Should I go public sector

You'd be paid every second Thursday which means two months of the year you have 3 paydays.

The ASC is a pain. It's 3.33% of your wages from €34,500 to €60,000 and 3.5% for everything over €60,000.IT goes to nothing so I just try not to think about it.

I think you need to consider the salary scale with the HEO. Currently its starting at €58,847 but with the pay deal by 01 June 2026 it'll be €60,029. After a year you'd be up to €61,784.

You'll also (most likely) be entitled to flexi leave which is a day and a half every 4 weeks. Tbh this is the main selling point for me.

Changing jobs is a big decision so make sure to think it through. I was a HEO and thought it was a great role. Money is decent, you're very much middle management so always have someone to go to on issues and I got the chance to move to different roles and get qualifications.

I was placed high up in a panel earlier this year but ultimately turned down the role. I don't know what age you are but I am mid-40s and would have had to "buy" years into my pension to get the full entitlement at retirement age (as you need to have 40 years to qualify for the just okay pension), the cost of that, plus the lack of over-time, bonus, etc.. made it unworkable financially.

A lot will depend on what you wish to achieve from your working/domestic life. Finding the sweet spot is the key, the maximum compensation for the minimum hours worked.

e.g. getting 80k annually for 35hr weeks v's 100k for 45hr weeks. You'll find people who think this is a no brainer yet will chose different options.

but the OP is going in at HEO, it will take years to get anywhere near that level unless he gets promoted to AP which can be very difficult

A lot of these questions can be easily enough answered with a bit of research.

Bi-weekly is what it says - you are paid every two weeks, thats 26 payslips in the year.

One challenge with public sector pay packets is that its very hard to put a value on (i) job security and (ii) the pension. Specifically, whats the monetary value of it.

There is a public sector pension modeller, you can search that up.

A factor I'd definitely consider is that if you join the public sector - then you are most likely getting skilled up in 'how the public sector works' - what I mean is, if you stay there 5 or 10 years, it can be very very hard to get back into private sector, unles you work in something specific like HR.

The pay calculators are available online - wouldnt have thought deductions are that high, that would mean net pay at only like 45% of gross after including income tax, which isn't the case.

But again OP - a lot of this info is available on line, the pension modeller, the salary calculators. You should be able to work it out precisely, and also the HR team should also be able to talk you through it line by line. Now is the time to ask.

During the austerity years, public servants took multiple pay cuts.

One of these was not a simple pay-cut, it was a new, extra pension contribution called the PRD.

It has since been reduced, reformed, and re-named the ASC.

It is a new, extra pension contribution, but there was no improvement in pension benefits.

Higher earning public sector workers lose 60% of any pay increase. So if your pay increases from say €70k to €75k, you will only bank 40% of that extra €5k. Absolutely that doesn't mean you're losing 60% of your overall salary to taxes and deductions obviously, but just keep it in mind when looking at future pay increases.

Public sector pay slips have those also if you pay through your wages. Eg I have LPT, Health insurance, income continuance protection

If you're on the panel for a Higher Executive Officer position then I presume that's the civil service rather than public service. Now they are very similar but there are some differences.

I left a private sector job about 10 years ago to work in the public sector and for me it was definitely the right choice but it all depends on your circumstances.

I was travelling around the country in the private sector and while technically I was on more money, the extra unpaid hours and additional travel really left me on less per hour when you consider that time is money.

Now again the civil and public sectors are quite similar so basically the pros are, you have more time off, there's very little unpaid overtime (which can be very common in the private sector depending on your area/trade etc), you have flexi time, there's good pension, promotion and annual leave benefits and you have good job security as well.

The drawback if you like is that it's steady eddie stuff, ie it won't make you a millionaire or anything close to it, so you have to weigh up if that's suitable or not for you.

Regarding turning down jobs, in the public sector that's usually it and you have to re-apply and go through the interview process again etc.

The civil service may be different though, for example I was on a HSE panel a couple of years ago and they didn't go through their panel from top to bottom like the public service. Instead they offered each job out to everybody on the panel and the highest person to express an interest got the job (a much better system than the public service offer it to 1st then 2nd then 3rd and if you don't like it tough approach). So basically you weren't obliged to put your hand up for a job you didn't want.

If I were you, I'd seek clarity on their hiring proceedure and make sure to get it in writing so there's no confusion. There should be no issue contacting whoever ran the interviews.

Anyway very best of luck whatever direction you decide to go in, these decisions are never easy but I think it's best sit down with a clear head by yourself, weigh up the pros and cons, make a decision and don't look back, you'll feel much better for it.