Government and Public Sector work
Government and Public Sector work
Government employee, Civil service, public sector worker
There are different terms used to refer to jobs within government, depending on the type of role and area of government in question. Government employee (state or federal), civil servant, public sector worker (sometimes referred to as public service worker), are some of the terms most often used to refer to the different jobs within the greater sphere of the overall government apparatus. It can sometimes be difficult to properly categorise all of the different roles and functions available when we consider government work, especially as governments operate in different ways in different parts of the world. While the above terms are somewhat interchangeable, and the scale and types of roles within these categories can sometimes be interchangeable too, the sought after traits recruiters often look for, and advantages derived from many lines of work themselves, all tend to be very similar, and we will examine these below
Typically, roles within the government consist of two types of categories, the first is public sector work – Public sector workers are involved in areas like public transport, law enforcement, and healthcare. While public sector work can be easier to define, there can still a lot be ambiguity here because not all workers in the public sector work for the government, being employed instead by private corporations
The second category concerns roles working directly for the government itself via a specific agency or department. This can either be at the local, regional, or national level – What can sometimes make it difficult to categorize these sorts of roles is that the departments and job remits themselves will vary depending on the country in question.
For example, you would be defined as working for the government in the United States if you worked in any of the following departments
United States Department of the Interior
United States Department of Commerce
United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Labor
United States Department of State
United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
Small Business Administration
U.S. Agency for Global Media
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Defence Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Federal Trade Commission
United States Department of the Treasury
Department of Energy
National Credit Union Administration
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Election Commission
Library of Congress
NASA
Office of the United States Trade Representative
United States Department of Education
However, some of these departments and job types won’t exist in other countries, and will instead be replaced with other types of government branches, sometimes making it difficult to properly categorise all of the different roles and functions that exist when considering government work
There are many advantages that people often associate with government roles, and with work within the public sector in general. For instance, although government and public sector salaries typically tend to be lower than similar or identical roles where performed corporate in the world, many people are still nevertheless drawn to roles in government and to the wider public sector for many reasons. This may not only be because such roles tend to be more widely known to people, but because a significant number of these roles, especially at the entry level, can be easier to get into than similar roles in the corporate sector too. In the surveys that have been performed, it has been found that people tend to stay in their jobs longer, being up to 17% more likely to make a career in government and public sector roles than those in the private sector are. There are a couple of reasons that are usually postulated for this. Some government and public sector jobs have more structured career paths, and this equates into more certain and straightforward routes toward advancement within those organisations, which can be the first reason why people choose to stay around longer as they have more certainty about the path which their careers will take. A second, interrelated reason, is the fact that people who work in government and public sector roles typically have much better job security. As government organisations aren’t reliant on profits in the same way that those in the corporate sector are, it’s much less likely for job cuts and downsizing to occur, and that results in people staying in their jobs longer. This same type of stability can not only lead to greater job satisfaction, but can also result in a more satisfying work life balance for the people in those roles too
What are the best things to have when going for government jobs?
Jobs in government can vary on their requirements based on the role in question. While what is sought after will vary considerably over the various spectrum of government branches depending on the role and area of government in question, some of the most common things sought after include the following:
• GED/ Solid A level qualifications for entry level roles
• Degrees or higher learning qualifications for higher level or specialised roles
• A strong background of extra curricula activities for many entry level roles
• A strong background of work history (particularly working for the same or an inter-related government departments) for higher level or specialised roles
• Prior service in different or similar branches of government
• No debt problems
• Competencies or traits that underscore a strong emphasis on the following areas…Accountability & Dependability, Communicative Abilities, Compliance, External Awareness, Fiscal Accountability, Future Planning, Integrity and Ethical Standards, Leadership Ability, Oratory Skill, Organization and Planning, People Management, Policymaking, Project Management, Public Speaking, Resourcefulness, Teamwork, Trustworthiness…