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May. 11th, 2006
BusinessWeek ranked the most ideal places to work for undergraduates and they were (1) Disney, (2) Google, (3) U.S. Department of State, (4) FBI, (5) CIA, (6) Microsoft, (7) Apple.
A co-worker responded:
> I’m actually more horrified that so many undergrads apparently want
> to work for the government.
Working for the government is a great way to serve ones country.
If I may go off on a rant...
The middle part of “Of the people, by the people, and for the people” means that our government is made up of people (like Soylent Green, but better.)
That’s a fairly radical statement when you consider that historically governments were made up of deities (or people that told everyone they were). It also means that (despite public perception) the government isn’t made up of “someone else”. It’s made up of us!
The U.S. government is as good as we make it. Whether that’s by voting, running for office, or by being employed by it. You can’t just say, “it’s beyond fixing... I sure hope someone else fixes it” or worse, “
Think about the Google culture of openness that lets us take 20% of our time to fix/improve the things that we care about here. Citizens have that 20% with respect to the U.S. government. Being on your local school board is usually a 2-nights-per-month commitment. Certainly less than 20% of the average person’s spare time. There are plenty of other ways to get involved too. Undergrads that want to work for the government are usually looking to dedicate 100% to improving things. That’s something we should all encourage.
Yes, government workers have a stereotype of being “clock watchers”, lacking creativity, or special skills. If you want to fix that, do something about it. Don’t have time? I recommend the following: Figure out how much you make per hour (hint: there are about 2000 hours in the work year) and donate twice that to a candidate or organization that believes the same way you do. That’s a lot like donating 2 hours of time each month.
Just like at Google, problems don’t fix themselves so “don’t wait for someone else to act”.
A co-worker responded:
> I’m actually more horrified that so many undergrads apparently want
> to work for the government.
Working for the government is a great way to serve ones country.
If I may go off on a rant...
The middle part of “Of the people, by the people, and for the people” means that our government is made up of people (like Soylent Green, but better.)
That’s a fairly radical statement when you consider that historically governments were made up of deities (or people that told everyone they were). It also means that (despite public perception) the government isn’t made up of “someone else”. It’s made up of us!
The U.S. government is as good as we make it. Whether that’s by voting, running for office, or by being employed by it. You can’t just say, “it’s beyond fixing... I sure hope someone else fixes it” or worse, “
Think about the Google culture of openness that lets us take 20% of our time to fix/improve the things that we care about here. Citizens have that 20% with respect to the U.S. government. Being on your local school board is usually a 2-nights-per-month commitment. Certainly less than 20% of the average person’s spare time. There are plenty of other ways to get involved too. Undergrads that want to work for the government are usually looking to dedicate 100% to improving things. That’s something we should all encourage.
Yes, government workers have a stereotype of being “clock watchers”, lacking creativity, or special skills. If you want to fix that, do something about it. Don’t have time? I recommend the following: Figure out how much you make per hour (hint: there are about 2000 hours in the work year) and donate twice that to a candidate or organization that believes the same way you do. That’s a lot like donating 2 hours of time each month.
Just like at Google, problems don’t fix themselves so “don’t wait for someone else to act”.