moving from private sector to public sector

[tigermoth]

I'll soon be starting work in the public sector as an information officer, temporarily at least.

I am really happy about the job. I want to gain transferable public sector skills and experience, because I want to leave London to live in Devon in a few years time. The job will, I hope, broaden my skills base. I also get flexitime, the money's not bad and, most happily, I can walk to work.

But I am worried. I have not worked in the public sector for 20 years. Is there a huge difference in ethos? will all my colleagues be very PC and left wing? I am used to working in privately run advertising agencies. How will I fit in?

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You'll probably be very shocked at the casual laid back attitude to work, plus the fact that everyone will be going on about how stressed they are!!!

I went back to the Civil Service 4 years ago after 8 years in a bank & suffered the same culture shock. People moaning about stress when there wasn't any (getting worse now though!). Far from being very PC & left wing I think you'll find exactly the opposite, depending where you work (though a spell as an LSA made me feel very awkward, listening to people with "rich" husbands excusing people working while signing on because "they can't manage, poor things"

You'll probably find you have to slow down a little, or you'll make evryone else look bad- if you've been used to a pressurised sales environment. I shocked my manager the first day by asking how I'd know I'd done enough work, being used to being constantly monitored in a Call Centre, then being left to do what I wanted all day.

Good luck in your new job & enjoy the change of pace.

Don't worry- you'll fit in just fine! Ethos, politics and pcness vary from person to person like anywhere else. Seek out the ones you like and avoid the others. Don't count on being able to slow down a la Tallulah, though. Might happen but I'd hazard a guess that this varies from place to place too! Agree with her that the public sector will expect self-motivation and an ability to manage your own work load though and very much doubt this will be a problem for you.

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robin, thanks for speaking to your friend. I wish it was advice I could take. Your friend makes the post sound terribly exciting. I'm not going to be working anywhere as grand as Whitehall, though I like the suggestion to read Yes Minister. I have already seen there is a certain type of 'public sector speak' and I need to become fluent in it, fast.

Anyway, I had drunk three large glasses of wine before I posted my query yesterday, so perhaps did not make myself clear. The public sector job I have is for a local London authority. It is interesting and challenging, but I will not have my own staff (well if I do, it will come as a great shock to me) and I don't think many hospitalty perks will come my way (perhaps the odd can of lager). If the level of intelligence is higher, that's going to be a plus, as long as I can keep up with everyone.

tallula, I am interested to see how the pace of work varies. It's one of the big worries when you start a new job, isn't it? I did not work in sales, but we still had many deadlines and targets - but also quiet months when every computer screen in the studio was used for games or internet surfing. However I have formed the impression from friend's comments that public sector workers do not have a particulary laid back existance.

Are there any information officers here by any chance?

I'm not an information officer per se, but I do know the crew who do that kind of work for the public sector organisation by whom I am ultimately employed. I think you will find, as others have said, a huge variety of political/social viewpoints amongst your new colleagues, and tend to agree with Talullah that some public sector employees (me included these days ) tend to see themselves as stressed in situations that the private sector would view as normal working conditions.
Aspects of working in the public sector annoy me intensely, but the generally caring and people-sensitive ethos means that managers would never try to skew redundancy arrangements to ensure the "right" people got the chop, and even if they tried, they would never get away with it.
I've never worked outright in the private sector (always public/voluntary) but from what I pick up from those that have, it is much more OK in the public sector to have, and to talk about, a life outside work; it is not deemed failure to need counselling/occupational health support at times of great personal crisis; and you can pretty much wear what you like so long as it is clean. All BIG plusses. I think you will have a gas and they will welcome the skills you bring in from the private sector. Good luck! When do you start?

I should start in a week or two - don't want to say exactly when in case my new colleagues are mumsnetters!

Also, marina, glad you and scummmymummy are both saying that I will encounter a variety of viewpoints as well as a variety of work attire.

I have seen some private sector employees who see themselves as permanently stressed, marina. I honestly don't think it's a public sector trait alone (or a trait you have personally).
The difference may be that while stressed public sector employees may seek counselling, the stressed private sector employees I have known will seek the nearest bar.

congratulations!

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Congratulations Tigermoth, I'm sure you will find the job as fun, challenging and frustrating as any other job - but if any of your co-workers are fellow mumsnetters, it will be more fun than frustrating !

Congratulations tigermoth. Just be prepared for regular IT crashes, broken chairs that take weeks to be replaced and all games being removed from your pc. Having worked briefly in the private sector, find the public sector a much more relaxed affair. And yes, we are more intelligent

thanks for the messages and info. I will now feel a little more prepared when meeting my intelligent colleagues with their inadequate seating arrangements. I am sure some aspects of the job will stress me out, so will try remember your comment robin about one's attitude to stress being so important.

Good luck from me too tigermoth.

In a past life I have worked for local government and my husband is currently in a government funded post. Yes to everything said here, the chairs can give you backache, the IT dept has to justify its existence by causing big cock-ups so it can then sort them out, I got told off on my first day in one office for working too fast and in my experience the bureaucracy is just as manipulative as in the private sector, sometimes more so. Having said all that, I mostly enjoyed those jobs, so good luck!