I’m in a similar position and one thing I expected to (and did) find was the pay differences. You’ve got more years in so it’ll be even more noticeable for you, but the jump from O-3 to a new position in most places seems to be significant.
One of the few exceptions seems to be DSS because that’s technically a position in the Foreign Service, but that also means much more OCONUS time. And it’s only an exception in that you’ll catch back up to your current pay faster than other places. That’s my understanding anyways.
I don’t know much about the CIA, but our career course class did have someone give us a recruiting pitch. I don’t think that was his actual job but it did feel like he was trying to sell it so I don’t know how true this is, but one thing he said that I liked was that you can hold in your position. Obviously the Army, and I assume many other agencies, it’s still typically an up or out deal. Part of his pitch was that if you like what you’re doing and good at it, you can ride that position for a long time. Personally that sounds super appealing, but I’m skeptical.
Just a few of my observations so far. The pay thing is probably obvious, but I mention it since it’s one of my biggest considerations with a child.
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