To feel like a failure for leaving the Civil Service?

Have you told them how ill it's making you? Are you in the union? I think you could get some help to stay in your current job or a managed move somewhere else. Obviously if you want to move that's also fine!

I left the CS 10 years ago. I am thinking of going back for the job security and to build back my pension.

The non public sector is much more difficult in terms of expectations.

Why is your EO role so stressful? It really shouldn't be given your grade and relative pay. Are there ways you can try and make the role more manageable?

Having been on both sides of the fence, comparably paid private sector jobs can be as demanding and stressful and a lot less secure.

Stay put until you find a different or an AO role. That gives you the security to think about what direction you want to go in

I left and didn’t look back. I think CS suits some and most people I know in the CS have been in it from young.

I found it incredibly bureaucratic, every task had a rigid procedure and process and the endless meetings that just wasted time almost drove me insane.

However, there were many colleagues who thought I was mad too for leaving thanks to the incredible pension and benefits… for me there was a better balance and I’m glad I didn’t stay, so go for it OP and be open minded.

I do sometimes get a what did I do pang when I see my husbands pension forecasts from local gov. But I earned more over the years. I think I would have been in a mental hospital, unable to work if I stayed. Some one once asked me if I had “tried to get a job”. My profession is 90% of people employed in local gov. I am self employed and love it.

Life is long.
Admittedly I 've only worked in Public Sector jobs I've got a bit of a teaching pension, a bit of a LGPS one a bit of a different LGPS one, never quite sure whether to pull them all together but I've got 30 odd years of working left why stay in a job you don't like for money that you may or may not get depending on how long you live but almost certainly for less than 30 years.

From my friends in the CS another huge benefit is the flexible working which exists in a more defined form not a sort of "hour swap here and there if it fits with others" which many private sector businesses have.

If you have family I'd imagine that's a real benefit.

Ideally it would be better to sit tight until you find another role to move to, whether it be CS or not. Only you can judge how badly your current role is impacting you.

I would be cautious leaving CS though. The benefits / pension are amazing and lots of people find the private sector a culture shock and don’t realise how good they had it in the CS until it’s too late. Just make sure you’re not jumping out of the frying pan into the fire in your haste to leave.

I think that the Civil Service can be great but you need to be at the right grade. It is very hierarchical and promotions can be bonkers. If you are at a lower grade then I would recommend getting experience elsewhere and then returning to the Civil Service at a higher grade (if you want to!). I used to work in the Civil Service and found it very frustrating - there would be relatively lower grades doing all the work while the SCS doing very little but having meetings and promoting themselves Having worked mainly in the private sector it seemed a bit mad that these people still had jobs I think if you are the right personality then the Civil Service is great. Horses for courses!

I left a similar level CS job, as I felt trapped and so (after many job applications) got into something else I enjoyed far more. It is possible that had I stayed I would be earning more than I am now but I never think about this or regret my decision. It is not for everyone.

What I decided about other people’s opinions was that it wasn’t them who was actually doing the job every day.

I left local government. I would not stay in a job I hated for a pension. You might be dead before you get a pension! Don’t listen other people and suit yourself.