10 ms·

Let me know if folks have any questions, but I left Google on Dec. 31, 2016.

wjossey 10y ago
Best of luck Matt- I miss hearing you on the TWiT network, but I'm truly proud and inspired by the work you're doing. Continue to lead, and others will follow.
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  I'd love to get back to talk to Leo Laporte at some point--maybe when things quiet down a bit.
ipsin 10y ago
Since you pitch the USDS to tech people, please let us know: how free do you feel to speak your mind on political matters, or to effect those positive outcomes? Personally I've judged the quality of incoming political appointees, and I would chafe at working under leadership I could not respect. In my worst imagination, I would be holding down a desk until it could be filled by the employees of well-connected contractors. You describe it as "incredibly frustrating" now. How do you think you can keep that work "deeply important and inspiring"?
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people. When a veteran can apply for health benefits online, they have a better experience. But it also saves the money from them driving to see someone in person. There's so much work like that to do that everyone agrees will make the government better, more responsive, and more efficient. I also think the USDS has built up some reputation and trust because of the good work that it's been able to do so far. I'm heartened when folks like Kevin McCarthy (majority leader in the House of Representatives) tweet things like this: https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 At Google, I didn't always agree with what the CEO decided to do, like shutting down Google Reader. Sigh. But there was a ton of important work to do, and concentrating on the common ground made it possible to do really good things.
  - easychewie 10y ago
    > First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. And there it is. One of many reasons I'll never work for the government again. The government is so PC-sensitive that dude can't even post on HN without a mildly disguised form of legalese. When I was in the Air Force, everything I said had to be prefaced with The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. One might think this is a minor complaint but after years of death by 1,000 cuts, you just can't take it anymore.
    - Matt_Cutts 10y ago
      To be fair, I often said that online when I was working for Google as well.
      - johnward 10y ago
        This is common amongst all megacorps. They can use anything you say on social media against you if it makes them look bad. The disclaimer doesn't really matter but I still put one in my profile. Basically, it's not just the government that goes too far into private life.
    - spoon16 10y ago
      It is very common on HN to put a disclaimer like this on posts. I do not think this has anything to do with Matt working for the government.
    - quanticle 10y ago
      Except that's also policy for most large corporations, as well. If you're working at some place like Microsoft or Google, it's required policy that you preface anything you say about Microsoft or Google with a statement that these statements are your personal opinions only and do not reflect the policy of the company.
    - eddieroger 10y ago
walrus01 10y ago
What are your thoughts on the theft of the entire contents of everyone's SF-86 from the OPM? I've had a security clearance in the past and all of my personal info was part of the data breach[1]. Incidents like this are one of the reasons why I would not work for the federal government again, except as contractor at much higher than standard federal scale pay rate. It's just not worth it in the personal hassle to go through the intrusive background check/clearance process. 1: https://www.google.com/search?q=SF-86+breach+opm&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b https://www.google.com/search?q=SF-86+breach+opm&ie=utf-8&oe... Second question: What level of clearance do your direct reports require? Secret? TS?
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  Yup, my personal data was stolen in the OPM breach too, because I interned for the government when I was in college. But the USDS helped in the aftermath of the OPM breach. In fact, one of my first USDS projects after joining was a collaboration with 18F and the Dept. of Defense on a better version of the SF-86 and a more secure background investigation system. Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military. There is a background check process as part of joining USDS, but we keep looking at ways to make signing up easier, e.g. trying to make the process faster.
  - jbapple 10y ago
    > Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military. Why is it good to make it easy to enlist in the military?
    - danso 10y ago
      We have a volunteer corps. For a lot of people, the military is one of the best job options as it also offers paid education via the G.I. Bill.
      - 10y ago
toomuchtodo 10y ago
No questions, just a compliment. After going through the USDS interview process and declining an offer, I have nothing but appreciation for those who serve there knowing what's involved to be selected, onboarded, and what the day to day looks like. Best of luck as your journey there continues.
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  I'll pass that feedback on--thank you!
  - nowarninglabel 10y ago
    I'll tag on here to compliment the usds.gov/join site. Great job at outlining everything upfront to make it easy for people to figure out if it's right for them. Might lift some inspiration from it. And thank you for serving!
- ganley 10y ago
  Totally agree. I'm inspired by what they do, but working there would involve a big pay cut and a punishing commute, so (with some sadness) nope.
- vonmoltke 10y ago
  I don't want to be too negative here, but I had the opposite experience. I didn't like the little bit of the process I actually got to experience, did not get a good feeling from either the job description or the one interview I had what the USDS is actually looking for, and found the canned rejection email to be a bit condescending.
  - Matt_Cutts 10y ago
    Just wanted to say sorry that you had a bad experience. Would you mind if I asked when you applied and went through the process? I'm curious whether your experience was a recent bad one.
    - 10y ago
HappyTypist 10y ago
I'm sure working for the US Digital Service is incredibly rewarding and much more so than perks like free lunches, but do you think offering free lunches will help reduce a common perception of 'bureaucracy' with government jobs?
the_mitsuhiko 10y ago
I'm curious how you see the future of the USDS with the new president.
skybrian 10y ago
You might want to update your Hacker News profile :-)
jdmath 10y ago
Not a question, I wanted to say that I am impressed with vets.gov and the pace of improvement. Thank you and your team for the work that you do! I can see it getting way better than ebenefits. Hoping it will allow vets more access to their information such as C-File and medical records without a FOIA request.
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  I love vets.gov. Starting with benefits was great, but secure messaging with doctors, filling prescriptions--there's lots of great stuff going on there. While I've got you, are there 2-3 things that you would most like to see on vets.gov in the future?

Best of luck Matt- I miss hearing you on the TWiT network, but I'm truly proud and inspired by the work you're doing. Continue to lead, and others will follow.

