- Layoffs led by DOGE have pushed thousands of federal workers into the job market.
- Job seekers with government experience might want to focus on skills that are valuable to companies.
- Be ready to share ways you've succeeded in your work, a career expert told BI.
Federal workers hoping to jump into the private sector might need to adopt a new skill: translation.
That's because it can be difficult for those in business to understand what it's like to work inside a sometimes mazelike government structure and what skills it requires.
Recruiters and career coaches told Business Insider that many federal workers have the know-how to succeed in private industry, yet they might struggle to make that clear.
Carrie Soave, who runs a career consulting firm in Detroit, said she was once a federal worker herself.
Soave told BI it can be tricky for government workers to convey to corporate human resources departments and hiring managers the value of their experience if it's buried under acronyms or hard-to-decipher job descriptions.
Instead, she encourages job seekers to think, "What is your success story?"
Cataloging those wins is becoming increasingly important as the Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory group run by Elon Musk, ushers in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce.
Telling a story
Leigh Henderson, who has nearly two decades of experience in corporate HR, told BI that erstwhile federal workers will struggle if they don't talk about their time in government in ways that resonate in a business setting.
"Companies want problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and leaders who can navigate complexity," she said. The good news is that government workers often have those strengths "in spades."
"The key is telling that story in a way that makes hiring managers listen," she said.
One example: A résumé for a federal worker might run a half-dozen more pages or more. In the private sector, a maximum of two pages is often the norm.
Amanda Augustine, a career coach with Careerminds, told BI that job seekers should remember that everything from their résumés to their LinkedIn profiles are, essentially, marketing documents.
Augustine said workers should make clear the skills they were using and how they leveraged those skills to create positive outcomes.
Fighting stigma
DOGE-led job cuts have pushed layoffs to their highest level since the pandemic, and more positions will likely be cut. DOGE has said that the reductions, in part, have targeted "low performers," a narrative that some federal employees have pushed back on.
Still, any stigma could prove challenging for one-time government staffers, said Ken Crowell, founder of EmployTest, which creates assessments for job candidates.
Tropes about bureaucrats and inefficiency could emerge as a headwind, he told BI.
"We can talk about fair and not fair, but you know, at a personal level, it's going to be tough for them to get through," Crowell said.
Still, he said many former government workers have vast experience and substantive leadership and management skills that employers would be foolish to dismiss out of turn.
Where the jobs might be
Farah Sharghi, a recruiter turned career coach, said where federal workers wind up in the private sector often depends on their skills.
"You could have somebody who works for a regulatory body, and then they go work for the type of companies that they regulated," she said.
Henderson, the longtime corporate HR worker, said former federal workers could do well in industries that involve complex operations and heavy regulation and security — including healthcare, defense, and logistics.
She said consulting firms often prize government workers' abilities to navigate bureaucracy and compliance protocols.
Henderson expects workers from some government agencies to appear especially attractive to employers. These include cybersecurity and IT pros who've worked in agencies like the Department of Defense because of a broad "arms race" for cybersecurity talent, she said.
"Government-trained professionals often bring top-tier experience in threat detection, risk assessment, and infrastructure security," Henderson said.
Time to reskill
Workers in highly specific roles, however, might need to add to their skills if their experience doesn't directly translate to a corporate setting. Henderson said policy analysts, compliance officers, and administrative specialists could face a tough time converting that experience to private industry.
She said workers might need to adjust to expectations that can be different in private industry than in government.
That's one area where so-called soft skills can come into play, Henderson said.
"Adaptability, strategic thinking, and stakeholder management will be critical for making that transition smoothly," she said.
