Someone has to be making more money than you do in the federal government, that's for sure. But with a bad economy and plenty of layoffs, the government is looking like a pretty good place to work these days. Government is hiring, and it is very unlikely that you could get laid off once you pass the probationary period.

You can check at salaries at www.payscale.com, and get a general idea of how much jobs pay. Also, the website, www.ohmygov.com, has a list of federal jobs and what they may pay. To give you an idea of the pay scale, here are some of them:

* Doctors working at the Department of Veterans Affairs had an average salary of nearly $150,000 in 2008. The pay, however, can go as high as $400,000.

* Justice Department lawyers brought home an average of $120,332 although the pay could go as high as $153,000.

Although this website did not highlight IT jobs, it's important to get to know usajobs.gov, too, post your resume on it and troll it regularly.

For more on government jobs:
- check out this ohmygov.com article