Rank This US News: Best/Worst Fed Jobs

Source: BestPlacesToWork.org

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Since the stimulus package kicked into action, the federal government has been hiring at unprecedented rates. But if you’re job-hunting and you think that office culture is uniform across all agencies and departments, think again.

Enter BestPlacesToWork.org. This ranking system uses ten categories including “effective leadership, employee skills/mission match and work/life balance” to rate the best and worst federal employers. Granted, none of them have Google‘s perks (or do they?), but some departments’ worker satisfaction is pretty darn high.

Best:

1. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

It’s great to work here because: A. You have the power to save (or destroy) the world, B. you get to work in places like Area 51, and C. nobody messes with you.

2. Government Accountability Office

It’s great to work here because: A. You get to tell other people how to do their jobs, B. you are fulfilled because when you talk, Congress listens, and C. your colleagues are a bunch of accountants without the power trips of political appointees.

3. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

It’s great to work here because: A. It’s a science-fiction nerd’s fantasyland, B. you get to re-enact scenes from Apollo 13 during lunch time, and C. the sky’s the limit (literally).

Worst:

28. Department of Homeland Security

Problem: If you had to put old ladies’ shoes through an x-ray machine 42 times a day, you’d be miserable too.

Possible Solution: Maybe those new whole-body image scanners will be more visually appealing.

29. National Archives and Records Administration

Problem: Ever since Sandy Berger walked out with an armload of uber-classified documents, its reputation has gone downhill.

Possible Solution: A newly found letter from Abe Lincoln will give the Archives a second chance to prove that it can properly secure important documents.

30. Department of Transportation

Problem: There are so many to mention. Air traffic control methods are antiquated, America’s railways are pathetic, and GM just went under.

Possible Solution: Build a shrine to Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger.

 

 

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It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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