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> I did a tour of duty with the USDS > * Also for the record my tour of duty ended two years ago Is there some official marketing for the USDS that uses this

> I did a tour of duty with the USDS > * Also for the record my tour of duty ended two years ago Is there some official marketing for the USDS that uses this term "tour of duty" to refer to a civilian government job? This comment uses that exact phrase twice, and I've seen other people use it with reference to the USDS as well. It's honestly a huge turnoff, more than anything else GP mentioned. There are some situations under which I'd be willing to work for below-market rates. But the last thing i would ever want is for my work to be associated with the culture and goals of the military, or for my coworkers to view our job in that light.

ineedasername 7y ago
If you don't like it, blame the USDS, they're the ones that use this language: [0] "Our staff comes from all corners of the technology industry, nonprofit world, and government to serve ‘tours’ of service, bringing a steady influx of fresh perspectives into government. Tours typically last between six months and two years, with a maximum length of four years." [0] https://www.usds.gov/how-we-work https://www.usds.gov/how-we-work
- chimeracoder 7y ago
  > If you don't like it, blame the USDS, they're the ones that use this language: [0] "Our staff comes from all corners of the technology industry, nonprofit world, and government to serve ‘tours’ of service, bringing a steady influx of fresh perspectives into government. Tours typically last between six months and two years, with a maximum length of four years." Thanks for answering the question. So it is, in fact, a conscious decision by the USDS, which doesn't reflect well on their work culture IMO.
  - ineedasername 7y ago
    It does seem a choice of words that would rankle on people who do a real tour of military duty. I get they want to make the work sounds important, the people that do it as part of an important mission, but I'm not sure that's the best way.
- rhizome 7y ago
  I'm fine with blaming the USDS. There's no need to invoke military concepts, the Peace Corps calls their service intervals "programs."
dkhenry 7y ago
The way they hire people you can only stay there for four year max. After that you are required by law to leave, so it very much is a temporary job. So to describe it they use that term as it pretty accurately describes what you are signing up for
- chimeracoder 7y ago
  > The way they hire people you can only stay there for four year max. After that you are required by law to leave, so it very much is a temporary job. So to describe it they use that term as it pretty accurately describes what you are signing up for There are lots of jobs, both in the government and in the private sector, which have fixed terms. Very few refer to this using the militaristic language "tour of duty".
georgeburdell 7y ago
Agreed. I always found military jargon to be self important sounding on top of that. Using this language to attract civilian knowledge workers is bizarre and probably hurts their recruitment
goatinaboat 7y ago
In the military a “tour of duty” is a deployment overseas to a combat zone. Using it for civilian employment in an office at home is pretty weird.

ineedasername 7y ago

If you don't like it, blame the USDS, they're the ones that use this language: [0] "Our staff comes from all corners of the technology industry, nonprofit world, and government to serve ‘tours’ of service, bringing a steady influx of fresh perspectives into government. Tours typically last between six months and two years, with a maximum length of four years." [0] https://www.usds.gov/how-we-work https://www.usds.gov/how-we-work

chimeracoder 7y ago
> If you don't like it, blame the USDS, they're the ones that use this language: [0] "Our staff comes from all corners of the technology industry, nonprofit world, and government to serve ‘tours’ of service, bringing a steady influx of fresh perspectives into government. Tours typically last between six months and two years, with a maximum length of four years." Thanks for answering the question. So it is, in fact, a conscious decision by the USDS, which doesn't reflect well on their work culture IMO.
- ineedasername 7y ago
  It does seem a choice of words that would rankle on people who do a real tour of military duty. I get they want to make the work sounds important, the people that do it as part of an important mission, but I'm not sure that's the best way.
rhizome 7y ago
I'm fine with blaming the USDS. There's no need to invoke military concepts, the Peace Corps calls their service intervals "programs."

dkhenry 7y ago

The way they hire people you can only stay there for four year max. After that you are required by law to leave, so it very much is a temporary job. So to describe it they use that term as it pretty accurately describes what you are signing up for

chimeracoder 7y ago
> The way they hire people you can only stay there for four year max. After that you are required by law to leave, so it very much is a temporary job. So to describe it they use that term as it pretty accurately describes what you are signing up for There are lots of jobs, both in the government and in the private sector, which have fixed terms. Very few refer to this using the militaristic language "tour of duty".

georgeburdell 7y ago

Agreed. I always found military jargon to be self important sounding on top of that. Using this language to attract civilian knowledge workers is bizarre and probably hurts their recruitment

goatinaboat 7y ago

In the military a “tour of duty” is a deployment overseas to a combat zone. Using it for civilian employment in an office at home is pretty weird.