How is working in the private sector different than working in the public sector?
I have not, myself, worked in the public sector, however I have in the past looked into doing so (and may very well consider it again). The differences I was able to identify right off the bat were: The pay scales in the public sector are abyssimal. The non-pay benefits (time off, health care, pension) in the public sector are typically so much better as to render the pay scale differences almost negligable. Some private sector outfits offer fantastic benefits packages, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Government departments appear to operate as somewhat more inefficient versions of large corporate departments: swamped with red tape, mired in The Way We Do Things Here, and equally pennywise/poundfoolish as the corporate environment. The “results matter” thing varies across company cultures. There are plenty of private sector outfits which are heavily stocked with useless middle managers who produce nothing but Minesweeper scores and PowerPoint documents, as well as line
it seems as though the public sector would come as a huge shock to someone accustomed to working in small businesses, but would seem familiar to anyone who has experience in a huge and lumbering corporation. I assume this would hold true moving in the other direction. I believe this. My experiences working for large corps and a large university (albiet a private one) are pretty much the same. My experiences working for small businesses are somewhat similar to each other as well — and very different from the large experience. The larger the organization, the more intrigue over corners of the kingdom, the less sense of urgency about ones duties as effecting the whole enterprise.
My experience in the public sector was at least pretty predictable. If I was scheduled for a vacation one week, I went on vacation. If there was a holiday, I didn’t have to go to work. In the private sector (just my experience talking) results do matter. I’ve had to cancel trips because suddenly big deadlines have come down and I have to help meet them. I get phone calls on my days off to ensure that such-and-such project is progressing as planned. On the other hand, I’ve learned that if I walk quickly through the building with my brows knit, holding some file folders, everyone think I’m too busy for any more assignments (even works when the folders are full of blank paper). It was much easier to avoid taking my public-sector job home with me. But the pay was peanuts.
Related Questions
- Is accommodation that is provided by a private company with care provided by a different body (whether public, private or voluntary sector) within the scope of the LHA scheme?
- Is accommodation that is provided by a private company with care provided by a different body (whether public, private or voluntary sector) within the scope of LHA scheme?
- How is working in the private sector different than working in the public sector?
