Leaving the civil service…

[FortyDegreeDay]

Hi mumsnet 👋

I need some advice! I’m a Grade 7 in the civil service. I’ve been a Grade 7 for just over two years having completed the fast stream and I’m feeling disillusioned with the civil service. Our team is chronically under resourced, there is very minimal intellectual stretch and the individual who I report to is not particularly capable at their role and is frequently away from the desk doing other things and logs onto meetings whilst sitting horizontally on the sofa. In short, I’m not developing or learning in my current role and I feel I’m not getting sufficient examples and exposure to be able to secure a promotion or a lateral move.

I’m in a project delivery profession, where we frequently we don’t have the capability within the civil service so keep outsourcing the exciting work to consultancies and in the past four years I’ve ran 8 + tenders for consultancies to complete project design and target operating model work. I am also regionally based and it feels as though all the buzz of working in the civil service is felt predominately by staff who work in proximity to Whitehall. I am the only staff member based in my region and I like going into the office and working with others, there’s no bouncing ideas around of others. I’ve never met my team in person despite being in this role for over a year.

I have been offered a a new role in Project Management consultancy at KPMG. The move would be lateral, as the base salary and bonus is slightly higher than my current base salary in the civil service but I will get 5 less days annual leave and the pension contributions are lower. I feel more excited by the opportunity to work on different projects and for a Big 4 organisation but I speak to mentors and they suggest I’m crazy to leave the civil service at the moment due to the uncertain economic climate and the security of a civil service role. I am 30 and don’t have children and I probably don’t maximise the full benefits of the civil service - for example, flexible working, etc.

I am from a socially mobile background so when I speak to friends and family they think I should be grateful for having a relatively well paid role (I am!) and don’t know why I am so unhappy so I’m finding it hard to access any advice and guidance.

I would love to hear some feedback from others who have moved from the Big 4 to the Civil Service or vice versa. I’d love any career thoughts or advice!

https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Reviews/Employee-Review-KPMG-E2867-RVW21106119.htm

Have you thought about a sideways move into DE&S? That’s PD galore and it’s so understaffed. They are based in Bristol but have offices all over the country. Alternatively you can always go back to CS again if you did leave for a bit?

They aren’t recruiting anywhere near Birmingham unfortunately!

Thanks - I have seen some of these too.

It is tough isn’t it, you hear so many opinions (and I’ve invited more opinions by making this thread). I really struggle with decision making when it comes to my own personal life. I’m really unhappy at work but perhaps leaving totally is the nuclear option.

I left a tech consulting firm for the civil service and have massive regret. I find the CS pretty toxic tbh and if I could go back and change my decision I would. There is a real lack of collaboration & personal interest in my experience. I have a far flung team that never really get together. Its the first time I've felt lonely in a job, even after working as a fully remote person within a US based team previously.
I would take the KPMG role, there will be better opportunities either with KPMG or other privste sector, big 4 or otherwise. The CS will always be there in some form & will always be recruiting somewhere.

Although I enjoy working in the CS and personally wouldn't leave at the mo, given your overall position and on balance, I think @GreatGatsby212's last couple of lines are probably good advice.

Only people I know working for CS are working for CSA or whatever its called now.

personally in this day and age, better the devils you know especially when you need the £

Imat work today and have been thinking more about your post!

I think a lot of the time in the Cs, your experience really does depend on your team. I'm encouraged to develop and my manager sends me EOIs which they think I might want to go for (I'm really good at my role, they are not trying to pass me off elsewhere, honest! ) I've worked for a team where development was less focused on. Luckily, none of the teams I have worked for would have ever put up with someone lying down to take a teams call, that's just disrespectful. I would raise it in the meeting by asking if he is feeling ill and needs to log off or just with a cheery "lying down on the job again are we, Dave?"

It does sound though like you are ready for a move. And if it doesn't work out you can always apply for cs jobs again. As you have been through the fast stream you have an advantage as you know what they are looking for in the behaviours and interviews.

On a quick read of your post, take the KPMG job! For the following reasons:

Respected big 4
You'll get better training
Exposure to bigger projects (as you say, lots of it outsourced where you are)
Great on your cv and for your career
You're young enough to make a change now, do it much later and you'll end up a career civil servant
Nothing wrong with that if that's what you want but it doesn't sound like it is

I don't see what you've got to lose. Except they will expect their pound of flesh, it's not as laid back as the civil service and you'll need to work harder but nothing wrong with that.

Hi.

I went from CS to the Big Four and now sit in public sector consultancy. I’m currently looking for new jobs, including in the civil service, although external opportunities are very limited and sifts very hard to get past from the outside.

Pros I have found - there is a far, far more proactive culture which I found fabulous after years of getting hugely frustrated by mediocre performance, low morale and poor management. The expectation is that you are doing your best at all times and poor performance stands out. People are keen as anything to get constant promotion so there’s always an incentive to show how good you are.

The work can be interesting although, certainly in the Big Four, the bread and butter work in public sector consultancy is now IT implementation and service delivery so that’s the sort of thing you’d expect to be working in. The private sector work is more varied but still very much in that space, so if that’s what floats your boat, you’ll be in a good place.

Leave is better than it looks once you’re at a level where you can buy additional leave. I currently have 36 days a year. My company is quite supportive of part time working too.

Cons - consultancy has been struggling in recent years and I think AI is going to hit it hard. We’ve gone through successive years of redundancy, which was not usual before now. It doesn’t feel secure.

Ultimately, whatever is said about wellbeing/development/job satisfaction the bottom line is profit. I lost my bonus this year because my utilisation was too low and that also leaves me vulnerable to redundancy if it swings back round to my area. My utilisation was partly affected by a period of stress-related sick leave and in the CS this wouldn’t be counted against me. Here it is. Promotions have also been limited so progression is extremely competitive.

The thin veneer of partner profit not being the driver has been ripped away and a lot of my colleagues are looking elsewhere as the corporate culture is currently not good. That includes people with long consultancy careers.

You need to be clear what sort of training and onboarding KPMG offer. It’s too often the the case that you start and are expected to know how to be a consultant just out of thin air, and then you’re told you need ‘developing’ without any actual training or development being provided. Training budgets are being eroded and online self service is increasingly the only option.

No flexi or compressed hours - you work as many hours are needed. And the maternity offer won’t touch the public sector.

Most of my work is remote so for me I feel an acute lack of human company, as do many of my regionally based colleagues. If you’re close to an office you’re expected to go in regularly but if not you are hybrid.

I won’t say don’t do it full stop. The pros and cons will weigh differently for everyone.