Private vs Public Sector

netlou

It very much depends on what you want from a career/job.

I've worked in both sectors and the conditions often appear better in the public sector but there are a few things, which people don't always consider, about the public sector which might make it less attractive.

This is only based on my experience but....

I found it very difficult to get things done in the public sector (education) due to a huge amount of politics, loads of layers of management etc who had to approve everything.

As others have mentioned, one government policy change can turn your job on its head.

It's not as secure as many people may think. With public sector budget cuts they'll be more 'restructuring' which can wipe out whole departments (I worked in the public sector for 2 years and went through 3 restuructures).

Theres oodles of paperwork for everything - I had to write an essay for every expense claim even if it was for a couple of pounds.

You don't get some of the extra benefits that you might get in the private sector for example any Christmas festivities you are likely to have to pay for yourself (this might differ in some streams of the public sector and I know that alot of people in the private sector also have to pay for their own 'do').

Once you get to the top of the salary band for your grade there is only very small cost of living payrise to look forward to. Plus you can be excellent at your job whilst someone on the same grade is rubbish but you're not rewarded any extra for extra effort or acheivement.

Hope this helps.

Indo77

netlou wrote: »

It very much depends on what you want from a career/job.

I've worked in both sectors and the conditions often appear better in the public sector but there are a few things, which people don't always consider, about the public sector which might make it less attractive.

This is only based on my experience but....

I found it very difficult to get things done in the public sector (education) due to a huge amount of politics, loads of layers of management etc who had to approve everything.

As others have mentioned, one government policy change can turn your job on its head.

It's not as secure as many people may think. With public sector budget cuts they'll be more 'restructuring' which can wipe out whole departments (I worked in the public sector for 2 years and went through 3 restuructures).

Theres oodles of paperwork for everything - I had to write an essay for every expense claim even if it was for a couple of pounds.

You don't get some of the extra benefits that you might get in the private sector for example any Christmas festivities you are likely to have to pay for yourself (this might differ in some streams of the public sector and I know that alot of people in the private sector also have to pay for their own 'do').

Once you get to the top of the salary band for your grade there is only very small cost of living payrise to look forward to. Plus you can be excellent at your job whilst someone on the same grade is rubbish but you're not rewarded any extra for extra effort or acheivement.

Hope this helps.

This is more or less my views on it. The politics is ridiculous. Someone could be off 6 months on the sick, your workload doubles yet you stay on the same pay band. I took on management duties when my boss left and they gave me a measly £50 a month extra. My job is a programmer but more and more I ended up doing sys admin stuff because if I don't no one else will. Public sector and civil service Public sector is not the same thing either. They may get promotion but no one in education, NHS can expect this. Don't get me even started in the pay differences between acadmemics and support staff within the education sector. How someone in IT gets paid crap compared to the lecturing staff (who have 50 days holidays) is beyond me. Often skilled staff are totally overlooked in the public sector. You are a number that can be replaced.

jdturk

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.

Someone else mentioned this but it annoys me that someone can become successful and thus become a ruling class and whether you meant it or not your undertones in your statement show a feeling of distaste to successful people.

We all know which way you'll be voting come the general election!!!

Lost_Prophet

Hi again all,

Does anyone know what the average salaries are for the bands in the Civil Service?

Lost_Prophet

Oooops, duplicate post

I-Owe-You

Well I work for the NHS, and it is pretty much a job for life. I know people who have grossly breeched policies and undergone investigations and still remain in employment here – just been shuffled around to different departments. It is very hard to be sacked from a public sector position … and if it happens, there is a lot of red tape for managers to go through before they get there.
There isn’t much room for promotion though, you’ll rarely if ever be appraised and receive a salary increase (barr your pittance taxable annual increment) – once you’re in a job you are in it forever so perhaps not one for the more ambitious amongst us…unless you apply for a completely different job within the organisation. As someone else suggested the roles (admin & behind the scenes anyway) generally are comfortable rather than challenging.

The pro’s would be the flexible working hours – great if you have children. They are also more laxed regarding sickness, and allowing you to attend hospital/gp/dental/vet appointments during working hours.

Of course all this does not help if you are childless like me, and bother to consciously make out of hour appointments when I need to visit my GP ect!

The in-house courses available to us are great, and free of charge, and as someone with an hearing impairment their understanding towards my disability and the provision of equipment that I need has been faultless.

The one big fat negatives working in public sector is none existent Christmas /performance bonus’s… when I worked in private sector I received £2000 bonus out of the blue… that would take me six weeks to earn now.

