AIBU to discourage DC from entering public sector careers?

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DD17, DD14 and DS12 have all been talking a lot about jobs they’d like to do lately. They are all very different fish, 2 very academic girls and one creative but not so book smart DS. Their schools to introduce a broad range of careers, but their teachers (understandably) seem to know more about public sector roles such as teaching, legal aid law and health professions (there’s a special ‘get into medicine course DD was encouraged to do).

When I started out, there were good options for people looking to work in the public sector. I headed into a helping profession in a Local Authority (but struggled with the inflexibility and have since moved into private practice). Friends were looking forward to careers in medicine, teaching and the civil service. A couple were pretty snobby about the moral superiority of public sector roles ( I remember an physio friend asking a trainee actuary friend how they got up each morning with such a boring job). Others headed into law, banking, consultancy etc. We were all very well educated and had many options.

However, at 45, things have all come out in the wash, and (with a few exceptions, notably two doctors who are independently wealthy, and a diplomat), those who chose private sector jobs are not just much wealthier but also seem to enjoy more flexible, varied roles and just seem happier in their work. Friends in the public sector complain that they are burnt out, struggling financially and stuck in their jobs with few other options.

AIBU to at least encourage DC to consider that public sector careers might not be the best idea any more? Obviously, they’ll choose what they choose, but to me, the difference between private and public sector roles (especially in London/SE) nowadays seems pretty stark.

I have been told many times they were volunteers but that was not the impression I got. The first lot of jabs the staff were clearly volunteers, but the second round the staff were in pale blue tunics and had NHS name badges on. I might be wrong

Lots of nhs staff volunteered too.

It was incredible really.

But there's such a variety of public sector jobs - the civil service (not near me!) Where people seem to earn a lot.

Or basic grade teachers/nurses/social workers

Or all the ton of local gov jobs that all seem to pay under 35k (line managers on just over 30, corodinators all sorts. Tons of responsibility with vulnerable people for just over 20...)

Even with a “gold plated civil service pension” your income will drop by 50% when you retire - you will feel differently at 67.

Sorry I know it’s morbid but my MIL died at 66 following forty years in the CS, she had a great pension but never got to enjoy it. This has really influenced my thinking recently.

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Thera are no guarantees in life but if I was to live well into my old age I would want to enjoy my life and not be stressing about money and paying for food and heat. We can drop dead tomorrow but we may not and we may be glad of a good standard of living long into our retirement, if we die at 66 we are dead anyway and none the wiser that we never got to enjoy our pension 🤔

Yes I think that’s a valid way of thinking as well! There’s no right approach to it really but I know that after my MIL’s death both DH and I have become much more focused on ensuring we are happy in our jobs/lives right now, whereas previously we were probably more inclined to stick things out for the future benefits.

Teachers definitely don't know enough about the full range of jobs available (at no point in my school careers advice was my sector ever mentioned at all, which is why I like doing careers talks).

yeah, that would change your thinking.

But it's risky not to prepare for retirement on the grounds you may never get there.

They have superb benefits tho and to some people the satisfaction of working hard to do good rather than making someone else a quick buck is attractive. I loved working in nhs and was gutted to be made redundant

Depends on their personalities and what motivates them. I work in the private sector but with public sector customers. Bluntly, the vast majority of people we deal with on the civil service side are not as bright, as hard working, as motivated or as productive as my colleagues. It's like wading through treacle at times. And useless people seem to get constantly moved sideways to cause more chaos elsewhere rather than either having focused performance improvement or being let go. There are a few great ones but they stand out due to rarity. Some of the lack of progress is systemic rather than individuals but it would drive me bonkers to have to work alongside those people day to day. It all just seems so sludgy. And that's before you even start on local government. The pensions though? Outstanding, for sure.

Absolutely. Just needs to be a balance I guess.

A lot of people in the CS moan constantly and appear to hate it but say they’re staying for the pension, which makes no sense to me.