Which job would you select?

I've been offered two positions within my agency a few weeks apart. I didn't expect this to happen because I thought I would bomb the statistics part of the interview for one position, but I ended up remembering what I learned nine years ago and haven't used since.

One position involves regulating the fossil fuel industry, and I'd mostly be out in the field doing site visits and viewing business records. I'd also have to go out of town several times a year and board my dog. It's at the same pay grade that I'm at now. It has the same full performance level as my current position, and I'm already at the full performance level. That means that I would not get an automatic pay grade increase; I would get smaller step increases each year. I would have to compete for the next highest pay grade, and in this position, I think that's a supervisory position. I'm not sure. From what I can see, since they don't have many employees in this position, there aren't many supervisors. My prediction is that supervisor openings will be few and far between. My supervisor will be in a different state; he supervises the entire Southwest.

The other position is a management analyst position, which will involve a lot of research and statistics and sitting at my computer. I would be dropping down a grade level, but I would retain my current pay under the pay retention rules. This position has a full performance level that is two grades higher. That means I could get automatic promotions up to two grades higher than where I am now as long as my annual performance evaluation is okay. There are also many more people working in this position, so I expect there to be more supervisory openings once I'm qualified.

The one thing I'm mostly weighing is which job will provide experience that will be the most marketable either in the government or in the private sector. The management analyst position exists in multiple federal government agencies, but I'm not sure how valuable that experience will be in the private sector. The fuel regulation position has fewer skills that would be applicable to other careers, but accounting firms look for fuel industry experience when it comes to their fuel tax specialists.

 

Lots to consider for long term career growth… but what of your personal interests?

A Federal regulator resume for the fossil fuel industry can open a lot of doors in the energy industry. Could also springboard Federal regulation experience into other industries, as a stand-alone skill set.

Other position, as a management analyst, sounds like it could spring board into many data analytic roles which are a hot commodity now.

 

I'd rather be working for the CDC as a public health analyst, public health advisor, or health scientist, but I've been applying for the past couple of years. In the meantime, I am stuck in a non-health agency. Now that I think about it, the management analyst position would give me the research and statistician experience they're looking for in certain CDC jobs. That's something to ponder.

I live in a big oil state, so I was also thinking about how much money I could make in the oil and natural gas industry. LOL. Plus, the fuel position wouldn't get boring because I'll be driving most days.

But, you make a good point about the data analytic roles. I completed an information systems concentration in one of my degrees, and I've done some work as a systems administrator. While that's not directly related to data science, I figure that background combined with an analytics background would make me more competitive for data analytics or data science positions if I learn R and Python.

Thank you!