Contract Specialist Review
Pros
Work-life balance is adequate. You might be assigned a program with a significant amount of responsibility very early on. Some members of programs are afforded the opportunity to travel abroad to desirable locations.
Cons
Far outweigh the Pros. You will find that many people that are completely removed from the day-to-day activities of Contract Specialists make all of the "guidance" that ultimately results in more and more work for people on the bottom. You may be assigned to a program doing monotonous and rote contract modifications. The "training" process leaves much to be desired. In fact, in many offices, it is the extent of you examining previous contract actions and "making yours look like that one". As with many governmental positions, any measures that can be taken to reduce your actual salary will be done. For example, you might be lured by the promise of $20k towards your student loans if you commit for 3 years. What you are not told is that you are actually taxed on the $20k, so your take home pay is reduced though the money is never actually in your hand. Your job satisfaction will be overwhelmingly tied to your supervisor. Some are hopelessly inept, lazy, and will make you wonder how they were gifted a position to have anyone actually "report" to them. People neglected to follow protocol for years and you should be prepared to to have extensive training to make up for what people neglected to do 30 years ago.
