I knew i should've stayed in San Diego LOL.
here, i get to retire at 50% when i'm 57....well, that's 24 years from now!
here, i get to retire at 50% when i'm 57....well, that's 24 years from now!
is it worth leaving civil service?
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Like Pablo said,you can work your heart out even losing your marriage, you could still be laid off. I was laid off several time because the company I worked for lost contracts. It was not pleasant standing in the line of the unemployment office. As you grow older, there come the responsibilities of family, marriage, mortgage, car payment, etc, which demand stable income to upkeep. The private sector is a dogs-eat-dogs world. Stress from job just for few extra bucks easily brings down your mental and physical health plus it would cost your marriage and family. The company (a leading communication firm) I am working for has 80% of its managers being divorced.
Like Pablo said,you can work your heart out even losing your marriage, you could have gotten a lot of awards or recognitions but still be laid off. I was laid off several time because the company I worked for lost contracts. It was not pleasant standing in the line of the unemployment office. As you grow older, there come the responsibilities of family, marriage, mortgage, car payment, college tuition for children, retirement, etc, which demand stable income to upkeep. The private sector is a dogs-eat-dogs world. Every worker is like a piece of meat with a price tag. When the company extracts every ounce of juice out of you, you would be out of the door. Technologies keep changing. If you could not upkeep your skills, you would easily be at the bottom of food chain. Stress from the job just for few extra bucks easily brings down your mental and physical health plus it would cost your marriage and family. The company (a leading telecommunication firm) I am working for has 80% of its managers being divorced. 24 years is a short time. I would suggest you to build up the tenacity in enduring the politics at your current job. Otherwise, you would be disappointed when you jump ship and find yourself in the similar situation without the job security.
SIFAN, like i posted previously, there is no real job security when you are M/C in civil service, no union, it's "fire at will" just like the real world.
the place i'm looking at going to has a history of NOT letting people go...it's a large hospital that pays to keep quality people around....
and for now, the stress at my current job is pretty bad....but, like one of the administrators says, because i let it get to me...I let it get to me when i can't do my job, or no one wants to listen. Safety should be paramount and proactive....but not here.
when i was in risk management at a non-profit, they listened. why? because, it affected their bottom line. at the state, what do they have to worry about their bottom line??? they don't.
the place i'm looking at going to has a history of NOT letting people go...it's a large hospital that pays to keep quality people around....
and for now, the stress at my current job is pretty bad....but, like one of the administrators says, because i let it get to me...I let it get to me when i can't do my job, or no one wants to listen. Safety should be paramount and proactive....but not here.
when i was in risk management at a non-profit, they listened. why? because, it affected their bottom line. at the state, what do they have to worry about their bottom line??? they don't.
My father was a civil engineer working for a city government once. There was no union protection for the white collar workers like in your situation. But, his co-worker, who got him in, has been working there for decades and is ready to retire at age 57 to collect his annual pension of 80% of his current pay. My retired father has some 401k, but no pension and no decent health coverage. Hospitals are for profit. There will be laid off when money is tight. Well, it is your choice. Just my 2 cents.
This hospital is non-profit....
You think a non-profit organization won't laid off workers when there is insufficient budget/funding to pay for the salary?
I will give you a solution on handling job stress. You work for the "LOVE" of people surrounding you. But most of all, you work for the love of J-e-s-u-s. You think your bosses/peers are giving you hard time. Wait till you get married, and your wife give you @#$% after honeymoon is over. That kind of marriage stress will make you want to stay at the office away from home, or send her back to your mother-in-law. On top of that add the children into the equation plus other things. Many times I wished I could quit my current job on the spot, but, I did not put that thought into action because I would put my family in the homeless shelter. Even you work hard, your wife and children might not appreciate you. Who can give you the strength to keep on going at the end? J-e-s-u-s!
From your earlier post you look like single and think about marriage. If you can not learn to handle job stress, hope you marry a right woman with long lasting love. Otherwise, divorce (jump ship from a marriage) would only make your life worse.
I do not know if you go to a church. If not, please pick up a Bible and read, and pray to J-e-s-u-s for daily guidance. He will shed light into your life, and help you endure the stress.
