I’m 29M and have been working in state government for about three years. This is basically my first real professional career, and I’m trying to figure out what my next move should be?
I started through a public service/apprenticeship-type program and eventually became a full-time Constituent Services Coordinator at a small state agency. The function was still pretty new, so a lot of the job became learning the agency, answering calls/emails, connecting people to resources, tracking cases manually, and figuring out processes as I went.
Over time, my role expanded heavily into a financial assistance/grant program. I now spend a lot of time reviewing applications and documentation, requesting missing information, responding to applicants, troubleshooting our CRM, dealing with escalations, and helping leadership track individual cases. At the same time, I’m technically still responsible for constituent services and some outreach.
I can admit I haven’t handled every part perfectly. Tracking and follow-up became inconsistent at times, I sometimes got pulled toward whatever was most urgent, and I probably should have raised workload conflicts earlier instead of trying to absorb everything.
At the same time, I’m realizing the job itself has become extremely broad. I’ve basically been some combination of frontline constituent contact, resource navigator, data/tracking person, workflow designer, and grant processor.
I recently started a Certified Public Manager program, and learning about Lean/process improvement, capacity, bottlenecks, standard work, and program management has changed how I look at the experience. I’m realizing I’m genuinely interested in public administration and operations, but I think I’d benefit from my next job being in a larger or more structured organization where I can develop deeper expertise.
I currently make around the mid-$70Ks, so I’m not looking to take a huge pay cut just to escape. I’ve been applying to state/local government roles in program coordination, grants, housing, operations, and analyst-type work. I’m also considering an MPA and exploring whether law school makes sense long term.
For people who’ve been in government/public administration longer than me: what would you target next? Program analyst/management analyst? Grants or program administration? Operations/process improvement? Constituent services in a larger organization?
And if you had an early-career job where you were given a lot of responsibility before you really knew how to manage all of it, did moving into a more structured organization help?
I’m grateful for what I’ve learned, but I increasingly feel like this chapter has run its course and I want my next move to build on the experience rather than just run away from a stressful job.