Switching job to government sector

bomberg

Member
Hi Mummies,
I am currently working in private sector and I am considering switching career to government sectors.
I am a degree holder and would like to know is it difficult to find a job in government sector ?
Kindly share with me if you have any thought. Thank you.
 


I don't think it is difficult to switch to govt sector.... but then if u stay in govt sector for too long, you will find it difficult to transition back to private sector.
 
Agree with gateway..this is wat i am facing..very hard to get back to private sector due to too long with public..

Have to by stroke of luck to meet one private sector inteeviewer to give a chance for someone from public to join private..
 
Hi onsansg/GatewayJunkie,
I don't understand, can you explain more? Why do you want to join back private?
In my opinion, public sec should be more stress-free and resonable salary. My case is I have 3 kids, therefore would like to find some stress-free job, but still hopefully to get resonable pay.
Do you mind to pm me your current sector and pay ?
 
Hi onsansg/GatewayJunkie,
I don't understand, can you explain more? Why do you want to join back private?
In my opinion, public sec should be more stress-free and resonable salary. My case is I have 3 kids, therefore would like to find some stress-free job, but still hopefully to get resonable pay.
Do you mind to pm me your current sector and pay ?

Depending on which ministry/stat board you go to, it's not exactly stress free. It's a misconception of many people that govt job is v stress free.

I am not in govt sector now but I used to be for a short while. My hubby is in the public sector (stat board) though.
 
Degree or Diploma holder in public sector no longer stress free as in the past with every mid year or annual year review on key performance indicator..attention and whatever you do are almost evolve on kpi..i prefer private sector where i can be more focus to concentrate on my job and gain experience for marketability value..
 
If your company provides good benefits for dependent ie kids medical coverage and you are recognised via your career progression, wealthier knowledge and good bonus..better stay within private..
 
Problem is my company although is big MNC but has been pay freeze for few years and bonus are negligible.... sad.
 
onsansg/GatewayJunkie,
Thanks for all the information, but I will still give myself a try, because without trying we won't know.
Ofcoz, at the same time, I will continue to apply job in private sector too.
 
Hi bomberg, I'm currently working in gov sector, gg to 3 years this July. Before this, I worked in pte sector for 9 years. Upon getting a part time degree, I made a career switch. I really love my current job cos it gives me much satisfaction. I was able to get 7 to 9 mths bonus in the pte sector as its ship bldg industry. Gov sector can never give such fleshy good bonuses. However, I was not able to get the satisfaction I want so I left. No regrets.
 
Hi bomberg, I have the same thought as you.. hope you can get into either Ministry or Stat Board or even govt linked company. :).
 
I'm not very high level in my job.. Was from banking but left as I cannot find any satisfaction and was stressed and too much politics.. Have been trying to find a job in the public sector for half a year but not even a reply or call for an interview.. I believe partly there is likely no relevance in job skills and pay mismatch as well even though I am willing to take a cut too.. Being a degree holder don't stand any advantage.. In fact I think nowadays easier for a dip to find job as hiring managers have the mind set as most jobs don't need too high a qualification and also save cost
 
Like werrywert, I was fr banking. Pay freeze, unfair compensation package etc. early this yr I moved to stat board. Never looked back. Go home on the dot, more time to play wif my lo. Find my life more enriching.
Good luck in ur search
 
I agreed that banking sector really can make lot of money but lack of life balance. I am currently working in production environment, sometimes will be triggered during weekend which is very frustrated as weekend is supposed to be family time.
Still searching for jobs in government sectors these few days.
By the way, can PM me which stat board are you all in ?
 
Hi bomberg, I'm currently working in gov sector, gg to 3 years this July. Before this, I worked in pte sector for 9 years. Upon getting a part time degree, I made a career switch. I really love my current job cos it gives me much satisfaction. I was able to get 7 to 9 mths bonus in the pte sector as its ship bldg industry. Gov sector can never give such fleshy good bonuses. However, I was not able to get the satisfaction I want so I left. No regrets.
Hi,
mind sharing what is the nature of the company you working in ? Is it really not so stressful ? Cause i heard that govt company could be really stressful also.
 
