Engineering Firm vs Government Position 4

[ASTMB7]

Hello,

What is your opinion or experience of working as an engineer in engineering firms vs working in a government position in terms of work satisfaction, technical challenge and quality of life?

Furthermore, is the increased pay of engineering firms typically worth the absence of rock solid retirement pension plan?

 

[NorthCivil]

Not sure I am fully with you ATSE - in the private sector, you have much less control over your destiny in my opinion. companies hire young people to do a task they need done. they may dangle a carrot that better work lies down the road, but I know a lot of engineers that spend 3-5-10+ years filling a cog in the wheel of a private enterprise, learning one thing very well but not learning the big picture.

In government, (at least in my jurisdiction), management are dictated that developing young people is a priority. In the private sector, developing employees takes away from the bottom line.

 

[ATSE]

NorthCivil - There is a wide distribution of work experiences, and it sounds like yours is a bit different than mine. I do not deny your experiences.
So we could go back and forth with countering ideas, and still both be making (mostly) honest and correct statements.
I have 100+ state worker stories that would make you laugh and cry. There are some general truths (think 68%) of gov't work and workers that validate the earned stereotypes.
I was lucky enough to work with state workers that were hard-working, smart, experienced, and honest. But just down the hall, well, there were average state workers.
Most gov't work is just not rigorous. I know there are exceptions, but in general, gov't work tends to attract the lazy and incompetent.
The private sector has a different set of problems, of course.
Roughly quoting Milton Friedman "There are no angels."
Regarding the young engineer that worked 3-5-10+ years as a cog, I would say "First year of cog, shame on your employer. Fifth year of cog, shame on you." At the end of the day, you need to own your experience record. Otherwise, you will be a victim of your own inaction.