The Death of Open-Ended Asks in Your Transition Out of Government
Why vague LinkedIn posts kill momentum in your move to tech and what proactive outreach can fix
Aspiring former fed often fall into a trap when crafting transition posts on LinkedIn. Announcing an impending departure from government service. Listing regional focuses along with broad labels like “intelligence analysis” or “geopolitical risk.” Asking for thoughts, insights or opportunities. The tone is always polite, borderline subordinate. It often reads vague and naive.
Stop doing this.
You’ve seen it: “I’ll soon be leaving government service and I’m hoping to find a role in tech, ideally somewhere in analysis or risk assessment. I’d appreciate any guidance as I make this transition. If you know of opportunities, please feel free to reach out.”
This is the absence of effort. A polite shrug disguised as outreach.
I first wrote about this networking misstep, advising aspiring former feds to avoid asking others to find connections for them. Networking only works when own the process. Once you see what gains traction and what falls flat, you start to understand its value. That clarity sharpens your approach and forces you to adopt methods that actually work.
Failure One: No Movement.
These posts don’t actually produce progress. They force the audience to do the hard work: interpret your experience, imagine possible roles and determine how to plug you in.
Only you will complete that assignment.
Even your closest allies hesitate when your ask is so broad it could mean anything. Networking thrives on specificity. If you want someone to help, make the path clear:
“I’m applying for a partnerships role at xyz, do you know anyone on the management team?” is actionable. “I’m open to opportunities in private industry” is not.
By casting the net vaguely, you lock in little to no movement. You might get a few polite likes or comments (“Happy to chat sometime”), but those don’t translate into introductions, interviews, or offers. The people most capable of helping are left guessing what you actually want. Most will scroll past.
Failure Two: Perception.
The second failure is reputational. Posts like these make you look unprepared. Unsure. Unworthy.
They suggest you don’t respect the time of those you’re asking for help. Even people inclined to assist often back away, because putting their name behind someone who hasn’t shown initiative is risky. No one wants to burn credibility on a passive candidate.
People help when they believe you’ll make them look smart for supporting you. An esoteric, open-ended request communicates the opposite. It says: I haven’t figured this out yet; can you please figure it out for me?
Crabs in a Barrel
Most people don’t want to face the reality that a career transition depends solely on one person. Your peers, mentors and LinkedIn connections don’t owe you a plan. They don’t owe you introductions. They don’t owe you the effort of sorting out your next career step.
If you want traction, you have to make it easy for them to say yes. That means doing your homework. You have to carry 90 percent of the weight. The last 10 percent, the intro, the recommendation, the validation, is what you’re asking for. That’s the part people will gladly do if you’ve shown them you’re worth betting on.
There’s another truth hiding under the surface: many of your former colleagues aren’t rooting for you. They’d rather you stay in the same barrel they’re in. Perhaps this is even where you got the idea for the passive LinkedIn post.
Crabs pull each other down not because they hate escape, but because escape proves it’s possible. If you break out, their excuses collapse. That’s uncomfortable. It’s easier for them if you stay stuck.
So expect resistance. Expect people to dismiss private sector opportunities while quietly hoping you stumble. That’s not everyone, but it’s common enough that you should stop expecting universal support. But you don’t need universal support. You need a handful of connectors, trailblazers and reliable recruiters.
You’ll never find them by broadcasting vague requests. You’ll find them by demonstrating effort that attracts believers.
Why the “Fair Fight” Isn’t for You
Another uncomfortable reality: if you’re coming out of government, the “fair fight” in hiring isn’t yours to win. Recruiters screening resumes aren’t looking for pivot candidates. They’re looking for people who already check every box: five years in tech sales, three years leading BD at a competitor and a track record of landing enterprise deals.
That isn’t you. At least not on paper.
So if you rely on fairness, you lose. You need to tilt the field. You need an unfair advantage. And the only way to create that advantage is by activating a network. That doesn’t mean posting into the void. It means targeting people directly, showing them you’ve done the work, and making it easy for them to pull you forward.
A resume has its place, but it isn’t what wins you the job. It’s a document of record, not a ticket to entry. Too many aspiring former feds obsess over their resumes, tweaking fonts and bullet points, as if formatting were the barrier to a $250,000 comp package in tech.
It isn’t.
What matters is whether someone on the hiring team believes you’ll generate results. For those of us making an unorthodox career transition, a resume cannot communicate this potential. It comes from a conversation. A recommendation. A warm introduction. Resumes distract you from doing the real work of building relationships that open doors.
Closers focus on a network that organically leads to offers, rather than waiting for someone to notice their bio.
Fuel Comes from Early Wins
Momentum can change everything. Even just bit by bit. One call that goes well. A trailblazer who agrees to help. A connector who makes an intro. These give you fuel for weeks. It proves people take your career transition seriously. It proves your background is translatable. It proves progress is possible.
But active posts don’t produce that fuel. It comes from deliberate outreach. You identify who you want to speak with, craft a clear ask and follow up until you get a conversation. At first, the process feels chaotic. You reach out, you wait, you wonder. But once you’ve had enough reps, you see the repeatable patterns:
Recruiter language: “We’re moving quickly” usually means three weeks of silence.
Interview endings: If the call ends with “next steps in 48 hours,” it’s positive. If it ends with “we’ll keep you in mind,” it’s not.
Intro signals: A connector who mentions someone by name and position is presenting an opportunity. Another who says “I’ll think about it” rarely follows through.
You only learn this by doing. By starting. By testing. None of it comes from announcing you’re “open to opportunities.”
So are you willing to work? Are you willing to go past the safety of broad announcements and instead do the uncomfortable, specific, targeted introspection and research that advances a career transition?
Those who are willing get traction. Those who aren’t keep posting into the void, hoping someone else will carry them.
And LinkedIn keeps scrolling on.
Underperforming Posts? Let’s Fix That.
Book a free, 15-minute call and we’ll run through your current approach, identify where you’re wasting time and map out the most direct path into private-sector roles that reward initiative. You’ll leave with specific next steps tailored to your background. No more vague advice. No more theory.
Networking progress comes from action. Book your call and take the first step:
👉 Schedule Your Free Transition Audit
