Separating Fact from Fiction: The Realities of Working in Government

Moderated by Steve Luczynski, this panel brings together four federal workers: a workforce lead at the Office of the National Cyber Director, a cyber workforce manager at Veterans Affairs, a cyber defense leader at a NASA-funded research lab, and a strategy and risk director at the Transportation Security Administration. Panelists start by describing how they entered public service, from policy internships and job fairs to a legal career that turned toward cyber policy.

The middle section tackles common stereotypes. Panelists agree that federal hiring moves slowly and that job titles often fail to describe the real work, but they reject the idea that government staff are lazy or that cyber is purely technical. They explain how legal, policy, training and human-centered skills all matter, and one describes a recent pay increase for technologists at their agency. Audience questions cover training budgets, diversity and neurodiversity, and how federal pay grades translate to the private sector.

The session closes with advice for newcomers: stay curious, find a mentor early, choose a domain such as space or healthcare, and explore roles through the federal Cyber Career Pathways tool and the national cyber workforce strategy. The overall message is that government careers take many shapes and can move in and out of public service.