People typically associate getting MBA-holding professionals with the private sector, occupying high-paying, highly competitive positions only open to those with the highest levels of professional knowledge and verifiable development.

But what about government careers?

Though not usually as lucrative as positions in the public sector, government work can provide a steady, reliable income. What’s more, many of the positions require the same skills people are using their MBAs for in the private sector.

In this article, we take a look at five government jobs you can get with an MBA.

Why Government Work?

Why indeed? Your MBA will certainly pull in more money in the private sector. For people who want to serve their community, the benefits of government work are pretty straightforward. You can use your advanced skills to make a difference in the lives of people you see all the time.

Even if your career ambitions aren’t rooted in altruism, however, you can still use government work as a stepping stone toward new opportunities.

Budget Analyst

Now, you might not take a look at the national government’s debt figures and assume that they are using the services of budget analysts, but hey, you can’t go way over budget without having one in the first place, right?

Um, right?

Well, let’s not be cynical. Budget analysts perform an important function within government agencies. While some departments of government do indeed have swollen, often exceeded budgets, the majority of departments, particularly as you zoom down to the local level, are working with very limited funds.

For them, budget analysts perform vital functions, answering the questions that make it possible to continue providing services. What kind of money do we need to move around to continue providing service X? We are very short-staffed. Can we hire on?

Analysts may also help agencies optimize the impact of the resources that they already have. This is a particularly important function when you factor in that many are working with very limited resources. Thanks to analysts, these agencies can continue to provide services at the highest possible level, even when budgets get slashed.

Administration

Administrative positions are what you so often think of when government work comes to mind. The bureaucratic work that keeps a town running. The people who run departments that serve large swaths of the public: hospitals, libraries, parks, sanitation, and so on.

These departments all have people doing groundwork, but there is also an entire network of people working at the administrative level to keep everything running smoothly. These are the Leslie Knopes of the world.

These positions require not only a keen understanding of what it takes to run a working office, but also an understanding of how to work with, and inspire coworkers. These are often leadership positions, which means that you’ll need soft skills to get the job done, along with the hard ones you learned getting your MBA.

This includes communication and just knowing how to work well with others to accomplish common goals.

Accountant

Government agencies, just like any other organizations, require accountants.  In this job, you will analyze budgets and keep track of incoming and outgoing expenses. While you don’t need a graduate degree to work as an accountant, it does help to get advanced or highly competitive positions,  such as those you might encounter when seeking government employment.

CEO

This may surprise people, but there are government organizations that have CEOs. Not usually within government offices or services. There’s no CEO of the parks department, for example. However, in situations where a government — particularly state agencies — are running a service that is similar to those provided by a public agency, a CEO is typically required.

Now, these jobs aren’t so prominent that one might find it advisable to begin a career in government work with the specific ambition of one day becoming CEO. A government estimate of public-serving CEO positions estimates that there are currently around 8000 people filling these jobs.

However, the benefits for those who can land these jobs are significant. CEOs, even when working for government agencies command respectable salaries. What’s more, they have the opportunity to guide and shape an agency in the way they think will be most effective.

For people who enter government work with the intention of better serving their community, it’s a good way to really influence the process of government service and make a difference. In addition to having strong business chops, most CEOs will need to have strong soft skills as well.

This includes knowing how to work with others, communicate effectively, and perhaps even understand the basics of public speaking.  

Consulting

Consulting positions may not work directly for the government. At least not on a full-time basis. “Consulting,” generally refers to freelance positions. People who come in to help a business, or in this case, a government agency, to accomplish their goals and stay on track.

Here’s an example: Government Agency X recently had a significant data breach. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Well, ok. Actually, it was Mark’s fault. He opened an email he shouldn’t have, but in his defense, it was a pretty good fake. Anyone could have made the mistake.

Agency X wants to beef up their cybersecurity a little bit so that the Marks of the world can’t cause this sort of disruption again. But there’s a problem: no one within Agency X knows much about cyber security. Particularly not at the level required to create a strategy for an entire agency to follow. Solution? Hire out.

There are many other situations where a consultant might get hired by a government agency. For example, we talked earlier about the work budget analysts do for the government. Let’s say Department Y found out they have a lot less resources than they did last year. However, they still wish to offer the same level of services.

What do they do? Hire a business analyst. These consultants can come in, analyze the efficiency of an organization relative to its goals, and produce recommendations to help tighten things up.

What’s more, consultants often command higher salaries than you might encounter with typical government work, attracting those who want to serve their communities without sacrificing the higher levels of compensation often associated with getting your MBA.