Government vs Private practice

kitty8
Wed, 12 May 2010 08:59:22 +0000

Hi - I worked in a government job for 9 years and in the private sector for 10…here are my 2 cents

I know that government work offers:

-better hours---- no, not necessarily. I worked in the IT department and we had a ton of weekend/after hours work. I work about the same amount of after hours in the private sector but get compensated with more pay/bonuses and comp time.

-more job security - no, not really. I got laid off after 9 years due to restructuring. So after putting in that time for job security and lower pay I ended up with nothing

-health care/benefits - same in both gov’t and private

The benefit of working in the private sector is that the pay is better, there is potential for bonuses. Time off (vacation/holiday) etc is about the same in both. There is more room for growth in the private sector that if you work hard you can get ahead. Govt didn’t really have that potential, for example by boss told me I could get ahead when someone retires or leaves (not much incentive there). The benefits were about the same in both as far as life insurance, dental, health etc. The tradeoff for a gov’t job with perceived security isn’t worth it, the lower pay and stagnation weren’t worth it in the long run.