Switching from Private Sector to Public 7

[CBEngi]

I currently work for a multi-disciplinary consulting company and primarily complete the structural design of industrial building, equipment supports and marine structures (I.e wharfs, breakwaters).

I have been offered a Project Manager position with a public agency, with the department primary completing the construction of marine projects. I would now be in charge of the design team (my current role) and contractors, helping to deliver projects truly from concept to completion.

The benefits and pay with the public agency are very good. It would be a considerable raise along with a great pension. I am fairly early in my career, serving 30 years would leave me able to retire slightly before I turn 60.
I’m torn with the decision. In some ways I enjoy the competitiveness and tight timelines of the private section. Also, I am somewhat on a track for management within my company, but that would still be sometime into the future, say another 10 years minimum. If I achieved management the public service would likely no longer be a raise and the additional salary would negate any significant benefits of the pension. Although reaching management is still somewhat of a gamble. This could change with our next president or even my next manager.

I’m wondering if anyone has ever made the switch either way and if they could provide some insight. I feel that I could leave my current employer on good terms (I would be their client if I left) and if the grass wasn’t greener on the other side I could return in the future.

 

[JAE]

...with a great pension

Depending on the state you live in (assume USA - please verify) - your pension may not be that great in terms of it being there when you need it.

Many states have very iffy status with public pensions.

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[CBEngi]

Hi JAE, I'm located in Canada and its indexed for inflation.

 

[JedClampett]

I've only been in the private sector. But we work a lot with public employees, and I'm not too impressed. My experience is in the states, so hopefully it's better in the Great White North,
Most of them are glorified paper pushers, processing contracts, pay applications and change orders. There's a lot of meetings and questions regarding design decisions that have been explained multiple times to the same people. For the few who are licensed and have some actual design experience, the statement, "...I used to do designs, and we did it this way...." is wielded as if it is a weapon.
The funny thing is, the few competent ones tend to either stay where they are forever (since politics and engineering knowledge tend to be separate skill sets) or get promoted beyond their capabilities (the Peter Principle).
If you like security (but not that much, they're always re-engineering the system) and the ability to have great power over decisions without having to carry them through, I'd recommend it.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

...deliver projects truly from concept to completion.
I enjoy the competitiveness and tight timelines of the private section.
I’m torn with the decision.

My advice... don't go. The work from concept to completion (and beyond) is performed at a different pace. Among other careers, I worked in and retired from the public power sector, but never for a consulting firm. We had a good many (former) consulting firm employees join the company... almost all became dissatisfied and left. I was fortunate that company senior management had a more enlightened view of employee competence and meaningful interaction with our consultants and contractors than Jed has encountered.

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[MrHershey]

Really depends on the personality of the person. Like Jed said, most public sector structural engineers aren't doing a ton of actual engineering. At least in the US, they're mainly pushing papers around. Probably a safe assumption that you'll do the same. Any complex or interesting engineering work will get outsourced to private sector.

All generalizations, but on the private side you do actual engineering work, can generally (not always) make more money but have less security, is more stressful, and typically have worse or no work-life balance. On public side is mainly project management/contract administration, with the rest being the opposite of private side. Something to be said for both sides, pros and cons of each. Have to decide what's right for you.

A few items to think about:
- I see very, very few public engineers go back to private consulting work. I'm sure it happens, but I don't see it very often in the US. Something to consider since you're early in your career. The opportunity to go to public sector will likely always be there. The same isn't necessarily true in reverse.
- Make sure that your considerable raise is actually a considerable raise. Make sure you count your current bonuses if any in your pay that you are comparing to the public job. At least in the States, most public sector workers get either no bonus or very small bonuses. Raises also tend to be lower in public sector than private (again in US).
- For a lot of people professional development and career engagement either slows significantly or stops altogether (and sometimes goes backwards) when they transitions to public sector.
- Promotions are usually easier to come by on private side than in public sector. Private sector is generally more of a meritocracy than public sector with less emphasis on seniority and more on aptitude and experience (seniority != experience). Can be very frustrating if you're still pushing to get better and see someone who is just skating by get the nicer gig, just because they've been around longer.

Big things for those that make the jump are usually better work-life balance, less stress, and better job security. Personally, late 20s seems way too early to make the jump. Would tend to think it'd make more sense late 30s/early 40s or even older when you've got a significant amount of experience and may be raising kids. But everyone has different priorities.

 

[NorthCivil]

Everywhere you go someone is dangling a carrot that "in X years, you can own a piece of this place/find yourself in upper management with salary/profit sharing to suit". It's a great promise to make to retain naive employees. But in business, things change. I think it's incredibly common for people to find themselves sitting in the same chair they were in 10 years ago, having been dealt a handful of unmet promises along the way. All of the people I know that showed that kind of loyalty to a private sector business are in that exact position.

I've always been the type that bounced around. Learn what you can from your current role, once you have gained the bulk of the knowledge, and don't have much more to gain, leave to somewhere different where you can learn something else. Of course, you should put in enough time that the company didn't lose money on having you. A year is enough if you are decent. By doing this in my career, I've built a skill set that has lead to roles which are much better than any of the roles that I quit could have been. At least if my loyal former colleagues I met along the way are any example of "what could have been".

