Leaving private sector choppy waters for Civil Service?

Thanks Tommygirl all opinions welcomed. I think that appears to be a commonly flagged downsize you have to be aware of, you could become stagnant etc. I suppose not something I'll really know unless I am in there for a while and see the lie of the land.

I agree Leo I am (I should be paid 40k, Id consider that fair in the west for what I do) but the only offers I have had for better jobs over the years have been in Galway and Dublin and those aren't reachable for me unless I stay away from home during the week which would evaporate any salary gains. There are lots of advantages living along the Wild Atlantic Way but a glut of well paid IT jobs there ain't. Friends of mine in IT have left Dublin to move home or close to it and taken big cuts in salary but is a lifestyle choice. Hence the lure of the CS, same pay on both coasts with much lower cost of living on the coast I'm on.

Are the graduates you refer to Dublin based?

Anyway, I have to wait and see first if the concrete offer comes through from the CS. At the moment I only have an indication from chapter house of the likely department destination, nothing concrete.
 
SCurry said:
Are the graduates you refer to Dublin based?
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Dublin and Galway. If you could do the working away from home for a while, more and more of the bigger IT companies are becoming more flexible where they will accommodate staff working from home once they've proven themselves, perhaps only working in the office 1 or 2 days a week.
 
A clerical officer with some experience- but not a lot of responsibility - can earn 38000 euro in cs! Well paid to answer the phone...
 
Jumpstartdublin said:
A clerical officer with some experience- but not a lot of responsibility - can earn 38000 euro in cs! Well paid to answer the phone...
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Jumpstartdublin, Long before you joined the forum we had civil service bashing here which abated occasionally. Your post is naive and well you know it. Cop On!
You are a better poster than this.

Love
Lep
 
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Sorry Lep wasn't looking to state anything exceptional- except a basic fact. 38000 in cs is good money, compared to what the original poster is getting in private. Nothing more than a fact. Apologies if anyone feels offended.
 
It is of course a fact that top of the scale for a Clerical Officer is approx 38k , starting at 23/24 k what I didn't realise was that all such employees sole function was to answer phones - you learn something every day !;)
 
It isn't.

COs do a wide variety of stuff - processing applications, a lot of front-facing roles (the people behind the counter in social welfare offices would mainly be COs, admin, accounts, HR etc. I don't know of any who 'just answer the phone' ....
 
Jumpstartdublin said:
Sorry Lep wasn't looking to state anything exceptional- except a basic fact. 38000 in cs is good money, compared to what the original poster is getting in private. Nothing more than a fact. Apologies if anyone feels offended.
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Just to add a little:- A guy who becomes a Medical Consultant can do his Leaving Cert final two years in secondary school, go through his years in Medical School 3rd Level, serve as a hospital doctor (NCHD), become a hospital consultant in less than half the time a clerical officer attains a salary of €38,000. This is a fact.

Jumpstartindublin's post:-"A clerical officer with some experience- but not a lot of responsibility - can earn 38000 euro in cs! Well paid to answer the phone..." Irrespective of what you said this is not a basic fact. That post would be at home in forums like People's Republic of Cork, even Boards.ie or on radio shows like that shock jock guy on local FM radio in Cork who alegedly entertained himself on an Aer Lingus flight from London some time ago.

A quip on my calendar last year advised:- Never taint an apology with a reason. Good advice as most of us Oldies, but Goldies know only too well.
 
Leo said:
Dublin and Galway. If you could do the working away from home for a while, more and more of the bigger IT companies are becoming more flexible where they will accommodate staff working from home once they've proven themselves, perhaps only working in the office 1 or 2 days a week.
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Yeah I have been down this route to a point, got an offer in Galway last year, starting at 38k. Would involve 3.5 hours in a car round trip with Galway traffic factored in. There was to be 6/9 months kind of probation in the office full-time and then there was the possibility (but no guarantees) of 2/3 days from home. I thought long and hard about it but couldn't do it in the end. Also Mrs SCurry was against it. I turned down 3 jobs in the last year in my general location as none of them were offering anything much better and sometimes nothing better. If I was within 1 hour of Galway or Dublin I would be thinking totally differently about this but I'm not.

I'll be honest I am questioning my ambition at times kind of settling for the possibility of the EO role in CS and taking a pay-cut, leaving my IT knowledge behind to a point but its the longer, bigger picture I am thinking of. For someone who did pretty well in school (450pts), an hons degree plus extra certs over the years I know my career hasn't work out like it should have but I have many blessings in life much more important than money or career so I shake off those thoughts when they creep in.

I'll post again if/when I get an offer from the CS and let you all now what I decide! Great replies and feedback all :)
 
Obviously some internal spat underway. I would prefer not to engage. I expect the poster would like helpful advice
 
Deiseblue said:
Which we all endeavoured to do before your ill judged comment about being paid 38k to answer phones prompted contrary replies.
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Unsure what issue is - statement is one of fact. Appropriate to compare the original poster's salary for IT role compared with the cs clerical role End of- no further required
 
Jumpstartdublin said:
Unsure what issue is - statement is one of fact. Appropriate to compare the original poster's salary for IT role compared with the cs clerical role End of- no further required
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You should be comparing the average wage for someone with ten years experience in IT, not someone who is earning significantly less than that average if you are trying to make a salary for salary comparison.
 
No , the facts are that the starting salary is 24k rising to the top of the scale figure of 38k & of course it is is a total misrepresentation to state that all such employees are " well paid to answer the phone " - as if that was their only function !
 
Well fortunately I speak from reality - staff who answer phones in cs for 38000- I know them personally.

No comparison with the work of an IT professional- except to state that the original poster was underpaid in current role.
 
The issue is that your claims are neither fair nor accurate. You seem to be suggesting that about 13,000 clerical staff in the civil service get paid 38k annually just for answering phones. The truth is that the absolute max is 35k (with the average being considerably lower) and that the work is varied across 15 Departments and consists of a lot more than answering phones.
 
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