Going from Private Sector to a Public Sector Job..

sangie595

Ah, nearly fell for it. How's the girlfriend? Is she still a personal trainer who must therefore be sleeping around? Or pregnant and possibly living on her own depending on what benefits you could claim?

God, I hate school holidays....

Manxman_in_exile

OP - I was going to reply to your post #8 (KPIs - so 90s!) but having read sangie's post #12 I won't bother

TELLIT01

NoNoDrama wrote: »

Yup, I'd be avoiding customer facing roles. Although you'd be surprised how many sociopaths you come across in the private sector where there is big money on the line people get angry.

In the office based roles do they have KPI's now? I know they didn't use too. Without sounding cocky I think I would smash any productivity stats in the public sector.

I know the whole topic is intended as a windup but I'll bite anyway.

There are few cushy jobs in the public sector these days, certainly not in the area I worked in (DWP). There certainly are KPIs and many highly experienced staff find them impossible to achieve if they want to do the job properly. The reality is that team leaders and managers have little or no interest in the quality of the work produced as their teams are measured almost exclusively on the number of 'units' produced. That unit may be new claims processed, changes applied to existing claimts etc. The problem is that behind the 'unit' is a real person who wants to get their correct benefit in payment quickly.
When I raised the point that it was impossible to produce the numbers required and do the work accurately, I was told by my manager that the accuracy wasn't measured, just the numbers. Sorting out errors caused by speed wasn't our problem because it would fall to another team.
If you want a cushy job like that then feel free to apply.

NoNoDrama

TELLIT01 wrote: »

When I raised the point that it was impossible to produce the numbers required and do the work accurately, I was told by my manager that the accuracy wasn't measured, just the numbers. Sorting out errors caused by speed wasn't our problem because it would fall to another team.
If you want a cushy job like that then feel free to apply.

In the private sector it's speed and accuracy. I wouldn't mind what you described.

General consensus then is it's not as 'easy' as it used to be but not yet on level of a private sector for example call centre job where you would be expected to take 150 a day calls and only have 15 minutes of after call/wrap/toilet etc.

dippy3103

NoNoDrama wrote: »

In the private sector it's speed and accuracy. I wouldn't mind what you described.

General consensus then is it's not as 'easy' as it used to be but not yet on level of a private sector for example call centre job where you would be expected to take 150 a day calls and only have 15 minutes of after call/wrap/toilet etc.

Wow. Assuming an 8 hour day that’s one call every 3.2 minutes. Allowing time to dial, the call be answered & converse. Can’t be very in involved. Are your expectations salary wise minimum wage?

sharpe106

Plus who do you think mans the government phone lines are they not the people working in a equivalent to a call center.As with every job/company there will be some have a pretty easy number but there is plenty more working hard for very little reward.

Andy_L

NoNoDrama wrote: »

How easy is it to make the transfer from Private to Public? I hear a lot of these jobs are just advertised because they need to under law but usually go to someone internally, is this true or a myth?

Its a myth in the civil service as jobs(except for the Sir Humphrey senior civil service level) are advertised internally first and only go external if not filled).

Also, AIUI, the rest of the public sector have no legal requirement to advertise externally at all.

sangie595

Andy_L wrote: »

Its a myth in the civil service as jobs(except for the Sir Humphrey senior civil service level) are advertised internally first and only go external if not filled).

Also, AIUI, the rest of the public sector have no legal requirement to advertise externally at all.

Nobody has a legal requirement to advertise at all. Most of the public sector now advertise externally only in three circumstances:

1. If they have advertised internally and there is nobody willing or capable of doing the job
2. Entry grade posts on the lowest wages - apprentices and graduate schemes usually
3. The most senior level posts, often only Directors and above

Right now most Councils and a lot of the NHS / education sector have huge lists of displaced staff who will be made redundant if there is no suitable alternative employment - and the employers are obliged both by law and union agreements to ensure that these people are placed in employment first. So although there is some variation from one employer to another, broadly speaking the process goes:

1. People on the redeployment register/at risk get first choice of the jobs
2. Then jobs are advertised internally
3. And only then, if the jobs are still not filled, will they go external

So unless it is an entry level position (usually for a fixed term), or a very senior/specialised position, you might want to very carefully consider why that job hasn't already gone, after two rounds of opportunities for it to be filled. Sometimes, there is no obvious reason. But more often than not, the reason is because the internal people know something you don't! For example, in one local authority who shall remain nameless (and they won't be unique in this either) a certain department is always advertising for staff externally. If you have ever attempted to do the job and met the managers, you would know why they are always advertising.

Moonshine14

I would not say a public sector job is cushty as having worked in both sectors I found the benefits and employment rights to be better within a public sector role however not much money was put into upgrading systems and the technology was lacking behind private sector meaning it could be a frustrating to work in as processes took longer to complete. I would say private sector tends to be better paid and you could earn bonuses etc and get better pay increases compared to public sector but you wouldn’t get as good holiday entitlement and pension etc. It depends on the type of environment you want to work in.

Gavin83

Moonshine14 wrote: »

I would not say a public sector job is cushty as having worked in both sectors I found the benefits and employment rights to be better within a public sector role however not much money was put into upgrading systems and the technology was lacking behind private sector meaning it could be a frustrating to work in as processes took longer to complete. I would say private sector tends to be better paid and you could earn bonuses etc and get better pay increases compared to public sector but you wouldn’t get as good holiday entitlement and pension etc. It depends on the type of environment you want to work in.

I pretty much agree with this. If you want pay work in the private sector, if you want benefits (pension & holiday) work in the public sector. This does somewhat depend on what level you’re working at though. The lower down the chain you are the better off you are I need the public sector. An entry level job will often pay more in the public sector than the private. Certainly once you start moving up the ranks the more specialist jobs (accountancy, legal, IT, managerial) will pay more, in some cases significantly more in the private sector. My recommendation for someone starting out would be to work in th public sector until you reach this level and then jump ship. However in some private sector companies you will encounter unfounded prejudice against public sector workers so it’s still a risk.

Everything else is actually fairly similar and the luck of the draw. You’ll get some private sector companies that are a bit of a doss and others where the stress levels are unbearable. Same goes for public sector departments. You’ll get lazy and excellent colleagues in each sector.

I’d assume a basic admin job will be easy in either sector so decide what work interests you more.