Has anyone gone from the civil service to the private sector

[civilfawlty]

Hey. Am currently working in central government policy. I'm starting to feel my 'good intentions' are misplaced, and I should go somewhere I get well renumerated. Has anyone experience of this transition? What were the pros and cons?

[givemeaclue]

I would not assume that you will be better paid in the private sector than in the civil service particularly when benefits are taken into account.

[civilfawlty]

It would be hard to be paid a lower salary for the work I do. And, the mythical 'benefits' are really few and far between...

Anyway - thanks for your input

[civilfawlty]

Ah... interesting. Yes - I'm interested to see how transferable the skill sets are.

Yep - this year, my benefits have been... no pay rise! Woop!

[lizardqueenie]

Civil- I do totally understand what you mean. I was in a civil service for nearly 9 years, had my dd& then took vol redundancy. Two years later however I'm looking to get back into work- a job has recently come up back in my old dept & I've actually gone for it & got it. I'm pleased because it will give me what I need for now, pt working, flex hours, ok salary, etc etc but I know that eventually I will need to look for something else.

I think, especially if you have changed roles within your CS career you will have built up a number of transferable skills. I've not been to them myself but an organisation like womenlikeus.co.uk may be able to help you decide which if your skills you can use elsewhere to find something fulfilling.

[RTchoke]

DH just transferred to a job in the City. I'm still CS.

He has a higher salary, less good pension, lower holiday entitlement, similar hours. He finds the work less interesting but not terribly so. His collected are

[RTchoke]

Sorry, the last sentence should read "His colleagues are younger, less disillusioned, more cut throat and less collegiate."

[givemeaclue]

What kind of role are you looking to transfer to?