Leave the Civil Service or wither away?!

LouD2016

Hi all,

Stuck in a rut at the moment.
In the civil service 4 years. It already feels like a lifetime. Got a transfer from Dublin to an office close to home in January which was fantastic at the time. Have a small child now so wanted to near home.
The office I'm in is like a time warp. I have the same job to do day in day out. There is absolutely no scope to learn any new skills or branch out into any projects. I have applied for the new EO competition but if I get as far as the interview I honestly don't know how im going to talk up my position enough to pass an interview.

My new manager is the laziest, most useless person I have come across in my whole lifetime of working (and that is saying a lot).
I left college to take the civil service job as my husband and I were planning on getting a mortgage and knew being a civil servant would help achieve this.

Anyway...have the mortgage and now the child and im really considering just packing it in and trying my luck back in the private sector.
My husband thinks I would be crazy giving up 'pensionable, permanent job' but my wages are pure sh*te, half of it goes on paying for child care alone, so I just don't see any major benefits right now,

Anyone here have any good success stories about leaving and heading back to the private sector?

ELM327

LouD2016 wrote: »

Hi all,

Stuck in a rut at the moment.
In the civil service 4 years. It already feels like a lifetime. Got a transfer from Dublin to an office close to home in January which was fantastic at the time. Have a small child now so wanted to near home.
The office I'm in is like a time warp. I have the same job to do day in day out. There is absolutely no scope to learn any new skills or branch out into any projects. I have applied for the new EO competition but if I get as far as the interview I honestly don't know how im going to talk up my position enough to pass an interview.

My new manager is the laziest, most useless person I have come across in my whole lifetime of working (and that is saying a lot).
I left college to take the civil service job as my husband and I were planning on getting a mortgage and knew being a civil servant would help achieve this.

Anyway...have the mortgage and now the child and im really considering just packing it in and trying my luck back in the private sector.
My husband thinks I would be crazy giving up 'pensionable, permanent job' but my wages are pure sh*te, half of it goes on paying for child care alone, so I just don't see any major benefits right now,

Anyone here have any good success stories about leaving and heading back to the private sector? I really feel I would just be better off part time in a shop or something.

How is working in a shop addressing the issue?
Public sector is not the be all and end all for job security if that's your main concern.


If you don't like your job, do up your CV and move. It's an employees market out there at the moment.

LouD2016

ELM327 wrote: »

How is working in a shop addressing the issue?
Public sector is not the be all and end all for job security if that's your main concern.


If you don't like your job, do up your CV and move. It's an employees market out there at the moment.

Edited to avoid further insult

Trio123

Could you look for a transfer to another department within a reasonable commute?

LouD2016

Trio123 wrote: »

Could you look for a transfer to another department within a reasonable commute?

The current department im in has a 2 year rule....

Ninthlife

LouD2016 wrote: »

The current department im in has a 2 year rule....

Speak to your AP or PO and ask is there any project work or different work available. Tell them you want to explore different areas and have a wider range of experience for when you go for interview

fxotoole

LouD2016 wrote: »

The current department im in has a 2 year rule....

How about an internal move within your existing department?

Maybe try a Unit that’s more dynamic, innovative, challenging, etc?

Miharo

Hi there, could you apply for a career break? I did this when career break rules were changed a few yrs ago to allow working in the private sector, and it's nice to have the fallback just in case the private sector doesn't work out for some reason.

Zipppy

further education? upskill? Try to get another role from that? Career break? Part time?
Just some options...
Many jobs involve the same daily routine..private and public..
I wouldn't just back it in.. I fear you may regret in the future..

Zipppy

Zipppy wrote: »

further education? upskill? Try to get another role from that? Career break? Part time?
Just some options...
Many jobs involve the same daily routine..private and public..
I wouldn't just back it in.. I fear you may regret in the future..

Yep I'm in agreement with the above in some respects OP.

Depends on your qualifications/skills but don't knock security in the medium/longterm - it's all down to what you want to do with your life. Take a 5-7 year view- will you do further study, what will career progression look like over that time, where will you be living (i.e. in a high or low employment area), what's the public sector/private sectors like for the skills/qualifications you have?

I'd imagine your job has little pressure in that you're clocking on and clocking off so i'd develop my skills and qualifications further in an area I know I'd want to work in- then decide in a couple of years after you get those qualifications, if you want to jump ship.

Retail isn't a pretty place to be and private sector can be very competitive with many long hours in the jobs that pay well- it's up to you.

beauf

I know a good few who have left public/civil service gone back to private and even back to PS or CS againand even back to public a 2nd time. They tend to people who are fairly high skillset though. Often doing a lot of up-skilling by themselves.

Treat it like a any job and keep moving.

tinofapples

What is your current role? I'm guessing maybe CO as you mention applying for EO.

LouD2016

Yes currently a CO.

I am currently in the 1st year of a degree in Public Management through work, which is a great opportunity and I know I wouldn't be able to afford to do this on my own.

The only downside to this is I have to stay in my department for the duration of the course and then a further 4 years after ive finished it - so that's 8 years before I can look at leaving this department.

I can sit and hope that I get a promotion within this time but there is very little movement in this department. I have asked for more work and to participate in any projects but there is literally nothing happening here. I'm so used to having work and doing well in the work I do.

Riskymove

LouD2016 wrote: »

Yes currently a CO.

OP most of your story could have applied to me when I first joined the PS

I left college to join at a clerical grade and spent over 4 years at that level in a job that was not challenging most of the time. However, I did look to get involved in other projects and help out others etc. I participated in college courses in my own time like you are.

I appreciate that you have moved to a location outside Dublin which reduces options and are a mother balancing childcare and flexible family life - these did not apply to me. But nothing lasts forever, you can progress and move on.

A key thing here is only down to you - allow your current situation to sap your morale and motivation and either leave or turn into your manager - or you can decide it is going to motivate you to move onwards; put everything into the EO process, much much more than your current CO job matters in such interviews.

OMM 0000

I worked in a company before where it was soul destroying (easy software role; not busy).

Like you, there were some big advantages to staying there.

I decided to make better use of my time so I went back to college part-time. I used a lot of my work time for studying, etc. It was great.

Could something like this work for you?

posy2010

Banks don’t care if you are a civil servant anymore. I’d look elsewhere

tijuanaboozer

Few things to consider OP which may be useful in developing your CS career.

Can you get involved in meetings even to just take minutes? It helps to network.

Have a look at the web content and forms your department or section uses. Can they be improved? Are they GDPR compliant? Plain English? Do all the hyperlinks work?

If HR runs short training courses do as many as you can(Minute taking/Report writing/FOI/Presentation Skills/Project Management/Briefing Notes. This will help in your EO interview-Drive and Commitment Competency

Look at the bigger picture for your department for example;

Can the statistics collected be improved? How often are they collated?

Parliamentary questions are a good way to learn about your department and how they interact with other departments.

Court Cases which involve your department

Comparative Policy of Similar departments in other countries

Freedom of Information requests

Process Improvement suggestions- e.g.better record keeping, customer service, handover protocol to decrease the loss of knowledge when people leave/move.

Use your PMDS goal setting to emphasise your wish to develop additional skills and competencies. Don't let your manager fob you off by telling you just to put down your usual roles on the form.

Think of the current role as testing your resilience but that you want to add more value to your role and hopefully instigate positive changes