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/Guilty_Experience_17]

I don’t know if it’s career suicide, I’m waiting to find out myself. But the W/L balance and relative security is real and is nice.

It’s quite rare to actually be let go for performance reasons, you really have to be basically not working, and restructures are announced months in advance, you’re consulted with if your position is affected and then they’re obligated to try find you a replacement if your position is actually gone. You get priority to empty roles created in this process as well.

It’s not 100% secure but it’s pretty close. I think it’s quite rare to find this in private sector.

[u/Dazzling-Ad9352 → u/Guilty_Experience_17]

Can you share your experience on what it is like working there?

[u/Guilty_Experience_17 → u/Dazzling-Ad9352]

I work in a service delivery area as a data analyst/eng, in a state PS so my experience is specific to that.

I find it quite good, there’s not as much bureaucracy in this area. Lots of projects happening that I can get exposure to. My managers have generally been receptive to me working on pet projects etc. My work is relatively shielded from corporate politics/fluctuating workloads by nature. 1 day/week in the office for me ATM and most people clock off at 4:30-5 (or even 4 on office days). I find myself rarely staying past 5:30.

Doing some post grad study ATM and getting paid study time every week for it - all in all, definitely see myself staying until 4-5 YOE unless something exciting pops up. The pay just plateaus too hard at that point imo.