In that spirit, if you are the type that is looking at where you can be at this same company in 10 years, I would switch to public sector. At least you are guaranteed what is being promised to you. Ask someone who is 65 years old and they will probably agree that you should go to government. And they come from a time when companies actually showed a lot more loyalty to their employees.

 

[GregLocock]

"At least you are guaranteed what is being promised to you." That's a promise that can't be kept. Public service pensions are not fully funded and I suspect taxpayers in 30 years time will draw the line at paying for those pensions.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[NorthCivil]

Greg, you're right. CBEngi is in Canada, so the odds are a bit better than the US.

It's not a guarantee, it's a bit of a gamble. But the odds are a hell of a lot better than planning your life around some off the cuff remark a manager makes on a Tuesday afternoon, that he can't remember making 15 minutes later.

 

[FreddyNurk]

Don't discount the political wranglings and goings-on that can become rampant in public service as well. Quite often there will be the perception that things aren't as efficient as they need to be, or as often happens, after a change in government, the direction for certain departments, projects and organisations can change.

Effectively, this is the same risk as immediate management changes scuppering all possibility of progression, it just comes about in a different manner.
Because there often isn't the same impetus to complete projects, and often less risk of termination of employment, the pace can be a lot slower than expected. For some, this can prove intolerable.

10 years is a long time to hold out for a management position, there are a lot of things that can change in that time.

Having worked for both private and public, there's good and bad aspects to both. Public tended to have better remuneration conditions, but worse overall work environment.

EDMS Australia

 

[vthomidis]

Well,:

- If you enjoy the competitiveness of the private sector, then you should not not go public. There is
competitiveness there as well, but in a quite different way, which has not much to do with
engineering.
- Same if you enjoy the tight timelines of PS. You are going to have tight timelines in public as well
in some way, but those will only be "on paper". Complicated bureaucratic procedures will
"stop time" always.

Remember : once you go public you NEVER go back.

 

[oldestguy]

Public agencies never fire any one. What do you do about lazy or obstinate workers under you? How about a boss that doesn't support you with these personnel problems? That's why I left public and and am glad I did.

 

[NorthCivil]

I actually know a guy who dove into the public sector for a few years, and left to start his own consulting firm that contracted back to that public sector entity. He is doing REALLY good. Understanding how these public offices function is very valuable and rare knowledge within the private sector.

 

[Sparweb]

Don't do it. Certainly not now.
Have you heard of Phoenix yet? Why would you submit yourself to that? Approximately 1/2 of Canada's public service workers have been incorrectly paid (over/under/wild swings each way) in the years since that system came in. The gov't employees I've talked to go on and on about it and you can tell that even if it's not screwing one person up directly, it's screwing up all of his co-workers so it affects every one of them anyway.

I don't think that there are many cases where the strategy proposed by NorthCivil can be successfully achieved - only with a fair dose of luck can you expect a brief stint in the public sector can be converted into success when you leave.

STF

 

[NorthCivil]

SparWeb

you are correct that there are not many instances where an individual transitions from the public sector to private sector success. Mostly because the type of person who would consider working for the government is seldom the same type of person that starts their own consulting company.

But government bodies contract out enormous amounts of work, have bottomless pockets, and have funny processes for selecting contractors. A stint in the public sector is a great way to springboard your own consulting office, or alternatively, bridge into a firm that does a lot of work for that entity.

 

[HamburgerHelper]

I would suggest the biggest hurdle to getting utility work is just to figure out how to get on the bid list. Utility work isn't government work but it is regulated and operates very differently from the private sector. There are pockets though that have people that you can't quite figure out why they are there or how they ever kept the attitude of wanting to kick ass everyday. Nothing is more fatiguing than never being able to get anything done.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself.

 

[SoFloJoe]

I would have to say I agree with most of the comments made here.

Main thing is that with a public job you will have less (probably much less) headaches in the sense of urgency to get things done, ability to leave and go home on time, clock out and enjoy weekends and off times. But compensation is fairly linear, there is not much potential growth and you WILL be deaing with lots of slow and otherwise non motivated people.

BUT, a HUGE benefit to public work is networking and meeting those decision makers in both the political side and big developers. A good strategy maybe to work in the public sector for a short time (5-10yrs) make those crucial connections and then switch back to private. You will be very valuable in the private sector with that experience as you now will know the public process and the people to get things done, very valuable for developers.

Goodluck!

 

[ashtree]

Depending what you want to do with your life but if you wanted to get some balance and broader experience in your overall career some public sectror experience would look good on the CV.

Regards
Ashtree
"Any water can be made potable if you filter it through enough money"

 

[CWB1]

I cant speak to things in Canada but here stateside IME competition for public sector roles is VERY competitive. Typically the salary is within a few percent of the private sector, benefits are excellent, low-cost, and carryover into retirement, pensions (plural as many folks end up with multiple pensions) afford early retirement to most, job security is excellent, and progression upward to higher incomes a given. I'd take one of those positions in a minute as a great financial move and just deal with the incompetent asses as they come.

 

[MFJewell]

Typically the salary is within a few percent of the private sector, benefits are excellent, low-cost, and carryover into retirement, pensions

Not sure what type of industry you work in, but I have found it to be the opposite. Government jobs for mechanical engineers (whether local, state, federal) would be a significant pay cut for me. I work in power generation/district energy and the utilities have pay, benefits, and retirement that is much better than anything I have ever been offered on the public side.