Five cons for doing a post-doc in the government

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My previous post included five good reasons for doing a post-doc in the government. It seems only fair that I now list five “cons”:

My
previous post included five good reasons for doing a post-doc in the
government. It seems only fair that I now list five “cons”:

Approval is needed from the ethics
office. Whether paid or unpaid, activities outside your post-doc must be
approved by the ethics office at your government agency. There are also
limitations on the scientific awards you may win or speaker honorariums
that you may be offered, especially if their original source was
government funding.
No food at seminars. If you have
perfected the art of sniffing out all the pizza- and hoagie-serving
seminars in grad school, say goodbye to the days of free meals. The NIH,
for example, has very strict rules to keep the “light refreshments” served
at training sessions or conferences just that: light. And be prepared to
pay for your meal at government-sponsored conferences even while
non-government attendees may eat for free.
No freebies from companies. Your days of
attending those pharmaceutical company-sponsored and catered events during
conferences are at their end. Why? Because it doesn’t look good for tax
payer-salaried, badge-carrying government workers to appear to be
endorsing or in the pocket of private industry.
Congress determines your budget. The
federal government’s fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September
30 of the next calendar year. The problem is that Congress doesn’t get
around to approving a budget until April. Therefore, spending on your
project may be extremely conservative or tentative until then, and as a
result, some labs or departments end up with projected surpluses that must
be spent before the end of the fiscal year.
The presence of some rather
“too-comfortable” people. From the complaints I hear from friends in some
government agencies, the prevalence of these people vary from agency to
agency, branch to branch. While post-docs and other researchers may be
driven by different motivations, some government jobs allow people to get
pretty comfortable. And comfort can replace motivation, which can really
impact the productivity of the work environment.

BLOG: Listening at Hearings at the FDA

While
many of these cons only became apparent after I started my post-doc, they
definitely would not have deterred me from choosing to work in the government.
It is an honor to be a public servant who contributes some value to society.
And in case you were wondering, yes, I got approval to do this blog.

The views expressed in this column are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S.
Government.