Public Agency vs. Private Sector: Differences in 'Culture'

[Hoagie]

I have worked in civil consulting since the early 90s and am considering accepting a high-level position with a city engineer's office---however, I am apprehensive since I know little about the public-sector environs. I am asking the group for the pros/cons.

 

[diarmud]

I've worked in both sectors:

Private - much more engineering, very goal oriented, technically interesting and challenging.
Worked for small firms, never knowing where the next contract is coming from.
Focused on getting the job done correctly, hours don't always match pay - sometimes you have to put in alot of hours, especially on a losing job.
Can be quite stressful at times.

Public - less engineering but can be technically interesting and challenging - if it's upper level probably little technical and certainly less engineering, which is what you would expect even in a firm.
Much more willingness to support continung education, especially compared to small firms who don't have the money sometimes.
Much more politics - be prepared for everyone to know more about engineering and your job than you do (I mean outside the office) - from county board members, the general public, etc. Sometimes you have compromise, usually for the same reasons in the private sector - $.
If you're higher level and you take the job, don't commit to any significant decision by yourself, it's a community decision and there will be real pressure to bend a bit sometimes.
Much more secure, you can bank some money.
Probably less hours, less travel and time for a coffee break.

Since you're at this point, I bet you take it.

Good luck!

 

[cry22]

After a while, the DRIVE will not be there as much as it used to. Save for Viagra I guess.
Only two directions from here:
1. On your own, the checks will bring the DRIVE, not necessarily in this economy though.
2. The one you have at hand - Government is not such a bad place to work as most people would like you to believe.

Good luck

 

[Drumchaser]

If high-lvl means the City Engr I would do some research as to the longevity of the last few fellows. Some city govt.s can be rife with political funk. And some council members do not understand anything other than the what will get them noticed.

 

[HgTX]

+ The "bottom line" is not as much of a driving factor (though it might be more so with city government than with higher-level agencies). "Billable hours" not usually a big deal.

- Politicians are a driving factor, even more irrelevant to the optimal engineering solution than this fiscal year's bottom line. They impose requirements they think will be good for their image, not necessarily what is best for the infrastructure. And shifting trends in voter hot-button issues (e.g., whatever the latest citizen complaint letter might have mentioned) means various budget items take turns having disproportional focus.


+ When dealing with outside contractors and consultants, you're the client. You're in charge; you don't have to sell yourself or your company to anyone.

- You still answer to "the public", and that's a pretty nebulous concept. Ethics laws vary; in some places you're corrupt if you accept a cheap ballpoint pen or a cup of coffee. The default assumption outside your work group may be that you (along with the rest of your ilk) are either a crook or just waiting for the right opportunity to become a crook.


+ Non-salary benefits are often better than those in the private sector, and your hours are likely to be a lot closer to a regular 40-hour week. (See above comment about bottom line & billable hours.) This may mean that even though your salary is lower than the private sector, your dollars per hour, especially when benefits are taken into account, are more. Government work is good for people who value time more than money.

- Because productivity isn't the main concern, there's a lot more room for deadwood. Don't expect everyone around you to be at the top of their game. Some people work for the government because they enjoy contributing to the Greater Good or they like the more laid-back environment; others work for the government because they couldn't survive in the private sector. (I sometimes wonder which category I'm in.)


+/- (depending on your viewpoint) The ratio of "human engineering" to actual engineering is much higher in the public sector. It's a lot harder to be the person who just sits in their cube and plays with numbers. Most of what you do you will need to present to someone else, very often a non-engineer. You'll need good written and oral communication skills. And I don't just mean making yourself understood, but also figuring out what others are trying to say, even if they don't have good communication skills.

That last point (+/-) is my favorite part of my public sector job, which I would never have predicted when I first embarked on an engineering career. A lot of what I do, on top of monitoring what contractors etc. are doing, is making sure that Party A understands what Party B is doing and takes that into account when they plan their course of action. Sometimes Party B is me, sometimes it's someone else.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[arcinNsparkin]

From my experience with Public vs Private

Private is a lot more work. Very rarely will a person be idle in the private sector because it costs money to sit there. Public sector I sat in a cubicle for a month before I was given an assignment.

I think Public sector pays better honestly. My one friend will be making almost 20K more then me in a year because of the fixed pay scale. It will take me years to catch up to him, assuming his pay scale levels out.

Public sector has a lot more regulations then private. You have one task, so stick to it.

Its also damn hard to get fired as a public employee.

I prefer private for the time being, because it keeps me busy. But as I get older, im going to try and snag a nice public position because honestly, everyone I know says its easier for equal to better pay, and my own expierances confirm that.

 

[Drumchaser]

HgTX

I remember something that my mentor told me on my first day at work.." You will starve the first ten years, then you will be OK."
"The pay is not to great but the entertainment is priceless."

He was right.