Public sector can be stressful. Depending on the agency you are in, working hours is very long and you handle a wide scope of work + CCAs such as committees, study teams, etc. Though official hours is 8.30am to 6pm, some of us are here at work before 8am and without fail everyday, by 9.30pm most of us are still in office. The official working hours tend to be filled with meetings, discussions, responding to queries and feedback from bosses/staff. The work starts after 6pm. Not uncommon for meetings to start at 7.30pm as well. Your job description may state the general items, but you end up doing other works as well and each year, to justify for your increment and bonuses, you have to think of new initiatives and projects to do. The initiative you did in 2013 will then become regular work and add on to your other duties in 2014 while you think of new initiatives for 2014. Time spent on CCAs can be very long, and CCAs do not mean social club. They are working committees and task forces. Most of us ended up coming back to office on weekends or work at home. Even during leave, we would spend some time working at home, and we have to respond to bosses' calls 24-7. Me, my colleagues, friends and husband who work in different agencies all experienced phone calls from bosses on weekends (as late as 11pm) and while we were on overseas holidays. Some of us even have to go back office on Saturday at 11pm just to work on a reply that bosses want immediately. When we look at the submissions we put up, we can also see bosses approving papers on public holidays and at wee hours like 4am. So do consider carefully if this is what you want.
 
I think is really ur heng suay. For me, I haf been gg home on the dot. 9-5 almost everyday. I even bump into my big boss who is on his way home.
 
It really depends on the culture of the ministry/agency. Some agencies are more pro-family, some, because of the nature of the work that they do, requires a lot of overtime.

My hubby (public sector) reaches work at 10plus and can leave anytime after 5pm, as long as the work gets done. :)
 
Public sector can be stressful. Depending on the agency you are in, working hours is very long and you handle a wide scope of work + CCAs such as committees, study teams, etc. Though official hours is 8.30am to 6pm, some of us are here at work before 8am and without fail everyday, by 9.30pm most of us are still in office. The official working hours tend to be filled with meetings, discussions, responding to queries and feedback from bosses/staff. The work starts after 6pm. Not uncommon for meetings to start at 7.30pm as well. Your job description may state the general items, but you end up doing other works as well and each year, to justify for your increment and bonuses, you have to think of new initiatives and projects to do. The initiative you did in 2013 will then become regular work and add on to your other duties in 2014 while you think of new initiatives for 2014. Time spent on CCAs can be very long, and CCAs do not mean social club. They are working committees and task forces. Most of us ended up coming back to office on weekends or work at home. Even during leave, we would spend some time working at home, and we have to respond to bosses' calls 24-7. Me, my colleagues, friends and husband who work in different agencies all experienced phone calls from bosses on weekends (as late as 11pm) and while we were on overseas holidays. Some of us even have to go back office on Saturday at 11pm just to work on a reply that bosses want immediately. When we look at the submissions we put up, we can also see bosses approving papers on public holidays and at wee hours like 4am. So do consider carefully if this is what you want.

OMG, I did not expect it to be so bad.
 
I do agree that it is really depending on "heng & shui", your colleague might be holding simpler job than you although both of you working at the same post.
 
probably you might wish to ask ur frens who are in the sector that u wish to join? it might help u to understand the culture better
 
I had tried both and I still preferred government sector as Bonuses and salary increments are more consistent. Working hours more stable. Juz my 2cents worth of tot.
 
I am in private banking..the main issue for me is not so much no work life balance (there is some - provided your already quite established in your area of work), its the money is king mentality, everyone for themself attitude and philosophy which is the most distasteful to me, even after all these years..

in fact I switched to public a few years back, lecturing which is relatively stress free and fixed hours.. Think it really depends on the respective govt agency. If u join dynamic agencies like EDB don't think it's gonna be much less stress lols
 
I switched from pte to public a year ago and love how I can knock off on e dot to be with my family. In my organisation, we are very respectful of official hours and even lunch time. But it definitely isn't any less stressful as there are KPIs and deadlines to fufil. More so cos we are responding to the public! Another downside is ur marketability if u decide to leave: ur field of work will likely be too specialised to be of much use in the private sector.
 
it really depends which company, your boss personality and nature of work. it is easier to get no pay leave in public sector though.
 

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