I dreaded working in the private sector, but the public sector didn't pay enough for me to live on. Here's how I found balance in my career.

Tech Insider : Business, Politics
a man poses for a photo in a grassy field
Joey Nguyen is the senior clinical trial contract and financial analyst at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Courtesy of Joey Nguyen

I'm an international scholarship student at Harvard whose future is up in the air. Trump's visa order is short-sighted.

Tech Insider : Business
man poses for a photo in front of the White House
Harvard student David Gayle, a 29-year-old policy advisor from London and a Kennedy Memorial Trust scholar, is unsure if he can finish his graduate degree.

Courtesy of David Gayle

I worked as an undercover FBI agent for 23 years. Here's what it was like infiltrating bike gangs, cartels, and neo-Nazi groups.

Tech Insider : Business
Scott Payne
Scott Payne was an undercover agent for the FBI.

Scott Payne

I quit a director-level job to work part-time at a massage therapy office. It was the best career move I've ever made.

Tech Insider : Business, Environment
a woman poses at her desk with a laptop of a pen
Carole-Ann Penney.

Jessie Wyman Photography

I'm a federal employee watching colleagues get laid off by DOGE. It's been devastating — we aren't cogs, we're human beings.

Tech Insider : Business
A photo collage of a gentleman in a forest scene with layoff imagery

Crispin la valiente/Getty, DNY59/Getty, Tyler Le/BI

I grew up poor and now make $150K in tech. Prioritizing myself allowed me to give back to my parents and family.

Tech Insider : Business, Technology, Travel
a family of five poses around a dinner table
Viviana Vazquez, middle, and her family.

Viviana Vazquez

I grew up poor and now make $150K in tech. Prioritizing myself allowed me to give back to my parents and family.

Tech Insider : Business, Technology, Travel
a family of five poses around a dinner table
Viviana Vazquez, middle, and her family.

Viviana Vazquez

I don't give Christmas gifts. The holidays got better when I stopped playing the 'who bought the most expensive present' game.

Tech Insider : Business, Travel
A Santa hand holds out a piece of coal.

cmannphoto/ Getty Images

Adam Scott is widely known for his roles in "Parks and Rec" and "Severance," but still doesn't feel like he's "made it"

Tech Insider : Business
Adam Scott against a blue star-patterned background

Adam Scott headshot/Philips Norelco, Tyler Le/BI

The 4 biggest differences between Gen Z and boomer coworkers, according to a manager of both

Tech Insider : Business, Technology
A venn diagram of a boomer and a gen z worker.
 

Getty Images; Chelsea Jia Feng/BI

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