I will give you a solution on handling job stress. You work for the "LOVE" of people surrounding you. But most of all, you work for the love of J-e-s-u-s. You think your bosses/peers are giving you hard time. Wait till you get married, and your wife give you @#$% after honeymoon is over. That kind of marriage stress will make you want to stay at the office away from home, or send her back to your mother-in-law. On top of that add the children into the equation plus other things. Many times I wished I could quit my current job on the spot, but, I did not put that thought into action because I would put my family in the homeless shelter. Even you work hard, your wife and children might not appreciate you. Who can give you the strength to keep on going at the end? J-e-s-u-s!
From your earlier post you look like single and think about marriage. If you can not learn to handle job stress, hope you marry a right woman with long lasting love. Otherwise, divorce (jump ship from a marriage) would only make your life worse.
I do not know if you go to a church. If not, please pick up a Bible and read, and pray to J-e-s-u-s for daily guidance. He will shed light into your life, and help you endure the stress.
Just take as much time as you can to think it over, make the decision, and make it work. I've worked a few jobs, been a small business owner, been laid off, been in a union job, pretty much tried it all. I still need to make money to enable the family to live, but I'd rather be poor and happy than wealthy and miserable.
This summer I'm planning to take a lower paying job with great hours and benefits and job security, basically starting to manoeuvre towards retirement. My dad worked hard his whole life and dropped dead of a heart attack at age 63, 6 months before he was set to retire. That's a warning to me. Health permitting, I'll be going fishing and enjoying my golden years.
Don't rush into anything and if you do make a change and it doesn't work out, make another change. Also, don't underestimate the stress on family if you need to relocate and have kids change schools and your wife moves away from her friends and family support.
This summer I'm planning to take a lower paying job with great hours and benefits and job security, basically starting to manoeuvre towards retirement. My dad worked hard his whole life and dropped dead of a heart attack at age 63, 6 months before he was set to retire. That's a warning to me. Health permitting, I'll be going fishing and enjoying my golden years.
Don't rush into anything and if you do make a change and it doesn't work out, make another change. Also, don't underestimate the stress on family if you need to relocate and have kids change schools and your wife moves away from her friends and family support.
well, maybe I mislead you...i handle stress very well, especially at my job...It's that i "let it" get to me, meaning, i get frustrated and feel that i'm not accomplishing anything...nothing worse than at the end of the day, i can say, "i didn't do much today....I only helped one guy today"
big deal.
IMO, there's your answer right there. You don't want to wait until kids, mortgage pymts, car pymts, etc.. come into play. It will be much less painful to make a move now.
Joel
In addition, the doctors i've worked for, especially those in Iraq, firmly believe I'm wasting my time and talents at the state....
not only is my earning potential greater in the real world, but i can have more of an affect on the comunity and the lives of those around me.
not only is my earning potential greater in the real world, but i can have more of an affect on the comunity and the lives of those around me.
Just got an email from a guy who worked civil service for about 10 years and then went private sector about 10 months ago. He said he misses the "family" atmosphere back at the civil service office and of his new job, he said: "Here, people seem to be more to themselves....not sure if that is just the uncertainty of working in the private sector knowing that you could be out of a job at anytime or what the deal is."
A few thoughts:
1. If you're not happy, you absolutely need to make the leap to something different.
2. If you're a go-getter like you say, civil service jobs oftentimes suck the big ones because they seldom reward go-getters. Longevity is the key with most civil service jobs. You might be the best X in your agency, but if someone else has been there longer than you, they make more $$$ than you! That's the bottom line.
3. You might find that the grass really isn't any greener on the other side. Then again, it might be a LOT greener.
4. Job security means a lot in a tight economy - not so much in a booming economy. Which do you think it'll be in the next one, five, or ten years?
5. Higher risk can mean higher reward, but it can also mean higher losses. And vice versa.
Good luck either way, my friend. I have a feeling you're a police officer, and being one myself, I'd be interested in knowing what exactly you're pursuing. If you care to share, shoot me a PM.
Take care!
Todd
1. If you're not happy, you absolutely need to make the leap to something different.
2. If you're a go-getter like you say, civil service jobs oftentimes suck the big ones because they seldom reward go-getters. Longevity is the key with most civil service jobs. You might be the best X in your agency, but if someone else has been there longer than you, they make more $$$ than you! That's the bottom line.
3. You might find that the grass really isn't any greener on the other side. Then again, it might be a LOT greener.
4. Job security means a lot in a tight economy - not so much in a booming economy. Which do you think it'll be in the next one, five, or ten years?