Matt_Cutts 10y ago
I'd love to get back to talk to Leo Laporte at some point--maybe when things quiet down a bit.

ipsin 10y ago

Since you pitch the USDS to tech people, please let us know: how free do you feel to speak your mind on political matters, or to effect those positive outcomes? Personally I've judged the quality of incoming political appointees, and I would chafe at working under leadership I could not respect. In my worst imagination, I would be holding down a desk until it could be filled by the employees of well-connected contractors. You describe it as "incredibly frustrating" now. How do you think you can keep that work "deeply important and inspiring"?

Matt_Cutts 10y ago
First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people. When a veteran can apply for health benefits online, they have a better experience. But it also saves the money from them driving to see someone in person. There's so much work like that to do that everyone agrees will make the government better, more responsive, and more efficient. I also think the USDS has built up some reputation and trust because of the good work that it's been able to do so far. I'm heartened when folks like Kevin McCarthy (majority leader in the House of Representatives) tweet things like this: https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 https://twitter.com/gopleader/status/796823547343736837 At Google, I didn't always agree with what the CEO decided to do, like shutting down Google Reader. Sigh. But there was a ton of important work to do, and concentrating on the common ground made it possible to do really good things.
- easychewie 10y ago
  > First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. And there it is. One of many reasons I'll never work for the government again. The government is so PC-sensitive that dude can't even post on HN without a mildly disguised form of legalese. When I was in the Air Force, everything I said had to be prefaced with The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Air force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. One might think this is a minor complaint but after years of death by 1,000 cuts, you just can't take it anymore.
  - Matt_Cutts 10y ago
    To be fair, I often said that online when I was working for Google as well.
    - johnward 10y ago
      This is common amongst all megacorps. They can use anything you say on social media against you if it makes them look bad. The disclaimer doesn't really matter but I still put one in my profile. Basically, it's not just the government that goes too far into private life.
  - spoon16 10y ago
    It is very common on HN to put a disclaimer like this on posts. I do not think this has anything to do with Matt working for the government.
  - quanticle 10y ago
    Except that's also policy for most large corporations, as well. If you're working at some place like Microsoft or Google, it's required policy that you preface anything you say about Microsoft or Google with a statement that these statements are your personal opinions only and do not reflect the policy of the company.
  - eddieroger 10y ago

walrus01 10y ago

What are your thoughts on the theft of the entire contents of everyone's SF-86 from the OPM? I've had a security clearance in the past and all of my personal info was part of the data breach[1]. Incidents like this are one of the reasons why I would not work for the federal government again, except as contractor at much higher than standard federal scale pay rate. It's just not worth it in the personal hassle to go through the intrusive background check/clearance process. 1: https://www.google.com/search?q=SF-86+breach+opm&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b https://www.google.com/search?q=SF-86+breach+opm&ie=utf-8&oe... Second question: What level of clearance do your direct reports require? Secret? TS?

Matt_Cutts 10y ago
Yup, my personal data was stolen in the OPM breach too, because I interned for the government when I was in college. But the USDS helped in the aftermath of the OPM breach. In fact, one of my first USDS projects after joining was a collaboration with 18F and the Dept. of Defense on a better version of the SF-86 and a more secure background investigation system. Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military. There is a background check process as part of joining USDS, but we keep looking at ways to make signing up easier, e.g. trying to make the process faster.
- jbapple 10y ago
  > Without getting into weeds too much, there's lots of good work happening to make it easy to join the federal government or enlist in the military. Why is it good to make it easy to enlist in the military?
  - danso 10y ago
    We have a volunteer corps. For a lot of people, the military is one of the best job options as it also offers paid education via the G.I. Bill.
    - 10y ago

toomuchtodo 10y ago

No questions, just a compliment. After going through the USDS interview process and declining an offer, I have nothing but appreciation for those who serve there knowing what's involved to be selected, onboarded, and what the day to day looks like. Best of luck as your journey there continues.

Matt_Cutts 10y ago
I'll pass that feedback on--thank you!
- nowarninglabel 10y ago
  I'll tag on here to compliment the usds.gov/join site. Great job at outlining everything upfront to make it easy for people to figure out if it's right for them. Might lift some inspiration from it. And thank you for serving!
ganley 10y ago
Totally agree. I'm inspired by what they do, but working there would involve a big pay cut and a punishing commute, so (with some sadness) nope.
vonmoltke 10y ago
I don't want to be too negative here, but I had the opposite experience. I didn't like the little bit of the process I actually got to experience, did not get a good feeling from either the job description or the one interview I had what the USDS is actually looking for, and found the canned rejection email to be a bit condescending.
- Matt_Cutts 10y ago
  Just wanted to say sorry that you had a bad experience. Would you mind if I asked when you applied and went through the process? I'm curious whether your experience was a recent bad one.
  - 10y ago

HappyTypist 10y ago

I'm sure working for the US Digital Service is incredibly rewarding and much more so than perks like free lunches, but do you think offering free lunches will help reduce a common perception of 'bureaucracy' with government jobs?

the_mitsuhiko 10y ago

I'm curious how you see the future of the USDS with the new president.

skybrian 10y ago

You might want to update your Hacker News profile :-)

jdmath 10y ago

Not a question, I wanted to say that I am impressed with vets.gov and the pace of improvement. Thank you and your team for the work that you do! I can see it getting way better than ebenefits. Hoping it will allow vets more access to their information such as C-File and medical records without a FOIA request.

Matt_Cutts 10y ago
I love vets.gov. Starting with benefits was great, but secure messaging with doctors, filling prescriptions--there's lots of great stuff going on there. While I've got you, are there 2-3 things that you would most like to see on vets.gov in the future?