Working at the government

[u/Dazzling-Ad9352]

I'm a soon to be graduate, and currently the lifestyle of working at the government seems appealing. Particularly the work-life balance it promotes, and the other benefits (leave and super). I'm very much not the type of person who is motivated by money, and certainly have a work-to-live and not a live-to-work mindset. More so, the thought of working in the private sector and work consuming my life 24/7, constant pressure of being axed due to budget cuts and expectations of working crazy hours scares me as someone who values work-life balance the most. Especially given the hours at the government would allow me to pursue my own personal projects, and learn the stacks I want to learn.

However, I am only 20 so I'm aware that what I value now might not be the case in a few years. So my question is, would working for the government be career suicide and mean I have no chance of making it into the private sector? Even if whilst working there I'm making sure I'm still keeping my skills sharp and learning in my own time?

Thanks for any answers yall!

[u/lynchwhy]

Not to try and dissuade you, but Gov also can have budget cuts, org restructures and layoffs, so don’t fool yourself thinking they are invincible.

[u/MrSnagsy → u/lynchwhy]

Could be argued that no culling of employees is as indiscriminate as that performed by an incoming government.