I need a job opinion

[chrose]

Hi all. I need opinions, (I think) as most of you know, I am retired from pro kitchens for health reasons. I have been working in Engineereing for the last 4 years. I don't mind sitting at a desk, but the building industry is subject to the whims and vagaries of the economy. I am the low man on the totem pole, so how secure my job is blows with the wind.
I am at a point in my life where I need to consider my future. I have an opportunity to apply for a job with the government job as a paper pusher.
Pros: Government bennies! Retirement etc. regular work hours, semi- recession proof.
Cons: Government paper pusher for the rest of my life (potentially)
That part is not as much the issue as is the particular job. Here is a brief description:

A little about the Farm Service Agency...We administer the Federal Farm programs to farmers in Monroe County. We provide short-term loans, conservation incentives, crop disaster assistance, and a variety of other contract payment programs for such things as milk or crop production.

Do I have a shot at the job? Who the **** knows! But does anyone have an opinion on government jobs like this, or the FSA (Shroomgirl?)
I appreciate all thoughts.

[deltadoc]

I'm not sure how long "for the rest of my life" is for you. With that said, my first job, which was during summers while I went to college, was for a civil service job. It was totally boring. The people, that I saw when I looked around, seemed to me to be people willing to be bored for total job security. This was back in the late '60's, when there really wasn't much of a problem or concern about job security as I recall.

I currently work in medical device engineering, and it used to be fun, but now it is too beurocratic, basically a lot of paper pushing as you referred to.

On the other hand, the Farm Service Agency could be a chance to help farmer's, and maybe that wouldn't be so boring. Being originally from Iowa, I know how much help the little farmer's need today.

doc

[shroomgirl]

as with any buerocracy you will be at the whims of lifers who may or may not think, "it's just a job man". Is this federal? The national director is a putz....she is not into little farmers, so no warm and fuzzies coming off that.
Working with farmers is interesting, they have a totally different mindset than chefs. TOTALLY. There are a few good people in Mo Ag but the majority are hard line GMO guys, so Monsanto rules the day. Whatever you can live with, I forgo all kinds of jobs in exchange for flex time to work creatively in projects that help me sleep at night.....not a great one to ask about a desk job.