seats. While those bodies are in place, the government pays the contractor. Those bodies will often be picked up by a new contractor if the contract changes hands.

Impermanence is built into this model. Perfect fits are rare and more rarely long-term. If the contract is lost and no billet available on another of your company's contract, no matter how strong an engineer you are, your value to the company vanishes. I know many engineers who hate this feeling. Every contract turnover elicits heart palpitations.

Good Faith and Vetting the Company

Yet another “hop” invites the gnawing question that you weren’t thorough enough in your vetting of a potential employer. This can be especially true for the first few changes. However, in a good job market, I never saw my first few jobs as failures by any stretch. I simply outgrew the environment quickly. I'd like to believe that I gave enormous value in return for the opportunity afforded.

The Money Question

Changing jobs frequently to change your role may be unavoidable. Your company has its interest at heart, its revenue now and its revenue later. This is completely reasonable. If you feel you have grown enough to merit a change in roles, or title or compensation, you will have to make your case to them on their level. I've known many engineers who become frustrated because the company doesn't recognize how well they're doing on their own. But as much as you want a company to notice you, only a handful will, and behind attentive managers is a very real bottom line. If you want a raise, it will be on their timeline, when they determine that they can and will afford it. If you want a promotion, they need to decide if they can use you in that higher role, and if your changed usefulness outweighs your usefulness in your current role. It's not about you. It's about what they need.

A Consistent Narrative

If you change jobs often, you need a strong, credible narrative as to why you left each position and how this fits into your consistent career goals. This may be the only reason why an employer restores you the benefit of the doubt. If you are consistent in where you do well, then the employer can weigh whether you will do well at his company. In a market favoring IT applicants, I've found some employers who are even biased to believe.

Know Thyself

Should I be trying this hard to find a place where I'm optimal, where most of what I can do is used to effect and solves multiple problems for my employer? Or, at its heart, is work simply to be effort expended and paycheck received?

Am I looking for the wrong things in work, when I look for intensity, purpose, growth, and the triumph of successes?