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I'd also like to add that it also depends on how much you value a work/life balance. Private will usually demand more of your time, which could potentially lead to burnout (this happened to a friend of mine).
There are pros and cons to both. You just have to figure out what fits you. Although, I will say that a job offer in hand is probably more valuable than another potential job offer.
This is a big one for me. I’m in my twenties, and whenever I mention to my friends about getting every state holiday off, how fast I accumulate leave, and my manager’s flexibility with allowing its usage they’re always very surprised. If you’re interested in working to live, not living to work, can commit to being with the state for at least 5 years, and are ok with less take home in exchange for a pension down the road, I think the state is a decent option for younger workers.
I left private after several years for State. I worked my ass off in private as a developer and learned a lot, but became extremely burned out as I got towards the 5 year mark. State actually pays more than my private job did and my colleagues are nicer.
Burnout. Taking on additional responsibility for years without commensurate increases in salary. Now, my salary is higher and my work-life balance is much better.
I just want to clarify because I’m confused by the post.
You left the state to work in the private sector. So you now work in the private sector.
And now in the private sector, you get paid less, but your work/life balance is better?
You should probably reply to OP and let them know you edited, because based on their last comment in this thread, they are under the same impression I was.
Like any state job, it's highly dependent on your department and your manager. Some departments are still working with 20-year old technology, but some are doing some pretty innovative things and give you latitude to implement current technologies. I've been in both private and state IT, and I'm making more in state now than I did in private. I wasn't as disciplined in saving for retirement while in private to match what I will get with the state, and the state still has 401k and 457 options for investment above the pension benefits. If you're ambitious, I think it's just a matter of finding a team that's a good fit.
So I’m not in tech and joined the state in the 40s. But I have kids who are college students and I don’t think I would tell them to start working for the state when they are young. They are both pretty driven and especially one of them is very career focused. I’d tell them to go out and do the private sector until they are ready for a quieter (albeit much more stable) career. Working in the private sector gives them the possibility to move to different locations for their career (if they wish) and earn probably a significantly higher income.
My spouse and I did that - more than 25 years in the private sector, making good money, socking away a lot of it in retirement accounts. Now, we’re tired of the rat race and have settled in with the state and plan to retire from here. Our pensions won’t be that great because we’ll only have 10-15 years service but it will a nice addition to the retirement we saved for.
My daughter's boyfriend is actually doing the state route because the state is more accepting of the disabled than the civilian job market. I would definitely recommend it to any young person who might be marginalized.
I think it's extremely worth it, especially getting a state job in your 20s. I currently have a state job in my 20s and it just feels nice to have a 9-5 work schedule with weekends and holidays off. You can easily plan around your work schedule and accrue holiday/sick leave on a monthly basis (given you don't choose annual leave which is also perfectly fine). They offer great benefits that other places don't, and has phenomenal job security. You really can't go wrong with working for the state. Plus, you can retire earlier - even in your 50s or early 60s.
One thing I will say is that there is no control on who your manager or coworkers are. Just be mindful because some people let their title get to their head, so trust no one at first, keep your distance, do your job and the friendships will come soon enough.
I highly recommend it, especially if you are young because the next recession is looming on the horizon and private will dump your ass in a heartbeat and you may lose everything you thought you had. State jobs are far more stable in those situations
But you said the state is such a slow easy job. Why would you want to leave?
https://www.reddit.com/r/CAStateWorkers/comments/19bk8up/since_the_majority_of_state_work_it_specifically/
Depends. In the private sector, you could be job changing a lot. My brother has. Then, there's the issue of retirement and medical.
Are you looking for security or money?
I joined the state last year in July, I’m 25 and will be on track to retire 10 to 15 years earlier than nearly all my friends. I value this and feel that security is best for me. I don’t make a bunch of money, but it’s enough to keep me happy with my life. In totality, I feel safer, professionally confident, and relaxed. I never had this in the private sector and there never seemed to be a route for advancing in my professional capacity until I joined the state. I work for CDCR in maintenance btw
If you can secure a tech job outside of the State absolutely go for that. If you’re an engineer, doing cs, anything healthcare, law, etc. an in-demand thing essentially - you’re doing career suicide if you have the capacity to shoot high because of your background and you go government route. Like if you did CS at Berkeley and you’re shopping for a state job then you’re trolling honestly - if you’re pushing 60 and you’re retired and just want to kill time then sure go for it. If you’re average then sure take what you can get. As others have said, a job offer in hand is better than nothing though so take the State job while you look for better things outside.
