Private versus Public Sector? Disillusioned

Cyrstal said:

Anyone feel that they were short changed with the career path they took? I think I was hood winked by the loads of sh*t hot private companies and the 'milk runs' they did to the colleges.......

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This is a very interesting thread. I can identify with Crystals point. The private companies sell themselves very heavily on these milk runs, I remember many evenings with free drinks (the fastest way to a students heart) and previous graduates now working for said company professing how much they earn and how we should all apply. I easily attended 20 of these events in my final year and did many many interviews (including some that involved flying back and forth from London) when in retrospect I should have been concentrating on my finals and waited until I finished my exams. Only recently a good friend of mine from my class in college was saying something similiar to crystal, she said she felt she hadnt "read the small print" which I thought was a good way of putting it. I think its hard when you're 21 to see through what is in essence just a sales pitch, I remember people in my class feeling like failures because they hadnt been successful on the milkruns. The one piece of useful advice I was able to give my brothers and sisters coming up behind me was to ignore the milkruns.

While I identify with Crystals point, I do feel the problem is more that we "didnt read the small print" as oppose to being "cheated". For me I can see many advantages that the private sector has allowed me to date, unfortunately, I can see as I get older how the public sector is a lot more attractive to starting a family etc. If I were to have a regret it would not be that I joined the private sector but rather that I dont have a "trade". I think while Business/IT can be great careers, I do envy people that have a trade doctor/nurse/teacher/lawyer/architect/plumber for me, they have a freedom that an IT boffin/consultant/contractor /business developer/management consultant/sales person(*) will never have, they arent as dependent on celtic pussy cats, markets, company quarterly profit margins as we are. If I leave work for 4 or 5 years to bring up my family I cant go back and do what I do now....however if I were a teacher/lawyer etc. I could. A bit of a simplified analogy I know.

casiopea.

(*) I do appreciate that for some sales is a "trade", that a good sales man should be able to sell anything from crisps to combine harvestors.

I felt a failure when I didn't get a job with the milkruns in college. I had a 2.2 Hons degree in business. The public sector were not recruiting then. I got temping work for about a year, and then got into a large financial company. Trained to be an accountant. I would not like to work in the public sector, unless I could work with figures (either as an accountant or accounts assistant).

I didn't think we were 'short changed' at all with the milk runs. Everyone knows that the private firms pay good money with opportunities for promotion, but you have to work very hard. On the other hand, if you get into a public sector job, you have straight hours, extended leave, and a permanent job. The public sector is all very well, if you get the promotions. But what if you are about 40, and still a Grade 3 in the public sector. This may be ok for people who want to work part time or spend time raising children. But for people who are working full time, watching younger colleagues getting the promotions, this can be depressing.

The thing with the public sector is that 'everyone knows everyone elses business. Eg. if you are 40 and there 15 yrs at the same level, all your colleagues will know that you didn't ever get promoted. (Maybe I am a bit sensitive here, but I would feel a little bit ashamed). On the other hand, if you are with a private company for years, and have been passed over for promotion, you can always move to another company, and former colleagues won't know whether you got promoted or not.

Regarding the post about having a 'trade' i.e. training for a specific job, I can understand this. I would not urge younger siblings to stay away from the milk run. People still have enough time to get a permanent Clerical Officer job in their 20s and work their way up. However I would definitely urge younger siblings to TRAIN FOR A PARTICULAR JOB, INSTEAD OF DOING A DEGREE IN BUSINESS/MANAGEMENT. The general management experience (which the milk runs give) is fine while you have a job. But if you get made redundant/take time out to have a family, it can be quite hard to get back into a similiar type job at the same level again. This would also apply for the sales/marketing/broad financial jobs.

When I finished college I got into a financial company, with good promotion etc. I started doing accountancy exams, as I knew the financial jobs are scarce outside Dublin. When I got made redundant, I had to go back to work as an accounts assistant (with a massive pay cut). I didn't have the experience which other accountants had built up thru the years, e.g. Debtors Creditors etc. It is only now, 3 yrs later, that my pay is getting back on track. Sometimes I wish I had done accountancy straight from college, as I would be earning more money now, and could work anywhere in Ireland.

I did work experience and temping in the public sector. One place was nice, as I dealt with figures but I didn't like the general admin. I would imagine having to do general admin (lots of repetitive work) could be very boring. Of course this would depend on the nature of the department. Another deciding factor was 'dealing with the general public'. I found in my public sector jobs, that the general public could be very rude and stressful to deal with. (even so called 'respectable' people would treat us like we could do nothing right) I find that dealing with other companies (reception/sales/accounts staff) is much easier as they are doing a job and are not rude.