Career Advice 30 yr old public servant

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nicnic

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Looking for career advice

30 year old public servant - Im a clerical officer. I love my job but I dont earn that much approx €31000. Im on a scale and I am nearly on the top of the scale.

I have an honours degree and a pg qualification. I recently had my review and all my feedback was positive.

How do I improve my earnings. I dont want to leave the public sector as the secuirty is great but the competition for the higher grades is huge.

On what I earn now I find it hard to live - let alone plan for the future. On my salary I have no hope of buying a house etc.

Any advice appreciated
 
Become a QS part time course in DIT 1.5 years if you have a degree. Starting salary 45K approx
 

Honours degree and pg qual - what are they specifically? Having a degree/pg means very little if you have been in a clerical job at a junior level. This is not going to get you promoted in the civil service or help you get on the path to a higher earning career path in the private sector.

Presumably if you have been in civil service at a low grade you haven't used the skills gained at college in your job. This makes your cv hard to sell. You can't have your cake and eat it - if you have a cushy number in the civil service you will not earn a lot, but there are upsides such as an easy life and no pressure.

My advice would be to stay where you are and make do. 31k and a good pension in future isn't bad for basically having to turn up every day to a low skill job. If you moved to private sector you could really regret it if the job security you currently enjoy is that important to you.
 
Is your manager any good to you in terms of helping you career paths in the civil service which would be suitable for you? You may like your role now but will you still like it in 3 years time? No harm looking ahead even if you are happy at the moment?
 

Hardly the advice the OP was looking for. He / she is clearly stuck in a rut and looking to get out of it.

Nicnic - fair play to you for admitting to yourself that you need to change something drastically here. There's no reason why someone with your qualifications should be earning that level of salary at your age.

You may need to take a step back to go forward however. Focus on your strengths and what you might have an interest in working at. Then sit down with a senior HR person in your office and look at your options in that field. You may not want to leave the Public Sector, but you may have no choice if you wish to progress.

Sorry I can't be any more specific.
 

In a very similiar position to yourself, have honours degree but stuck in cs at same grade as yourself for last 4 years. Job is fine but feel completely wasted and also frustrated at lack of promotional opportunities. talked to the employee assistance officer about it and afterwards decided to 1. take a career break, 2. do a focused pg course and 3. travel.

Also have an EO interview coming up. If i can get that great as earnings and promotion prospects improve drastically overnight. But getting to that stage is the problem due to bureaucracy, lack of competitions and the format of promotional exams. Its very unfair for someone with your qualifications to be in this position but if you want to progress It may be necessary to take a step backwards and look for any general graduate positions there may be or look at trainee roles in the private sector.

Would suggest a career break, see the EAO or get some career guidance and maybe look into further study if you can hack it again.
But at least you still have a job to go back to if you take the Career break option. In my case I was told not to wait for things to happen as I could be stuck here indefinitely regardless of experience etc.
Theres Some very good things about the public sector but definitely not the place to be if you're in any way enthusiastic or ambitious.
 
Inarut has some good advice about possible career options “1. take a career break, 2. do a focused pg course and 3. travel.” There’s no point staying in a job that you don’t enjoy.

One point I would make is don’t overplay the possession of qualifications. They are not an automatic entitlement to promotion and higher earnings in either the public or private sectors. Performance in the job is a much more important factor in deciding on promotion. Also look at your skill set – do you need to be more confident, communicate better? Are you selling yourself as it is?

If you wish to remain in the civil service then keep applying for all internal / external promotion competitions (EO, AO, Inspector of Taxes etc). How long have you been in your current section? If you are a CO you need to move and gain experience (ideally no more than 3 years in a section at that grade). Seek a transfer to a higher profile work area where you stand a chance of being noticed – if in a Government Department that means Minister / Minister of States’ Office, Secretary General’s Office, Press Office etc.

Not all Government Depts / Agencies offer the same promotional opportunities if you are in small agency, maybe dominated by professional / technical grades, then try and transfer to a Department with more general civil service grades.

Speak to one of your line managers and make it known you want more experience challenging work. If they are doing their job they should be coming to you and trying to develop your career. If you want to advance in your own Department then you need a mentor to push your career along. HR people generally don’t do that.

Inarut I have to disagree with your final comment that the civil service is not for the ambitious or the enthusiastic. My experience working across a variety of Government Departments is that there is enormous variety in the civil service. I joined at a very junior level and was assigned a mind numbingly boring job. I got lucky (and worked hard, studied part time) and moved on quickly and have enjoyed a series of challenging, interesting jobs and worked with some tremendously talented and enthusiastic people (and yes the odd duffer as well J).
 

That's a mean-spirited remark that displays a crass ignorance of the person's job and work situation. The person has said they find it hard to make ends meet and can't afford a house - hardly synonomous with an easy life and no pressure.

I think the OP should be applauded for seeking to do something about the rut he/she seems to be getting into. This is someone doing a good job (as reflected by their reviews). They should be encouraged to do better - not spoken down to by someone with an obviously jaundiced view of the public service.

The OP is still young enough to consider many other options but it might involve a period of soul seqarching to determine what they'd actually like to do. Thanksfully, this is a bit more possible in today's workforce than it was 10 years ago. There are several books that may assist. People often refer to "what colour is my parachute?" as a starting point but I've never reasd it myself.

As another poster has mentioned, your eventual choice may require you take an initial step backwards in pay before progressing. I know this might be tough but keep an open mind.
 
Fintan's point is not necessarily "mean spirited". It reflects the reality of the OP's situation.

The OP has already stated that they do not want to leave public sector due to the security. This attitude at 30 yrs of age would worry me .
It indicates a low tolerance for initiative or ambition. He really does want his cake ( guaranteed pension that no-one in private sector could get, qty of annual hols, sick pay, no possibility of being sacked due to performance, no risk of redundancy, short working week, etc etc).
I think someone like this could well die in the real employment world.

