Career Interview with a Senior Budget Analyst at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense

In this episode, Mike Jucewicz describes his career path working for the federal government in finance roles and what he currently does. After college, he worked for seven years in the US Army as a Financial Management Analyst, as a Student of the Defense Comptrollership Program, and as a Lead Budget Analyst. He is now a Senior Budget Analyst at the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller. We discuss: Current role 0:46: An overview of the Office of the Secretary of Defense 1:28: An overview of his role as a Senior Budget Analyst 3:29: His most common roles and responsibilities 6:02: The steps of vetting a budget request 8:10: The timeline of a budget oversight process 8:55: What a typical day/week is like 11:28: What determines his goals on projects 13:18: A breakdown of how social his role is 15:35: What he likes and finds challenging about his role 17:35: An example of a crisis situation that impacts his responsibilities 21:10: An overview of government job pay scales Career Path 23:29: Career path steps that led to his current role 26:19: How the Army paid for his graduate school 26:50: What drew him to the Army 27:38: The pay scale on his federal career path 28:39: What he's learned he does and doesn't want in a role 30:07: Clarifying the distinction between his role and accounting roles 32:46: How he chose what qualities to prioritize in a job Advice: 35:40: General career advice 37:53: How he leveraged his network in an unusual way to get on his current career path 40:03: The importance of balance in one’s career