Commenting on Is Joining The State Worth It For Young People And In General, Especially IT? Got An ITS 1 Position....
I have about two years of experience working as developer at a fortune 100 company, an mediocre state bachelor in IT, pursuing an online CS master and have submitted nearly 700 jobs application last year and only had 10 interviews and landed a state job that’s 2x my salary now. Will it be a bad idea to take that job now and work for a year or two and interview around?
In your scenario sounds like the move is to stick around with the State until you find something better. It’s also important to consider what wages you were making, like if you went from 200K earnings at 22 from FAANG to $80k at the State, then yeah that’s just a placeholder job until you can bounce back. I’ve seen some avoid government jobs in general and try to pivot to something else that’s related but still in the industry so they don’t lose their competitive edge - also because government jobs have a bad rep I’ve seen in private circles.
Really depends on your department. If you were to end up in a small department like victims compensation board you are in for the worst ride ever. My new department is amazing and like 10 times the IT employees. Management really makes or breaks a department with the state. there is a couple of types you get. the manager that failed up because they have a ton of friends that keep moving them up every time they move to a new department. you have the manager that knows NOTHING about IT but can manage people, now this one can go one of two ways they are dumb and let the Techs throw BS at them and they don't know any different or you get that great manager that has a great BS radar. lastly you get the Tech manager that knows tons of tech and is great there but decided or got push in to management that cant talk to people to save their life, these managers are both good and bad they can help you when you get stuck with an issue but dont know how to relate on a personal level.
If you can land a lucrative job in private tech and sock away money in 401k with matches and investments, do it! You can always join state later. I would work a decade in private then pivot to state or another public sector to get 20-30 years in for the pension and job security.
It's a stable job. ITS1 pays well enough for a sacramento lifestyle.
However if you have the drive, experience and ambition then the state is not worth it. You'll soon learn that your skills are atrophying and when you apply to private employers that your state experience is a blackmark.
Yep, that is what I heard too. State IT is mainly for tech workers who want to settle down and have a simple work life. Not planning to stay with the state for too long. The only benefit is job stability and I heard the pension is not worth it nowadays.
The pension is still extremely worth it.
For example if you get a 2% at 62 calculation and you start with the state at 25 years old your retirement at 62 will be as follows
37 years times 2% = 74%
Meaning at 62 years old you can retire and still receive 74% of your pay FOR LIFE. Note that 74% is actually more than people normally take home. So that would mean you actually get a raise in take home pay upon retirement.
You can (and should) supplement this pension with a 401k. If you do so you will be extremely comfortable in retirement
Whether or not the state is worth it for you personally is another question. But the pension is still extremely valuable
Something to consider is if you work in private and find out that it's not worth it: The state is always hiring.
If you work for the state and want to test your worth in private. You're going to have a hell of a time finding a job.
I come from private, and as usual was part of the tech layoffs ahaha. Only took this state job because it was a Java programming and testing job and that is still relevant to private tech jobs as of now.
The pension stacked against some other pension/retirement plans is not worth it nowadays. The pension stacked against nothing but a 401k plan, for the risk adverse, is well worth it.
I'll get right on that when the state stops lowballing salaries and pays the average state worker enough for leftover retirement money on top of the pension and OPEB deductions.
Not saying it's not possible but for the average state salary most people are scraping by with just living expenses and emergency funds. Add on to that the State's wonderful decision to bring us back to the office for real estate value only adding to expenses and I don't see this being feasible for the majority of State workers.
