Public vs. Private Sector?

yusing asks: "Public sector or private sector? Which would you rather work in? What are Slashdot reader experiences like? What are the differences in work environments? What are the frustrations of each? This person chose private sector after working in public. This article argues that the public sector should be expanded. There are definitely political considerations in this choice (bigger/smaller government for example) but I'd like help deciding which would be more appropriate for me. Where can I find quality reading to help me decide?"

In this economy...

[rtblmyazz]

...take whatever the hell job you can find, cause there isn't squat out there right now. Not many people have the luxury of pondering such questions these days.

Do you want to rot securely or take a risk?

[Ars-Fartsica]

I think is the real question. Going to work in most large institutions, be it government or a large corporation, is an opportunity to securely rot for a long time. Note that I use the word secure, although in reality most large corporations are as likely to constantly trim/grow staff now as small ones.

You should work in at least one small, on the edge company for some period of time when you are young and can take more risks. These are the types of places you really learn and grow without having your fate defined by a strictly defined job definition.

This type of question is likely to be answered by all sorts of people crapping on the private sector because of the job situation out there. Come on folks, markets recover. Taking a risk on a smaller company when you have no dependents and no long term debt (like when you are first out of college) is a must.

Public sector downsides...

[Ars-Fartsica]

There are many downsides to the public sector. Pay is often not very good. Your office is often a petri dish for government social engineering...which also breeds the worst kind of office politics.

Added to which, to be frank, from my experience you will end up working with the most mediocore people the market can bear. Sorry, but many government offices are staffed by the otherwise unemployable. Do you really want to work with these people??

Where can I find quality reading to help me?

[jukal]

In your own head. What rewards you? Is it money? Is it scientific fame? Is it making products used by millions? Is it doing something ethically good? Is it long lasting research work? Is it the ability to change work-description quickly?

Re:Easy choice...

[krwren]

Yes, a state job is more secure and it is not easy to get fired, but speeking for the department I work in, we take pride in our work. We can not be made to work over but we do when needed (without overtime or comp) because of PRIDE in our work. You can run into the same problems in any department private or public. Always judge the MANAGEMENT over the position more than anything else. They can make hard jobs injoyable or make easy jobs killers.

Re:Academia

[GT_Alias]

I second that. Academia seems to have been fairly impervious to the economic crises lately (at least the school I work at). Yeah, they've been tightening budgets up, but they sure haven't been laying people of in droves.

In addition, they've been fairly generous with training, equipment, hours, and pay.

The downside? For me, its been politics. Lots of people making noise, very few actually getting anything accomplished. I work for an auxiliary part of the college though, not for an actual school or research department, so I can't speak for those.

In addition, you don't have the opportunity to "make it big" like you do in the private sector (however small an opportunity that is). You're pretty much guaranteed a modest, but steady salary for as long as you work there.

You have a choice? Congratulations!

[gosand]

At this point in the economy, I think you should take whatever you can get. If you have that big of a choice where you can decide between one or the other, then you are doing better than most. Probably no matter what you choose, things will change in 5 years. Personally, I wouldn't want to work at the same place for life, but I don't want to be switching jobs every 2 years either. A lot can happen in 5 years, especially in the IT industry.

A great band once said:
Yes there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on

Public sector = GOOD

[Markgor]

It goes without saying that for job security, the public sector is the best. The variety of positions available within the public sector is also much better.

However, the stereotype is that a job in the public sector is mundane.

After many years of working in the private sector, I am now working at Health Canada in the development of a public health surveillance system. I went in with apprehension because I had heard so many stories of public servants sitting around their desks doing nothing - not my cup of tea. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the group I'm in was very sharp and very professional. No two hour lunches and half hour coffee breaks here.

I started wondering why and began to realize the reason behind it all. Given that there have been many layoffs in the private sector, the public one has benefitted greatly from the pool of talent that has been made available. These people have brought with them skills and a level of professionalism that has changed many government departments for the better.

Note, however, that this hasn't applied to all departments. I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones. :-)

Downsides of the public sector

[argv]

I manage the Info Systems Department for a local government. I ended up here purely by chance. I wanted to leave a very large, Plano, TX based outsourcing firm (didn't want to move to Plano) and my current employer was hiring.

Here are the lousy parts of government:

1. If you are fairly bright and motivated, you will likely be working with a lot of folks who aren't.

2. Government is about accountability, not profitability. Things happen very slowly in government primarily because you have to document exactly how every penny is spent and why it is spent that way. Government will gladly spend thousands to select a product that costs $10 less than the competitor, just so any citizen or the press won't fry your ass if you made the wrong decision.

3. Remember your spending taxpayers money! Forget about bonuses, nice office furniture, big training budgets, or any other perk found in the private sector.

4. Because of 3 above, you will find that there is little reward for doing a job well. You'll likely get the same raise as the guy who hasn't put a line of code in production in years! Your average citizen would rather have you doing nothing than make more money than he does!

5. Forget about getting rid of poor performing employees. The documentation required isn't worth a managers time. Want to be guaranteed a job for life? Blow the whistle on anything you even think might have been done incorrectly and call the local newspaper!

6. Budgets are pretty much fixed yearly. If your priorities change during the year, you're screwed til next year. Just keep doing nothing.

I intended to jump back into the private sector last year, but the employment market sucks.

If you really don't want to work and don't mind hanging out in a drab government facility 8 hours a day, it may just be the right career move for you.