It's Done: Leaving Federal Service
How I Realized I Never Belonged Here
I was going to ride it out. The downsizing of the federal workforce is long overdue, and even with the threat of being RIF’d (Reduction In Force—laid off), I thought it best to stand fast. The pay, the benefits. It was hard to walk away from, even with my side business thriving.
But then fate intervened and it became clear that sticking it out would be impossible. The ensuing drama that unfolded in the weeks after I put in my notice just made it clear I was never designed to be a fed in the first place.
My Shameful Secret
If you didn’t know, Kristin McTiernan is not my real name. And The Nonsense-Free Editor is not my full-time job. Neither is this Substack or my YouTube channels.
The Utter Incompetence
Long before all this happened, the complete incompetence of vital federal employees became clear. Our IT help desk personnel (contractors) were bestially stupid. In the days of fully remote work, God help you if your CAC login didn’t work. The people on the phone could only stammer questions from a script and tell you to turn your computer off and turn it on again. When that didn’t work, they would refer you to actual IT person. Who would get in touch with you via …