Work in the Public Sector? Feedback please!

Hi all,

I currently work in HR/H&S and my contract is up at the end of the year.  I started looking around for roles and found quite a few vacancies for HR advisor/management positions.  Many of these are within the Public Sector and I secured an interview with a government agency next week.

I have always worked for small to medium organisations in the private sector (these were mainly Charitable Trusts so I've liaised with public sector stakeholders, but never worked for them).

I keep hearing the PS can be a charged environment with a toxic culture - but there are also good benefits and decent wages to be had...

What is your experience and do you have any recommendations or advice?
Cheers!

EDIT: I just like to say I'm not interested in office politics, power plays etc.  I come from a very dynamic working environment and think I can offer the PS a lot, I just want to know what people think about the sector from an inside perspective.

Worked in the public sector for a year, back in the private sector for the last three months. Would never go back. The job isn't as rewarding now but the stress in the public sector was causing health problems and the pay is low compared to private, although that's not an issue for a contractor.

But it all comes down to leadership, there are great places in the public sector and bad. In general it's no more dysfunctional than a large enterprise.

From personal experience and what I've heard from others who work in recruitment and HR world, the public secotr is full of difficult people, not all agencies some have gotten rid of the bad eggs and made the necessary changes. I'd say go for it, keep your head down and make changes for the better where you can.

If you can deal with less pay and none of the perks of the private sector.

We got told off for drinking too much coffee!

maybe one of the perks of the public sector is giving you time to go on this site during the work day?

Thanks for the feedback.

I should probably add that I've worked a combined 11 years in the private sector but for Charitable Trusts, so the pay has always been lousy and there have been almost no perks that I can think of. 

In my current role I have to do a Moore Wilson's run every week to buy milk for the organisation (+- 10 2L bottles, so not just for my office) because we can't afford to have it delivered.  I often need to help with the public as our wages budget is very limited and we don't have enough staff.

Although my boss is very understanding and generous with TOIL, extra leave etc, I only get 5 days' sick leave (minimum entitlement), whereas many govt agencies give 9-10 as well as extra caregiver leave (I have a toddler), professional development, subsidized health insurance (some), EAP.... 

So, in short, I think if the pay is similar, the perks will definitely increase if I get the job.  

Anyway, the interview is in 1.5 hours - wish me luck!

Hopefully your interview went well.

Some govt agencies give unlimited sick leave, domestic leave and "company days". The company days are basically 3 free days of leave between xmas and new year's day.

With all due respect and I am a socialist but If one of the factors you are taking into consideration when are going to the public sector is sick leave and you consider that a perk than don't expect me to pay for it

Any public sector is paid by tax payers. 

I know that leggy

So why the comment about the perk. All government workers get more perks than anyone else.

They call 'em corporate functions sir! 

Pretty sure I aced it! We'll see how things develop, I should find out by the end of the week they said.

Agree re: perks - I'm not a socialist, but I do believe the minimum sick leave entitlement is a bit of a joke.  If you're in business you need to look after your staff and forcing people to come to work because they've already been sick (or their kid has - In my 4 years in this role, out of 20 sick days I maybe used 2 or 3 on myself) doesn't help anyone. 

It all comes down to good staff management and ensuring staff are well looked after, have a good work-life balance and are given the tools to do their job well.  Of course it's the manager's job to ensure employees don't abuse the system and are delivering on agreed outcomes.

IMO the hours worked, leave, where you work, or your sick days shouldn't matter as long as you get through your work load. Output is what's important not input.

Also saying that people in the public service get more perks than everybody is just stupid. Maybe at the top level you have junkets and the like but even then I had my boss go to a meeting in Helsinki. He flew 30 hours there in economy, spent twenty four hours there, most of which were in a meeting, and 30 hours back,hardly the glamorous government junket.

I've worked in the public sector for 10 years and love it mostly. There are frustrations around slow decision making, big egos and political interference but on the whole its a great place to work.

Prior to this I worked in a not for profit counselling agency (which I also loved) but it was constant battle for funding and dodgy job security.

Good luck man, can I ask where the interview was?

To be honest I'd rather not say.

Also, for anyone interested - apparently they "really wanted me", but they decided not to proceed because of a conflict of interest issue.

Long story but that's a fair call and as a taxpayer I'm actually happy things went that way.  I was upfront about the COI since the start and the right decision has been made.  Still, I'll pursue other opportunities in the sector as there are a lot of HR jobs going at the moment...

What sort of HR do you do NZP?

The comment was about about viewing the sick leave as a perk.

Putting that debatable perk to one side, Do you really think they get more perks?

Heard that many some have  to chip in for their Christmas party lunch

That would sux

They have to pay completely for the Xmas party. The social club raises money throughout the year by doing bake sales and the like. Also forget about Friday drinks.

that does sux, can't see if you have to pay for your Christmas lunch many perks being there

Right now I'm a HR/H&S Manager but to be fair the majority of my actual work is in Operations.  We're a small team and we all wear many hats.

I'd like to move to a more generalist role where I work alongside managers as opposed to managing staff directly.

FWIW I've worked in four government agencies and employmnet conditions do vary. So sweeping generalisations aren't particularly helpful.

We get a $20 allowance for our christmas lunch. We pay for our own alcohol. That's been pretty similar across different agencies. 

We're not allowed friday drinks onsite. Again, that seems to be pretty common.

I've got 10 sick days but have worked in other agencies where it has been unlimited. 

Annual leave usually varies between 4 and 5 weeks depending on the length of your service. 

Pay - I have no idea how this compares to equilivent jobs in the private sector, but pay rises seems to be something close to CPI.

A guy my girlfriend worked with at the DOL retired after working there for more than thirty years, he earned significantly less than new hires because annual salary increases lag behind market valuation.

Gummint organisations are like fish. They come in all shapes and sizes - some are tasty, some stink, many are a little undercooked and others can burn you if you're not careful.

But in all seriousness; there are no rules. The agency/department/business you work for has a minimal bearing on how successful and happy you might be in a role - the relationship you have with your manager, peers, and reports has a far greater one. Of course the larger the organisation the greater the variation might be.

Every organisation has it's bad eggs, and equally has it's shining stars - find the right place for you within the right organisation and away you go.