He quit his government job after 5 months for a higher-paying tech role. Here's how he marketed himself for the switch.

• Kunal Sonalker transitioned from a government data analyst role to the private sector for better opportunities and pay.
• He leveraged his government experience by showcasing measurable impacts and building a strong network.
• Sonalker highlights differences in work pace, upskilling needs, and experimentation between sectors.

When Kunal Sonalker graduated from the University of Florida in 2017 with a master's degree in computer science, his career aspiration was to be a data scientist at a Big Tech company. But he soon found out it wasn't going to be easy to reach his goal.

"Data science was a growing field then, and there weren't many entry-level roles for data scientists or machine learning engineers," Sonalker told Business Insider. "I almost got no interview callbacks from the bigger firms."

During a career fair, he met some recruiters from a state government agency focused on water resources, landed an interview, and was hired as an entry-level data analyst.

He felt constrained in his government job

While Sonalker found his government job "super interesting" and appreciated the chance to work with brilliant environmental scientists, he felt constrained by the scale of his work.

"I wanted to work on big data systems and large-scale projects, and I wasn't getting a chance to work on that," he said.

Sonalker also felt that despite his employer's desire to leverage technology, budget constraints often limited the government sector's ability to invest in new technologies and software. The compensation was also much lower than that of the private sector, which included company stocks and RSUs.

After just five months in his government role, at age 26, Sonalker decided to pivot to a private-sector job as a data science analyst at a retail healthcare company. His new role also came with a significant pay hike, and within one-and-a-half years, his salary was nearly 50% higher than that of his government job.

After about two-and-a-half years at the healthcare company, he landed a data analytics and machine learning role at a supermarket chain. Today, the 32-year-old is a data scientist at Nordstrom.

3 ways Sonalker marketed himself for the private sector with government sector experience

1. Showing measurable impact

Sonalker translated his government-sector accomplishments into measurable results that demonstrated his impact on efficiency, cost savings, and process improvements.

For example, he worked on several initiatives that improved workflow processes at his government agency, saving his team many manual hours.

"I quantified this project — how much manual effort did we reduce, what were the cost savings associated with this project, how did we use automation tools to improve the existing process — and showcased it in my résumé," he explained.

2. Connecting with people at his target companies to gain potential referrals

His strategy was to search "[company name] + role + LinkedIn" to find people who were working or who had worked in the companies and roles he was interested in.

After sending initial invites to these professionals, he set up a coffee chat and told them about his experiences and what exactly he was looking for in a new role.

"You can build a strong network just by doing this," Sonalker said.

3. Emphasizing his ability to navigate complex systems, adapt to new environments, and lead end-to-end projects

When working in the government agency, Sonalker developed a complete module to automate the agency's reporting system.

"When you highlight these large-scale projects, explaining how you navigated through them and what the tradeoffs and challenges were, it goes a long way with the hiring manager," he said. "These skills are highly valued in the private sector."

3 things he wishes he knew before making the transition

There were also some things Sonalker wished he had known before transitioning out of a government job.

1. The pace of work is significantly different

Sonalker didn't realize that private sector jobs move much faster than government jobs, with a greater emphasis on quick decision-making and rapid implementation of new technologies.

"On the government front, we used to experience this occasionally if there were floods or water issues in a county, but for the most part, it was smooth sailing," he said. "We used to have timelines for our deliverables, but nothing too crazy."

2. You may need to upskill or obtain new certifications to stay competitive

Sonalker quickly discovered that tech jobs require always remaining a student, constantly learning and upskilling yourself — something he personally enjoys and participates in.

"I've been constantly enrolling myself in new courses," Sonalker said, something his manager has been very supportive of.

For example, Sonalker learned Tableau and enrolled himself in certifications from Amazon Web Services, which taught him how to train and host AI models on their cloud platform. He's also recently taken courses on building generative AI applications, finetuning open-source AI models, and deploying these models into production environments.

3. There's significant room for experimentation

In the government sector, if Sonalker's team wanted to try out a new technology, they had to make a very detailed case about why they needed that investment. He found this not to be the case in his non-government jobs.

"The private sector is liberal, and you'll have room to try out new methods — fail faster and succeed sooner," he said.

The private and public sectors both have their pros and cons

Sonalker said he no longer struggles with the problems that government jobs often come with, like limited compensation and salary growth, slow decision-making processes, and inertia to change.

However, he also acknowledged drawbacks of the private sector, such as shaky job security due to ongoing Big Tech layoffs and potentially longer working hours with stricter timelines, whereas government jobs traditionally have offered better work-life balance and a sense of public service.

Sonalker's aspirations to become a data scientist at a Big Tech company have evolved over time, thanks to his work with AI and machine learning methods at Nordstrom. "I feel retail — especially e-commerce — has a ton of applications to leverage some of the recent developments happening in AI," Sonalker said. "Rather than focusing on where I work, I plan to prioritize the kind of work I'm doing."

Sonalker plans to remain in the private sector for the foreseeable future, but he doesn't view this as a permanent departure from public service. "AI can be a game-changer for government efficiency and service delivery," he said, pointing to uses such as optimizing resource allocation and improving citizen engagement.

"Its successful implementation often requires the expertise and resources of the private sector," he said, adding that it's a public-private collaboration he'd be interested in helping facilitate.

Do you have a story to share about transitioning from a government job to the private sector, or vice versa? Contact this editor, Jane Zhang, at janezhang@businessinsider.com.