5. Higher risk can mean higher reward, but it can also mean higher losses. And vice versa.
Good luck either way, my friend. I have a feeling you're a police officer, and being one myself, I'd be interested in knowing what exactly you're pursuing. If you care to share, shoot me a PM.
Take care!
Todd
If you are unhappy, make the jump. I was an officer in the military for 12 years. The first six years of my military career were great and I really enjoyed it. My last six were awful because I was no longer doing the job I joined the military to do (needs of military come first). With my wife's support, I left and am pursuing a new career. I have never been happier. I guess what I'm saying is that life is too short to spend it in a job you don't enjoy.
True, in the public sector the folks do tend to treat others as real people rather than just being a number on the payroll. I remember almost 20 years ago asking aloud just before class in college if the private sector was really as cold as they say it is. One person said yes, another said it depends on the company; but nobody said no.
Having been in public service longer than some BITOGers have been alive, the "personalness" I just kinda forgot or took for granted...
I worked ten years for a private firm (electrical supplies wholesaler), then ten years in state government (corrections) before leaving to care for my mother and stepfather fulltime. The politics and cutthroat atmosphere at the former were atrocious. To put it bluntly: my goal had been outside sales, but a year before I left, I was so angry and burned out that I turned down cold an outside sales position that a competitor that knew me offered me. I was simply fed up with it all. About a year and a half after I left the firm, it called me trying to get me to come back, and I turned that down cold too.
State government, a civil service-type system, was totally different. I miss most aspects of the job, even as a correctional officer dealing with inmates, and I especially miss the benefits, in particular retirement. Eventually I hope to return. Politics is present at every job including this one, but backstabbing from fellow employees is minimal by comparison.
Beware a switch to the private sector. You might be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. And your family might end up jumping with you. You might find after a change to the private sector that some golden boy is receiving all the glory and opportunity and the employer does not plan to honor pay and benefits promises made to you. And if you complain or pursue a grievance, they find some way to fire you. I'll take more security over excitement these days.
State government, a civil service-type system, was totally different. I miss most aspects of the job, even as a correctional officer dealing with inmates, and I especially miss the benefits, in particular retirement. Eventually I hope to return. Politics is present at every job including this one, but backstabbing from fellow employees is minimal by comparison.
Beware a switch to the private sector. You might be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. And your family might end up jumping with you. You might find after a change to the private sector that some golden boy is receiving all the glory and opportunity and the employer does not plan to honor pay and benefits promises made to you. And if you complain or pursue a grievance, they find some way to fire you. I'll take more security over excitement these days.
Thanks for the advice, but it seems many keep touting the job security of civil service.
I will state again, I am management classification, we do NOT have job security.
There is nowhere to grow with the state, whereas, i'm finishing my MS in Healthcare Mgmt and that opens up a world of opportunities in the civilian sector.
as far as corrections goes, no offense at all, but some of my best friends and relatives are Correction Officers....they do it for the benefits and all the OT they, admitingly, scam! NY has been fighting it for years, they scam plain and simple...and EVERY single one of them is bored out of their minds.
I will state again, I am management classification, we do NOT have job security.
There is nowhere to grow with the state, whereas, i'm finishing my MS in Healthcare Mgmt and that opens up a world of opportunities in the civilian sector.
as far as corrections goes, no offense at all, but some of my best friends and relatives are Correction Officers....they do it for the benefits and all the OT they, admitingly, scam! NY has been fighting it for years, they scam plain and simple...and EVERY single one of them is bored out of their minds.
Yeah, sorry about repeating the security angle. My emphasis was more to compare the fellow employees and the work atmosphere you might find yourself in.
FWIW, Virginia allows union representation of state workers, but "right-to-work" laws apply and there is no collective bargaining or ability to strike. My institution has a zero-overtime policy, but in practice this becomes a "minimal overtime" policy when we are short. Other institutions allow large amounts of overtime. The subject of New York correctional practices came up a few times among those who had relatives working there!
FWIW, Virginia allows union representation of state workers, but "right-to-work" laws apply and there is no collective bargaining or ability to strike. My institution has a zero-overtime policy, but in practice this becomes a "minimal overtime" policy when we are short. Other institutions allow large amounts of overtime. The subject of New York correctional practices came up a few times among those who had relatives working there!
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