I’m a senior civil servant thinking about a career change. I find the work interesting but my role, and I think a lot of scs roles, focus quite a bit on managing people, providing overall direction and leadership, and corporate initiatives more than doing naturally, and I’m finding the people management heavy focus of the role quite draining. Along with the constant criticism of the civil service from press and occasionally ministers, I’m starting to feel a bit cynical. There are lots of positives - the work is interesting and does make a difference (although I do feel you are a cog in a large machine so sometimes the direct impact doesn’t feel so evident). I’m conscious that the civil service is vast so I could apply for different types of roles, and the job security and pension are relatively good. However I’ve a redundancy offer where I could take some time off work and I’m wondering whether that’s a good idea since I was thinking of leaving anyway, and have young children so would give flexibility to be with them while little and while a pension is nice I don’t want to be miserable during my working years. But I don’t really know where to go next or how easy securing a job would be if I left as I’ve been in the public sector for some time. In an ideal world I’d try something different where I was ‘doing’ more than overseeing others, perhaps even retraining jn a professional qualification, but I suspect that would come with a pay cut. I’d love to hear from others who’ve made the jump, and what you moved into, plus any tips and advice on the risk of leaving in this job market.