Degrees etc are all fine but you have to actively contribute to a company to earn real money. Is he/she up for this ? The time to be really pushing a career is 22-32 yrs imo.
 
aidan119 said:
The OP has already stated that they do not want to leave public sector due to the security.
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The OP said that they don't want to leave but see huge competition for promotions. I suppose only the OP knows exactly what he/she means but, to me anyway, this seems to illustrate a conflict between continuing with the job they enjoy(and are seemingly good at) and the need to progress, whether inside or outside the public sector.

aidan119 said:
He really does want his cake ( guaranteed pension that no-one in private sector could get, qty of annual hols, sick pay, no possibility of being sacked due to performance, no risk of redundancy, short working week, etc etc).
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To be frank, this seems like someone else with a jaundiced view of the public sector. For example, what makes you think they have a short working week?

aidan119 said:
I think someone like this could well die in the real employment world.
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The information provided gives you absolutely no basis for arriving at this conclusion. There is nothing to suggest that the OP would be any less fit for work in the private sector should he/she choose to do so. To suggest so, on the basis of the information provided, is frankly insulting.
 
Thanks for all the replies

Few things - I worked in the private sector after college and I made the choice to drop salary and take my current job. I made the choice and I am happy with it and would recommend it to anyone. Assuming because I work in the public sector I couldnt handle the private sector and to assume that all public servants dont actually work for a living is, in my opinion, just plain silly.

I work hard and I enjoy my work. It is not mind numbing or boring - I've been very lucky. I've had positive feedback from my boss and I know that I would recieve a positive reference from him. My only worry is my salary which is low and how to improve my earnings. Competition is high for the higher grade positions becasue, in my experience, very qualfied and experienced people are applying for them. Security is a vital aspect for me, maybe for other it isnt but thats life. I am glad I have a secure job in the current economy.

Anyway thanks for the advice. I will look into the suggestions.
 
nicnic said:
Looking for career advice

30 year old public servant - Im a clerical officer. I love my job
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He seems to be a bit frustrated at the lack of promotion opportunties.

My advise would be to sit tight and be patient - you will not get a better pension or terms and conditions. Liking your job is hard to come by.

The max of the CO is €38K so you're a few point of the max. Thats a HSE scale but as far as I know they are similar.
 
Staples said:
That's a mean-spirited remark that displays a crass ignorance of the person's job and work situation. The person has said they find it hard to make ends meet and can't afford a house - hardly synonomous with an easy life and no pressure.
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hey nicnic,
You have the pleasure of receiving my first contribution to this website!! I am a public servant working for the past ten years and have got very nervous recently, realising that I will be doing the this job (which I love) for the rest of my days. I have always had the fantasy of running my own business or turning the family farm into a some sort of eco friendly/ tourist business, but I've realised now that if any of these dreams are to become reality I need to act NOW and investigate all possibilities to the best of my ability. So I am taking a career break this year and going working on agri tourism farms in Britain to get ideas and experience.... making no money but hoping to bring back some concrete ideas, instead of holding on to unrealistic dreams.... but it's not an easy thing to give up your security and your pay for a year....especially if your goals are somewhat undefined. did you ever consider an open university course? I believe some of them are quite good and well recognised.......
good luck anyway with your quest.
 
There are lots of people in the Civil Service who don't want to give up the security of their job. That does not mean they have no initiative or ambition or sit around calculating their pension before leaving the office at four o clock every afternoon. To make assumptions like this about the OP is absolutely ridiculous and very unfair. I'm sure there's people working in your company who are lazy/unambitious etc. You find people like that everywhere, not just in the Civil Servie.
 
fintans said:
Staples, you need to open your mind to other people's perspectives which you may not agree with.
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Doesn't mean I have to accept them. A reasonable "perspective" might be to offer that higher potential earnings might require a greater exposure to risk. What you offered was a crude analysis of his situation - "stay in your job and accept your lot" - sweet.

The tone of your post was dismissive and condescending and your conclusions based on what seems to be a tabloid-level of analysis. The ease with which you introduce terms as "cushy", "no pressure" and "easy life" suggests an existing bias. It suggests a pre-conceived notion of what the OP does and what he, and presumably all public servants, are capable of doing.

As as for sympathy, you're the first to have used the term. What's being sought is constructive advice on how to increase earnings. If you can't respond to this request, then perhaps you shouldn't have responded at all.
 
Hi Nicnic,

Just wonderin if you decided to make any changes regarding your job in the Civil Service. I am in the exact same position as you. I have a finance degree and a Post grad in Finance.. and I am stuck, stuck stuck in a rut rut rut!
I completely blame myself. I have been here for the last 2 years, going with the flow, just out of college. I missed out on promotion recently, and now finally I've woken up am looking for a new job, but it is proving more difficult than I thought. I am hoping for a move to another city, but there are no jobs at the moment.

Maybe in the current climate I should try hang in here and make the best of it. But God the work of a Clerical Officer is quite possibly the most boring in the world! I really think I should just make a run for it.
 
Without getting into the whole "civil servants are wasters; Oh yes they are/ Oh no their not!" debate can I ask why, given that hours are not overly long, some of the hard pressed CO's don't just get an evening job or start their own business in the evening/weekends?
The hours are generally short and the holidays are long so while it would be a strain it still should be do-able.
 
I don't really think an evening job is necessary, I just need to find a better day job!

I can't believe how badly I have let things slide.. being in this job has made me so lazy and don't even get me started on self motivation. I have been here since college so I haven't a clue what a "real job" is like. Rude awakening I hear you say
 
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