Moving from finance to the civil service

Shutuplaura

I have been working in finance for the past decade, mostly with the same company. I applied for an executive officer position in 2018 and have recently been told to provide references and get ready to be given a start date.

So now I have a decision to make about whether I should actually move or just forget about it. My reason for moving really is partly for a change and partly because I am tired of the pressure that goes with my current job. While I don't expect the civil service to be a doss I strongly suspect that it will be less intense.

I do have a few general questions though and since I know this forum seems popular with public sector workers I thought it might be a good place to ask. The move involves a not inconsiderable paycut so I want to make as informed a decision as possible.

Firstly, as anyone moved to the public sector from the private sector? How did you find the move and what big difference struck you.

Secondly, how does promotion work? Will it be similar to the process for getting in to the civil service, ie tests and assessment followed by a competency based interview.

Is flexi-time common. Or overtime?

I am provisionally in the Department of Agriculture. Does the culture differ much between departments?

I realise that I can find out much of this from HR when they do contact me but I thought I would try here first. I am particularly interested in seeing if my assumptions are naive or basically sound.

Thanks in advance.

uck51js9zml2yt

Shutuplaura wrote: »

I have been working in finance for the past decade, mostly with the same company. I applied for an executive officer position in 2018 and have recently been told to provide references and get ready to be given a start date.

So now I have a decision to make about whether I should actually move or just forget about it. My reason for moving really is partly for a change and partly because I am tired of the pressure that goes with my current job. While I don't expect the civil service to be a doss I strongly suspect that it will be less intense.

I do have a few general questions though and since I know this forum seems popular with public sector workers I thought it might be a good place to ask. The move involves a not inconsiderable paycut so I want to make as informed a decision as possible.

Firstly, as anyone moved to the public sector from the private sector? How did you find the move and what big difference struck you.


Secondly, how does promotion work? Will it be similar to the process for getting in to the civil service, ie tests and assessment followed by a competency based interview.

Is flexi-time common. Or overtime?

I am provisionally in the Department of Agriculture. Does the culture differ much between departments?

I realise that I can find out much of this from HR when they do contact me but I thought I would try here first. I am particularly interested in seeing if my assumptions are naive or basically sound.

Thanks in advance.

Did it and it was the best decision i made. Worked in several departments.all are different. Some great, some sh!te

Flexi is fairly common but not everywhere e.g Garda civilian.
Overtime depending on dept.

Promotion can be internal or external via Pas.

Mobility can be had after 2 years in a dept. Apply when you join to get on the list.

Agriculture sounds interesting from those I've spoken to there. Depends on the section you get.

Plus side is the money goes up every year.

MrsBean

Agree with what was posted above.

I moved from private sector and started as an EO also taking a significant pay cut but it was a decision that made sense and was justified at the time. I figured if I didn’t like it I could go back to private sec after a year. Thankfully I love it 🙂

I love the structure to my week and clear structure to my job and what is expected of me.
I also love the clear path for progression available if that is something you’re interested in. Personally I see lots of opportunities to upskill and work on competencies but it depends on the type of person you are I suppose!
Promotions are all based on competency based interviews and/or computer based testing and presentations. I’ve really enjoyed working towards promotion and trying to make sure I’m working to a standard that hits the competencies.

I am some times frustrated by certain aspects of the civil service: attitudes of life-long civil servants, the general slow moving ness, changes are slow and sometimes resisted, sometimes it’s almost too structured etc. But on the whole I see past those things and I am very happy.

ThumbTaxed

MrsBean wrote: »

Agree with what was posted above.

I moved from private sector and started as an EO also taking a significant pay cut but it was a decision that made sense and was justified at the time. I figured if I didn’t like it I could go back to private sec after a year. Thankfully I love it 🙂

I love the structure to my week and clear structure to my job and what is expected of me.
I also love the clear path for progression available if that is something you’re interested in. Personally I see lots of opportunities to upskill and work on competencies but it depends on the type of person you are I suppose!
Promotions are all based on competency based interviews and/or computer based testing and presentations. I’ve really enjoyed working towards promotion and trying to make sure I’m working to a standard that hits the competencies.

I am some times frustrated by certain aspects of the civil service: attitudes of life-long civil servants, the general slow moving ness, changes are slow and sometimes resisted, sometimes it’s almost too structured etc. But on the whole I see past those things and I am very happy.

If you are a woman, join as you will be promoted. If not, no point anymore.

applejunkie

Shutuplaura wrote: »

I have been working in finance for the past decade, mostly with the same company. I applied for an executive officer position in 2018 and have recently been told to provide references and get ready to be given a start date.

So now I have a decision to make about whether I should actually move or just forget about it. My reason for moving really is partly for a change and partly because I am tired of the pressure that goes with my current job. While I don't expect the civil service to be a doss I strongly suspect that it will be less intense.

I do have a few general questions though and since I know this forum seems popular with public sector workers I thought it might be a good place to ask. The move involves a not inconsiderable paycut so I want to make as informed a decision as possible.

Firstly, as anyone moved to the public sector from the private sector? How did you find the move and what big difference struck you.

Secondly, how does promotion work? Will it be similar to the process for getting in to the civil service, ie tests and assessment followed by a competency based interview.

Is flexi-time common. Or overtime?

I am provisionally in the Department of Agriculture. Does the culture differ much between departments?

I realise that I can find out much of this from HR when they do contact me but I thought I would try here first. I am particularly interested in seeing if my assumptions are naive or basically sound.

Thanks in advance.

Firstly, as anyone moved to the public sector from the private sector? How did you find the move and what big difference struck you.