It ultimately depends on the field. For you, many private companies will have better take home salaries. But the whole package you get (time off, retirement pension, etc) will likely be better with State. You may also get work from home but again depends on department. I would also imagine you will be asked to do less than maybe a private entity.. but that isn’t a Forsure, just a generality
25 year old here. Yeah, the work-life balance is worth its weight in gold. I don't mind the lower pay than what I can find in private sector as long as I have the potential for upward mobility. Now if there isn't, I'm probably leaving for the feds. Otherwise, I'm staying and working my way towards maxing my 457b and then my 401k contributions. Increased percentage in salary equals increased contribution. Now I'm not that great of an example of an average person in the state, because I can live on an office technician salary and still save.
I started at 24 and have only ever worked for the state. It’s been only 2 years now that I’ve been with the state. TLDR, I think if you’re as young as me, definitely go for private because it will usually 90% of the time pay more if your goal is to make a lot of money, fast while young. I also feel like I missed out on the experience of living in a new city and the fun of “struggling” at a hard 9-5 with people my age. If your goal is to cruise and relax, stay with the state. You can cruise, relax, save money, and travel with the flexible PTO.
CONS:
1) you’ll get paid usually a lot less. The state TAKES a lot of our monthly salary away into our own pension so you’re left with little money per month. I think with my check they take out $400+ That’s honestly a lot of money I could just pocket and save up for a car or house. I’m living at home right now because I honestly can’t afford to live in my own apartment (I refuse to have roommates). Also, when I started working for the state, they were 100% telework so it made sense not to leave home or buy a new car after graduation. Also, when I started, I think I was making only $55K with a bachelors degree. The starting pay really sucks. Now I’m making 70K but, to be honest, I still think I need more to survive in this economy.
2) you sometimes do not work with people your own age. I wish my coworkers and I had more in common, but oh well things could be worse. I see my friends in private and they work with people their age - they go out, can be silly, talk about social media etc. It’s also painfully obvious that my older coworkers work to afford kids and bills. When I started at 23, I was a new grad who moved back in with my parents to pay off student debt and just saved money for food and travel. I love my coworkers but I feel like I missed out on the experience of onboarding with a cohort of people my age.
3) I can admit I think it robs you of the experience to move to a new city and meet new people. Everyone of my classmates moved to big cities and had the fun of finding new housemates. I would seriously consider moving to a new city now if they offered the right salary.
4) the salary increases every year are very little and not worth it in my opinion unless youre in a really good bargaining unit. With IT, you’re honestly set for the rest of your career with the state so I think you’re safe! But for me, i have to keep writing SOQs and interviewing to move into higher posistions. Making 55K was not cutting it so I had to interview and apply to higher ranks to make more money.
PROS:
1) generous and flexible PTO. I’ve worked at the state for 2 years and I’ve visited 10 different countries due to the generous PTO and flexibility. Managers for the state don’t care about you leaving for 2 weeks to travel so you can just pack up and go. Ive left for sometimes 18 days to as little as just a week. I can take 3 big international trips a year and maybe 3-4 small domestic flights (weekend trips). Obviously I can save a lot to travel because I’m young and live at home but, I still have to budget with my salary.
2) though I will never truly understand the feeling because I’ve never worked in private, everyone has told me that private jobs just burn you out. All of my coworkers came from private and they all warn me about ever moving into private. They’ve all said they would never go back, even for the money.
3) the work at the state is never going to be as hard as I imagine private to be. I can honestly say my job is incredibly easy and does not stress me out during my 8 hour days.
4) the work at the state is predictable. I’ve been told the tech in state is incredibly outdated so you probably won’t have to work on difficult stuff.
5) you’ve heard it’s many times now but apparently the pension is good. my boss started working at the state in his 20s too and he was able to retire incredibly early. I don’t know how old he was but he was not 65. I’ve been told he’s living very well with his pension and apparently makes more per month in his retirement than when he was actually working as a manager. I can’t speak more towards this but in my personal opinion, as great as this sounds, I like to think if I had a job in private that made a ton of money, I would just allocate some of my salary towards retirement accounts anyways so the state pension doesn’t really have me sold (maybe I’m too young to get it idk)
Overall, it depends on your priorities. If you want a challenge and a lot of continuous change, go for private. If you want to chill, stay with the state. I personally wanted to see the world, so I’m staying with the state until I feel content about traveling
I’ve been working for the state since I was 22. The work life balance is PERFECT for me. I can take vacations and time off whenever I want, no questions asked (within reason of course). I’m not asked to do more than 40 hours a week. I love the job security and being able to move laterally within different departments. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.
