Leaving private sector choppy waters for Civil Service?

Something else to contemplate , the Irish Times is reporting that the salary cuts for entrants to the Public Service post 2012 are set to be reversed.
Hopefully you will see a salary increase
 
If IT and the CS ain't for me then I might have to follow the dream. Love working with kids
Working as a teacher might not all be what it's cracked up to be BUT don't give up on the dream.

As you are in IT, have a look at the "coderdojo" program that is being run across Ireland, you could start one up or help out at one. There are also a lot of other programs you can get involved in that helps kids at primary / secondary school level, "STEPS" is the name of another one and I'm sure there are loads more. I used to do a program called Junior Achievement - found it fantastic, did it for a number of years in many different primary schools. Not too sure if that is run still, or if it's developed into something else now.

Just to say "Junior Achievement" is still being run.
 
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Yea when I was in a previous job there was a request for staff to participate in Junior Achievement. I was the only one in IT to have any interest and jumped at it. Did it for a few years in a row. Loved it. That's 10 years ago now but it wasn't until the last few years that the notion to go back and actually become a teacher started getting stronger but I tried ignoring it because of my circumstances, young family etc. Part of the problem I suppose was that I would have to leave my (old) job to go on the teaching practice part of the course. There might be a door open for me now in the CS to take unpaid leave or a career break and have a go at this. If I failed at least I'd have a decent job to go back to. I know teaching is no bed of roses either and jobs aren't plentiful at the moment. That said apparently male NS teachers (allied to a sporting and IT background) are getting very rare and that might give me an advantage. I was told before my a teaching friend it would but it would but I'm getting ahead of myself there a bit.

God I'm a restless soul but better to light a candle than curse the dark.
 
A career break will not be an option for you for a while unfortunately. First of all you will have your probation to complete. Then as a new Civil Servant you will only be able to take a career break equal in duration to your length of service e.g. two years' service will enable a two year career break. This stops people joining and one day later taking a five-year career break!!!

Unpaid leave will also be tricky if you are only in a place a wet week...
 
Probably an over-reaction my last post. Have settled into the CS since a bit better and going to give it a right go. Was just a bit down and panicked a few weeks in as felt I had made a mistake but my mindset has changed thankfully
 
Probably an over-reaction my last post. Have settled into the CS since a bit better and going to give it a right go. Was just a bit down and panicked a few weeks in as felt I had made a mistake but my mindset has changed thankfully
Institutionalised already, eh?
 
Some here might remember that some time ago I pointed out some of the possible pitfalls of joining the Public Sector. Changing jobs is hardly ever an easy process unless you had been previously looking at immediate redundancy blankly in the face. It is only normal that SCurry would face some hurdles on his journey.

SCurry appears to be quite an achiever and I am sure he will be a good addition to his Department. He brings some experience and business know-how to his new job. Will he be allowed to use all his hard earned skills though? Probably not, but he didn't come to the table empty-handed and I have no doubt he will make his new job his own.

On another level, he appears to have his priorities right with family commitments, location, job security etc. Will he become institutionalised? Probably, but this does not have to be a bad thing.

I'm glad SCurry made the move and it is working for him. Perhaps he can keep us informed of some of his experiences since the move? It would go a long way to assembling or disassembling the pertained reality of working in the Public Service.