I moved from the Private to Public Sector with a pay cut, I came in as a CO and was promoted to EO within 2 years
The big difference I see is flexi time, flexi leave and the option of doing shorter working year (after 12 months)

Secondly, how does promotion work? Will it be similar to the process for getting in to the civil service, ie tests and assessment followed by a competency based interview.

Yes the exact same for any open or interdepartmental promotions that come up ( You will need 2 years in your curent grade to apply for Interdepartmental or internal promotions ) Internal promotions also come up, they are similar enough to the process above but usually dont have the tests etc

Is flexi-time common. Or overtime?

Flexi time - Yes
Overtime - Not so much (depends on the Department/ section your in )

I am provisionally in the Department of Agriculture. Does the culture differ much between departments?

Thats a nice Department, People are lovely and its an interesting place to work , I have worked in a few different Departments and the culture does definately differ between each but like anywhere , there are nice people in all Departments.

Hope this helps

SomeSayKos

ThumbTaxed wrote: »

If you are a woman, join as you will be promoted. If not, no point anymore.

This isn't true, I work in the civil service and I can confirm that men get promotions also, unless there's a new circular that went around that I missed.

Mitzy

I moved from a finance role in a tech company to a semi-state company last year. Honestly the best move I ever made.
I don't have the option of flexi time but I have a work/life balance that I never had in the private sector.
You do work hard but your roles are defined.
I was lucky that I didn't take a pay cut but I was prepared to take one if needed.

As Mrs Bean says there are some frustrations such as the pace that things happen but that's all part of the process.
Overall I would certainly recommend.

Shutuplaura

Thanks for the comments. I love the positivity! I'm strongly leaning towards yes. The missus is unsure, but I'm working to win her round. As someone said above, I can move back to the private sector if it doesn't pan out.

trigger26

Shutuplaura wrote: »

Thanks for the comments. I love the positivity! I'm strongly leaning towards yes. The missus is unsure, but I'm working to win her round. As someone said above, I can move back to the private sector if it doesn't pan out.

Yep it’s defo worked well for me, in private for 12 years and now have young family, less stress and a better life balance. Loads of opportunities to progress and move within if you wish to do so

ELM327

I went the other way, and I would never go back.
The culture of presenteeism and "time served" really irritated me.

I'm also on a lot more money in the private sector, in finance (credit risk data science)

Shutuplaura

ELM327 wrote: »

I went the other way, and I would never go back.
The culture of presenteeism and "time served" really irritated me.

I'm also on a lot more money in the private sector, in finance (credit risk data science)

Yes, it is less money. But finance has its own issues. Keep teams as lean as possible, work everyone as hard as possible, ignore the problems with burnout etc. Grand in your twenties, not so much now I have kids I don't see that often.

Anyway, thanks all for the advice, I will take the job, my bank would re-hire me if I feel I made a mistake.

The_Honeybadger

ELM327 wrote: »

I went the other way, and I would never go back.
The culture of presenteeism and "time served" really irritated me.

I'm also on a lot more money in the private sector, in finance (credit risk data science)

If you are ambitious and good you can work your way up in the PS, promotions based on ‘time served’ are a thing of the past in my experience, there is fierce competition for senior roles and they go to the best staff, or at least the best interviewee.

Money for highly skilled positions is always going to be much better in the private sector.

AulWan

A civil service job is always going to be less money then the private sector.

But given the next recession which will surely come around soon enough, getting your foot in the door of the public service now and cementing your place with your first promotion might not be such a bad idea.

No doubt when the recession does happen, wage cuts will come too, like they did last time (still not fully restored either) but you're less likely to face redundancy in the public service.

At the end of the day, money isn't everything once you have enough to get by..

bobbysands81

ThumbTaxed wrote: »

If you are a woman, join as you will be promoted. If not, no point anymore.

Ahhhhhhh, you’re back!

I thought you were warned off these threads?

WAW

Really depends on where you get placed. Some places have promotion opps, others are limited. Some places have great systems for training, etc, others not. Some places an EO will have a huge workload and be expected to perform a HEO or above role for peanuts, others are very manageable workloads with good support.
But once you pass your probation, it is a secure if badly paid job with the potential mostly to go for promotion if in a large enough department or you are willing to move and a recession will surely come again!

ELM327

The_Honeybadger wrote: »

If you are ambitious and good you can work your way up in the PS, promotions based on ‘time served’ are a thing of the past in my experience, there is fierce competition for senior roles and they go to the best staff, or at least the best interviewee.

Money for highly skilled positions is always going to be much better in the private sector.

A chap with an MBA just joined my team from "inside".. he said it was a pay cut to join us (to be fair he's just joined and I'm here a few years so there's a bit of a disparity there) but he said basically there's a higher upside in the private sector. A lot of the "old boys" ruiles are still there, obviously depends on what area of the PS you're in.


At the end of the day it's what makes you happy is important. For me, that's money and work life balance. I have both.

ELM327

Shutuplaura wrote: »

Yes, it is less money. But finance has its own issues. Keep teams as lean as possible, work everyone as hard as possible, ignore the problems with burnout etc. Grand in your twenties, not so much now I have kids I don't see that often.

Anyway, thanks all for the advice, I will take the job, my bank would re-hire me if I feel I made a mistake.

Of course if that's your experience then the PS makes sense. Thats down to bad senior management not finance as a whole.
I'm ~10 years in the sector and in my mid 30's. I don't have burnout or issues with work life balance (beyond the rigors of my commute when I don't work from home). Heck, look at my posting here and you can see when I'm in work Boards is an important relief in my thought process.