“Shape Your Career”

Written by Andreas, a Local Government Employee.

Five years ago, I was a young professional in a new local government job. I was going through a phase of discovery about my new career choice. I was mainly focused on projects surrounding 311 Call Center, performance management, and scorecard reporting, along with other special projects. In my research of other cities and projects I came across GovLoop’s first annual Next Generation of Government Summit. Having no travel budget approved; I took my own vacation time and stayed on a friends couch to attend this summit. I was excited about the opportunity to meet other fellow young professional government employees, gain encouragement and learn from their experiences. I had no idea what I was getting into.

As I arrived at the Westin in Arlington on that first day, I had no idea what to expect. It was exciting. There were high-energy conversations about transformational projects that were taking place around the country, and the best part was, everyone was engaging and easy to approach. Taking full advantage of this opportunity has shaped my career in so many ways that continue to show for themselves. Through the Next Generation of Government Summit I was introduced to thought leaders around the county – which led to my attending the Gov 2.0 conference later that fall – which introduced me to Code for America through a fellow – and later becoming a Next Generation of Government Summit board member. All of these occurred due to my taking the first step to attend the Next Generation of Government Summit.

My challenge for you is…what will your NextGen story be? Who you will you meet? How will the summit excite you to new levels in your job or career?

The path is up to you, I strongly encourage anyone and everyone to attend this Summit as it has transformative qualities that will impact your career.