Cool Jobs in Government
I am starting a new series here on GovLoop, where we are scouring the country looking for the coolest government jobs.
Already we have found tons of amazing jobs. For example, did you know the Navy employes a dolphin trainer and the National Park Service has wilderness kayak officers in Alaska? If you are shaking your head no, you are no alone.
But we couldn’t possibly uncover all the cool government jobs on our own. That’s where you come in. Do you have a cool government job? Do you know someone with a cool government job? Send me an email at [email protected] or just hit the comment section.
Oftentimes government is painted broadly as boring and bureaucratic. That just simply isn’t true. Help us make the case for a cool government!
Awesome idea to kick off the New Year, Emily!
The coolest job in the Government is what ever an individual thinks is the coolest job. When I think back, to me, the coolest job was managing the Reserve Forces augmentation for a major military support Command. I had got there 2 weeks after Baghdad had fallen. We were bringing everyone home, the war was over (ergo like the first Gulf War), then the insurgency started and we all know how that turned out. We were originally designed to support a couple of Divisions in combat. Then the mission expanded to the point we were supporting every theater of operations for the Global War on Terrorism, be it USN, US Army, Marines, USAF, Allied Forces, SOC, you name it, we provided them support. And, we had to be augmented by the Reserves or we wouldn’t have been able to complete the mission. And, every day you knew you were saving lives and contributing far more than just the services and materials for the War. The satisfaction and reward were way beyond a mere cool, it was rewarding knowing that you had saved lives, possible every day you worked. To me, that beats riding in a kayak everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.
Earl raises an excellent point:
With that said, check out the Pinterest page of “America’s Unsung Heroes” featured by the Partnership for Public Service, which features many “cool” and beneficial jobs by feds.
Librarian!
The State Library: A Theme Park of History from Ohio and Beyond
I agree that it’s all in the eye of the beholder, but in my case I’d say various positions within state or federal departments of transportation. Expanding, upgrading, and building our infrastructure has lots of great jobs where employees can see the fruits of their labor and take pride in helping our state and national commerce and economies. Plus you never know what you might find on the job. You can help change the course of a road to protect a historical land mark, you could be involved in one of the greatest archeological discoveries of our time because you stumbled on a fossil while excavating, perhaps work on the development of technology to help cars drive themselves and increase driver safety, or even save lives in responding to a disaster like a sink hole or rock slide. Maybe you just like flowers and want to fill the green along the interstate to make people smile, or love flying and photography so you take ariel photos. I watched them pump the mighty Mississippi River away from the bed around the footings of a bridge so they could retrofit it to help it handle an earthquake…talk about cool! I’m at the state level, but wasn’t the US DOT voted one of the best places to work? Jobs with shared experiences like these create great work environments!
Being a Reclamation Guide at the largest dam in North America.
The Grand Coulee Dam
Have a look at our website.
Linking a Generation
I still think our National Park Service Rangers have some of the best jobs in government. Especially here:
http://www.nps.gov/hale/index.htm
I understand your point Andrew.
Just remember the Grand Coulee Dam when you turn on your lights,
charge your cell phone or turn on your heat 😉