Private vs Public Sector

Andy_L

Are you an engineer or a scientist?

The MoD does not do very much "proper engineering" anymore, ie you won't be doing the whole CADMID cycle. You will tend to end up project managing outsourced contracts and acting as an "intelligent customer" ie knowing enough about a topic to know if the contractor is tacking the mick.

Look here:
https://www.civilianjobs.mod.uk/JobSearch.aspx
for current (external) vacancies to get a feel for the kind of jobs avaliable, IIRC 1st year DESG posts tend to be D or C2 level.

As far as pay rises go the CS, unlike the rest of the public sector, has to pay for both pay progression & cost of living out of the same headline pay increase. Quite how that will be reconcilled with the 1% public sector cap cap I don't know

KiKi

The Civil Service grad scheme is known for being excellent, and I would pick public sector over private any day.

Yes, there are big cuts in the public sector at the moment - but it's happening in the private sector, too. And what you will get in the public sector is a fair chance at every opportunity going, even if cuts are made.

Hope you make the right choice for you!
KiKi

jdturk

dmg24 wrote: »

If I had to work for a large organisation, I would go for public sector. I am disabled and past experience (and research) has shown that I am much more likely to be discriminated against in the private sector. There are also issues such as work/ life balance, flexible working (if I ever manage to get pregnant!) etc that make the public sector more appealing to me.

I think you have been unlucky more than anything and that public bodies are just as likely to discriminate over private (hopefully not though!)

ThrowingStonesAtYou

I've always worked in the private sector but have close dealings with the public sector. If you're looking for a 'job for life' the public sector is probably the way to go, whereas you can do better in the private sector but I've always found pay rises (if you get them) pretty derisory and the best way to progress your career is to move company regularly (at least while you're young) otherwise you'll stagnate.

bubblybee

I have worked in both now starting with the public sector and moving over to the private to begin a new career. As Regshoe writes the advantages of being in the public sector are numerous and well I think as I move towards motherhood I fully expect to end up back in the public sector. The flexibility in working hours is priceless.

For now though I work in the private sector. I made a concious decision that while I am starting out in a new career I will learn the most in the fastest time possible in the private sector. I also have time to commit to the private sector and I was hoping for good pay rises and promotions. This hasn't happened due to the economic problems and this has really affected my perception of if you work hard you reap the benefits.

I still think that the private sector provides me with the greatest challenges and for me this is excellent. My public sector jobs were comfortable but not difficult. Promotion is difficult as you wait for someone else to move on. There is far more bureaucracy and internal politics and I often felt like banging my head against a brick wall.

When it comes down to it though each public sector place is different and within that each team is different. The same goes for the private sector. In my field its harder to go from the public to private sector as for example in 5 years time my experiences will be far greater than the public sector equivalent and the pay will not be anywhere near the same. For me it's balancing this against flexi time, pensions, bonuses etc.

Think about what you need now, what you want to achieve and what you want to move to in the future. Then think about which one suits your needs best.

olly300

One of the issues you have OP is working for a large consultancy company. If you worked for a medium size or small software/services company you would find in some aspects if they liked you, you would be treated much better. If they didn't like you they would make you leave very quickly.

SMEs don't promise or give you a graduate training scheme but you would learn twice as much as you would in the type of large consultancy you are in, in 6 months. And what you learn you would have to use immediately.

Mrs_J_3

fengirl wrote: »

I think it all depends on your political views - whether you are happy working to line the pockets of the ruling class or want to work for the common good.

That's a quite a pompous statement, although I shall assume that you didn't mean to be quite so rude to us that work in the private sector.

To the OP, I could not work in the public sector. The internal politics and the beaurocracy would see me kill someone. Several close family members work in the public sector in various capacities and the common threads are the person that's been there forever but does nothing (but being the public sector they bend over backwards to accomodate them) and the continual changing of goal posts with each new wheeze of the relevant government agency. It's not for me I'm afraid.

The huge advantage is that public bodies do not like to let staff go and will make all reasonable efforts to redeploy staff if push came to shove. Job security becomes important when you have a family or mortgage, but at your age that wouldn't be my top priority. Take a risk with the oppurtunity which exposes you to more and develops you most. I didn't settle into my current career until my 30's and I couldn't have done so without "trying" a few jobs out. As a graduate you really are at the bottom of the heap, but once you have some experience under your belt you will find many more doors open to you which means although you may not have one job for life, your skills will be highly regarded and you should never be unemployed for long.

I'm waffling as its late, but trust your gut instinct. I took risks to get to the job I wanted (and now love), but my OH craves job security and stability so his current role is great for him.

Lost_Prophet

Thanks all, its all helped a lot. I have time to decide anyway and might not get it anyway

In response to an answer earlier, I working in engineering, but apparently the options are open to other areas if you are prepared to learn

Thanks again, you all have been helpful :beer:

Indo77

I work in the public sector (higher education) and the only way we get promotion is to apply for a new job. IT staff are generally treated like crap and underpaid compared to the academics. Go with the private sector. Public sector does not appreciate skilled staff.

Andy_L

One more thing, with the DESG scheme you will be moving around the country every few (~6) months. Depending on your domestic set-up & personal preferences that may be a plus or a minus