You’re Not Starting Over: How to Translate Your Government Experience Into Career Opportunities
Many mid- and senior-level public-sector professionals face uncertainty. Some are dealing with workforce reductions or organizational changes, while others may be considering a job change or a career move. For those considering a career change, the natural reaction might be, “My experience is so specific. Who outside of government would want to hire me?”
The most important idea for all mid- and senior-level professionals seeking a career change to remember is that you are not starting over. You are simply translating what you have already built.
Your Job Title Does Not Reflect Your Career Value
An official job title in the public sector is not reflective of your career value. It is actually reflective of the expectations and needs of the public sector organization or municipality. A public sector job title differs from the private sector because there can be standardized classifications and unique nomenclature that wouldn’t apply in the private sector. The job description has different core responsibilities, particularly public service delivery, policy implementation, and resource stewardship. A government job title likely won’t communicate the full range of skills and expertise that a professional offers.
If you are trying to change careers or from the public sector to the private sector, it is vital to help recruiters in understanding your value. The biggest mistake I see is when a job seeker leaves their career value up to interpretation. Outcomes should be clear but when transitioning from one sector to the other, they do need to be translated to make them understandable for recruiters and hiring managers. It is best to lead with the expertise and problems that you know how to solve for organizations.
Identify the Transferable Value Underneath Your Government Experience
There is an exercise that is valuable when it comes to identifying your transferrable value. I do this often with my clients and it’s helped them. Take note of what you actually did and then consider what capability does that demonstrate? Also, where else is that capability valuable?
For example, program management → program/project leadership; contracts → contract/vendor management; policy → strategic analysis; grants → financial/program administration; cross-agency initiatives → stakeholder management; constituent service → client/customer relationships; compliance → risk/compliance management.
Transferrable skills are not just a list of generic skills, such as communication or teamwork. They are capabilities demonstrated through actual work. They can include people and leadership capabilities, but your prior work must demonstrate that.
Lead With Impact. Stop Describing Responsibilities.
You will want to discuss scope, scale, complexity, outcomes, improvements, savings, people led, stakeholders influenced, and problems solved. It will be important to employ result and accomplishment-focused language throughout a resume and a LinkedIn profile. For example, “Led a $20 million program serving X stakeholders, improving ___ and achieving ___. “ is a strong result and accomplishment-focused bullet point. Stating “responsible for managing a $20 million program” is not and would need to be rewritten. The goal is to help whoever is reading your resume or LinkedIn profile see the value behind the work rather than just the work itself. By doing so, you are leading with impact and creating visibility, which benefits your job search and your career.
If you are trying to change careers or from the public sector to the private sector, it is vital to help recruiters in understanding your value.
Speak the Language of Your Target Audience
Government professionals may utilize terminology that makes sense internally but does not immediately translate outside of that environment. However, it is important to remember that you are essentially marketing your experience, skills, and expertise. In order to do so effectively, you must speak the language of your target audience. Repositioning yourself does not mean hiding any public sector experience or pretending to be something that you are not. It means that you need to consider adapting the language that needs to be used in your career materials. Read job descriptions thoroughly to understand what that language is for private-sector employers, nonprofits, consulting, higher education, and associations/ contractors use.
A good exercise is to ask yourself: “Would someone outside my organization understand why this experience matters?” That can help serve as a guide in repositioning and your visibility.
Your Resume is Only One Piece of the Repositioning
Repositioning requires more than just a resume for it to work. A resume is only one piece of the puzzle. Repositioning requires a full rebrand of all of the career materials, including a LinkedIn profile, professional bio, cover letter, speaking/ content. It also requires a new strategy for networking conversations and networking because you want to reinforce the same professional narrative. The old way of doing things will no longer work because it will require making new connections and providing different interview responses.
Visibility also is critical in repositioning because being qualified is not the same thing as being visible for the opportunities that you want. Part of this work is about being visible for those opportunities and ensuring that your value translates for them. Visibility is a concept that helps to create mileage in a career.
Build Your “Next Chapter” Narrative
With all of this, you can then start to build the narrative for your next chapter. This is why I previously stated that visibility is a concept that helps to create mileage in a career. To do so, there is a practical framework that can be used:
- I’ve spent my career…What have you become exceptionally good at?
- I have demonstrated that by…What evidence proves it?
- The problems I know how to solve are…What problems do you consistently address?
- I am now looking to apply that expertise to…Where do you want to take it?
- The value I bring is…Why would a hiring manager choose you?
By utilizing this framework, you can turn a career history into a career narrative.
Remember, You Are Repositioning & Not Starting Over
A career transition does not erase institutional knowledge, leadership experience, problem-solving ability, relationship, accomplishments, or subject-matter expertise. It simply means that you are using those things to become visible and relevant to the organizations that you want to reach next.
Before you rewrite your resume, take a step back. Instead of asking “How do I start over?” Ask yourself, “How do I translate what I have already accomplished into the language of where I want to go?” And if this is you and you are repositioning yourself, I invite you to evaluate your own career story.
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