Best-Kept-Secret Career: Program Analyst

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This career may work out poorly if you want to make a real difference in people's lives, seek real insights about government programs, want to deal with people or want to do high quality work. Depending on the employer, there may be pressure to bend the results a certain way or to draw conclusions not supported by the evidence. Government clients (e.g. state department) have threatened to sue if report findings are not altered. You might spend months or years on a study that few people will read, that does not discover much of use, or that gets shelved by an agency director. Notice how agencies in the Bush administration (and others') bullied agencies to change their report findings, including GAO, HHS, GAO and notice the extremely flawed if not fraudulent nation security studies of NIST and FEMA. Private sector analysts working for clients, without financial independence from them, may experience the same problems. Finally, if you are hired for a project in the private sector, will they have a position for you after the project is completed?

John Smith of IN 2:19PM January 06, 2010

True, there are many valid degree programs available.
U of P is not one of them. As a former hiring manager for a Fortune 500, U of P was the first to be eliminated. U of P was dubbed "cut and paste" University. The on-line curriculum received a bad reputation because of the graduates they produced.
Common complaints for managers were the lack of critical thinking skills, decipehering documents prepared with poor spelling and grammer was a common complaint.
There are a number of brick/mortar schools that DO fit the bill for on-line education. Most community colleges now offer on-line education.
Thomas Edison State has a solid reputation, however, the low per credit tuition comes with a significant amount of hidden fees that the school will not allow you to pay through finanical aid awards.
University Alliance features an on-line program for reputable institutions such as Florida Tech, Notre Dame, Villanova, Thunderbird.
Recommended by many in the military is American Military University/American Public University.
Essentially it is the lesson on doing your homework and interviewing the school. I would check out the creditibility of the degree with professionals. Call recruiting agencies, ask them about different on-line programs and how they are weighted.

Jen of NJ 9:15AM December 14, 2009

John Jay College has launched a fully-accredited online Master of Public Administration program in affiliation with the Association of Inspectors General. The link is here:
http://jjcweb.jjay.cuny.edu/mpa/online
The specialized program focuses on oversight of public agencies and programs, and includes both investigation and evaluation courses, which include program analysis as core skills.
The article is right that there is growth in positions related to regulation, oversight and evaluation of public programs.

Ned Benton of NY 10:57AM September 21, 2009

Have you ever taken an online course? Not all of us have the time and resources to continue to attend regular classes. Evening classes are not always available depending on your course of study, and in my case juggling school, a full time job and a child in school is difficult enough. Phoenix is an accredited institution and I will hope that any hiring manager I come in contact with in the future will take that into account, as well as the same 4 years I spent on my bachelors as you did, if not in the same environment

Nicole of PA 8:44PM September 17, 2009

If you have a Ph.D. and an MBA, both with excellent GPAs, then you shouldn't have a problem finding a job. Unless of course these degrees were "purchased" through online courses at University of Phoenix.
End of the day people have different needs and desires at different stages of their life. I'm 24 and I'd love to work for the government, but right now the private sector is where I find myself.

Bob of FL 3:43PM September 03, 2009

I disagree that the brightest work in private industry. I also disagree that the most dedicated work in government. The assertion that a good GPA and strong MBA would be working for a consulting firm is ridiculous. Each person has unique values and desires. Additionally, getting hired by the government and consulting firms requires a connection to the old boys/girls network. I have a 4.0 PhD GPA as well as a 3.7 MBA, Management GPA. Unfortunately, I am also 44 years old with no connections. I have found that the consulting firms want young people they can abuse and that government vacancy announcements are targeted for particular people they already have in mind. Perhaps the brightest and most dedicated are self-employed. That is a statement I could agree with.

Jason of LA 8:53AM August 14, 2009

I have worked for multiple state government agencies doing a different Program/Gov't Analyst job at every turn. I can say this: each department, each unit, and each government level has its own flavor/experience.
For those in the private sector with little more than internship experience at the gov't (are you kidding?), you have no idea. While this isn't the forum to talk about the difference between private and public sector workplaces, I will say that government workers come in all shapes (just like private industry).
While I was working for a fortune 100 company, I saw horrible slacking only to be chased down by brown-nosing that kept individuals from getting fired. I don't assume that's how everyone works in the private sector. While working for the government I have seen/worked with highly dedicated, educated, and creative people. It just depends on where your heart is.
I would imagine that private sector professionals going to work for the gov't would complain about the lack of high tech ergonomic equipment, 2nd or 3rd generation computers, buildings that should have been renovated 10-15 years ago and no stock options. On the other hand, gov't believes in a decent paycheck not getting firing its people every 5 years and a work-life balance.
My opinion is that gov't work is hard to swallow as a young person because of the red-tape and slow processes. Also, gov't employees tend to be older because it takes so much experience to be useful for the government... usually they are subject matter experts from the private industry. And yes, getting into the gov't is really hard even with a Master's degree especially at local and federal levels.
I may agree that the brighest end up working for the private industry (for the $$$), but the most dedicated work for the gov't. Which would you rather have at your side?

Jonny from Nor Cal of CA 6:18PM June 02, 2009

If you really have a high GPA and a strong MBA degree, then you probably should have worked for top consulting firm. The pay is triple that of the governments. The downside is that we actually work more than 35 hours a week (I interned for a gov't agency: your 7am-330pm work days really must be 'tough').
While it is a stable career, I found that the brightest tend to work in private industry.

Washington, DC Resident of DC 6:02PM April 20, 2009

I'm a Program analyst with the Federal Governent. One thing I can say is you must have at least a Bachelor Degree in business and have a GPA above 3.0 to be considered, many have their MBA. Without these foundations you would find it difficult to remain financially strategic from a business perspective. I am normally under high pressure, manage 20 to 30 projects simultaneously, take assignements home to complete, find it difficult to take leave due to responsibilities, have to travel with little notice on the weekend and continually manage massive amounts of information. Often times overtime is demanded to meet deadlines.
Most people do not understand what I actually do because they lack the education and experience. Its a well paying job for the right person, if you are lazy and a complainer then this is not for you.

PB of PA 1:07PM March 01, 2009

I'm a planning student of urban and rural planning discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh.I'm quite interested to be a program analyst. within 6 months i will avail the graduate degree on Urban and rural planning. If i'm willing to work as an program analyst then what will be the required qualifications? can i get the opportunity?

Tasfin Aziz 6:18PM February 08, 2009