I think if you work to live, and have children or are a carer then public sector would be for you, if you are career driven, ambitious (and live to work!) then stick with private as it pays better and you’ll get up the ladder quicker.

Like any employment sector, there is pros & cons to both! I enjoy my job mostly due to the satisfaction I get from making a difference to a patients journey during their hospital visit/stay.

B.E.N

Lost_Prophet wrote: »

Hi again all,

Does anyone know what the average salaries are for the bands in the Civil Service?

Pay Rates for DWP (2007-2009), the largest Government Department:

http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/department_for_work_and_pensions_group/pay_campaign/pay-offer-letter-2007--2009/appendices/appendix-1/

For Info: All jobs in Civil Service are organised into "Bands", not specific job roles, however, as a key:

Band A (Administration Assistant - AA) - Generally, post opening, filing duties and such.

Band B (Administration Officers - AO) - Generally the people who actually do the work - Benefit Processors, Phone Enquiries, the people who would "sign" you on at a JobCentre.

Band C (Executive Officer - EO) - Junior Management / Specialist Roles. Either Managing a team of approximately 12 Band Bs or in a "personal performance role" - e.g. Personal Advisor at JobCentre, or a "Decision Maker" - applying the law to complex cases.

Band D (Higher Executive Officer - HEO) - Full Management, typically a team of 12 EOs. Could be a manager of a small JobCentre, or of a benefit team.

Band E (Senior Executive Officer - SEO) - In a JobCentre context, would be in charge of a pair of JobCentres (usually one small office and one large one).

It then goes - Band F/G7, then G6, G5 etc, all the way up through the Senior Civil Service. As you will see, Band Bs and Cs are typically well paid compared to the Private Sector, yet Band Ds upwards are comparatively underpaid - e.g. National Pay Scale for Band D - £24,660 for overall responsibility of almost 150 people!)

SueC_2

Regshoe wrote: »

I swapped from Private to Public sector this year, I wasn't particularly looking for public sector as such, it just happened to be by far the best job (and package to go with it) on offer and it was one of only two I managed to find that wasn't through a parasitic employment agency.

I would say the following are advantages of the Public sector:

1) Better job security generally - though of course at the moment that isn't as assured as it has always been, but in the long run it will probably hold true. If nothing else then generally people getting made redundant in the public sector tend to get a lot longer warning and good payoffs (even with the reduction being brought in now).

2) Good pensions - possibly not top of your list, and liable to be reduced in future - but even then I would expect them to still be better than most private sector pensions.

3) Lots more time off - extra holidays and bank holidays.

4) Tend to get flexi time - theoretically I could get an extra 39 days a year off by flexi leave (though I would have to make up the hours, through some long days).

5) You don't get shafted if you have to travel on business as you often do in the private sector (I get back every minute I spend travelling for work).

6) Very generous towards other forms of special leave, sabbaticals, career breaks etc.

7) Guaranteed pay progression (outside of the publicised 1% pay cap rise type pay rise you still get annual increases based on moving up your pay band).

8) Lots of opportunity to move jobs within the civil service - once you are in you can apply for all sorts of other departments - including some jobs that are reserved for existing civil servants.

9) I hear the graduate scheme is fairly good (had a friend who did it - and he's progressed very quickly) can't comment for myself though as I didn't enter that way.


The major downside is normally said to be the lower pay in the public sector. Though from what I've seen this seems to mostly at more senior levels - I know it's been in the news recently about all these civil servants earning £150k plus, but bear in mind in private sector jobs with similar levels of authority some of these people could potentially be on millions. At the lower levels - including graduate entry the current levels of pay seem fairly comparable to the private sector.

I think one issue though, which is probably more prevelant in certain departments is the tendancy to get stuck in a rut - get too used to all the holidays and fairly easy life and not push yourself to go for new opportunities.

Hope that helps.

I have always been employed in the private sector, but have worked as a contractor within the public sector, managing people who have TUPE'd across, and I'd say the above is a very very comprehensive answer.

It all comes down to whether all of that is fair exchange for the mind-numbing beaurocracy and resistance to change that you encounter every day in the public sector.....!

If you can stomach that and resign yourself to the fact that you're never really going to be given the opportunity to achieve anything because "we don't do it that way", then go for it.

If you want to learn, develop and grow then I'd stick with the private sector, although probably steer clear of the large corporations and concentrate on the SMEs where you will actually be able to make a difference.