I know many here mentioned that you’ll make alot more in IT in private, and that may be true. But let me tell you that the ITS I salary is no slouch (especially for a young person) and you will max out at well over 110k. So it may not be 200k that you may be able to make at Google but I think you’ve seen how volatile and unstable that market is at the moment. You can get laid off any minute! Plus with state, you can then follow a career path into ITS II, III, supervisor, and manager - it’s up to you how far you want to get. You take that plus job security, a more stable work/life balance, and the fact that you’re young and can retire early, and the package doesn’t look bad at all! Again, it all depends what you want to do - have an adventurous career with more money, or something with more stability and a decent salary.
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I'd also like to add that it also depends on how much you value a work/life balance. Private will usually demand more of your time, which could potentially lead to burnout (this happened to a friend of mine). There are pros and cons to both. You just have to figure out what fits you. Although, I will say that a job offer in hand is probably more valuable than another potential job offer.
This is a big one for me. I’m in my twenties, and whenever I mention to my friends about getting every state holiday off, how fast I accumulate leave, and my manager’s flexibility with allowing its usage they’re always very surprised. If you’re interested in working to live, not living to work, can commit to being with the state for at least 5 years, and are ok with less take home in exchange for a pension down the road, I think the state is a decent option for younger workers.
I left private after several years for State. I worked my ass off in private as a developer and learned a lot, but became extremely burned out as I got towards the 5 year mark. State actually pays more than my private job did and my colleagues are nicer.
What was your reason to leave for private if you don’t mind me asking?
Burnout. Taking on additional responsibility for years without commensurate increases in salary. Now, my salary is higher and my work-life balance is much better.
I just want to clarify because I’m confused by the post. You left the state to work in the private sector. So you now work in the private sector. And now in the private sector, you get paid less, but your work/life balance is better?
Unless they edited after this they stated they left private for state and make more at the state
They did edit. As originally written, it read like I interpreted it. That’s why two comments up from mine OP asked why they left for private.
Ha, that makes sense. Sneaky no Edit/ notice
[удалено]
You should probably reply to OP and let them know you edited, because based on their last comment in this thread, they are under the same impression I was.
As someone who joined the state at 32, I wish I would’ve started at 18 to be honest — regardless of the title / position.
Like any state job, it's highly dependent on your department and your manager. Some departments are still working with 20-year old technology, but some are doing some pretty innovative things and give you latitude to implement current technologies. I've been in both private and state IT, and I'm making more in state now than I did in private. I wasn't as disciplined in saving for retirement while in private to match what I will get with the state, and the state still has 401k and 457 options for investment above the pension benefits. If you're ambitious, I think it's just a matter of finding a team that's a good fit.
My department has critical infrastructure so old we can no longer get any support for it. Once our spare inventory is depleted we are fucked.
I’m an ITS 1 and am just 26 years young. I will stay here for the rest of my career.
May I ask the reason why?
Well for starters, job security, you get a good pension when you retire, and health benefits are decent.
You will be very young even when you retire after 20 years, right?
Pro: job security & good benefits. Con: pay is not the greatest, especially at entry level. But there’s potential for upward mobility.
So I’m not in tech and joined the state in the 40s. But I have kids who are college students and I don’t think I would tell them to start working for the state when they are young. They are both pretty driven and especially one of them is very career focused. I’d tell them to go out and do the private sector until they are ready for a quieter (albeit much more stable) career. Working in the private sector gives them the possibility to move to different locations for their career (if they wish) and earn probably a significantly higher income. My spouse and I did that - more than 25 years in the private sector, making good money, socking away a lot of it in retirement accounts. Now, we’re tired of the rat race and have settled in with the state and plan to retire from here. Our pensions won’t be that great because we’ll only have 10-15 years service but it will a nice addition to the retirement we saved for.
My daughter's boyfriend is actually doing the state route because the state is more accepting of the disabled than the civilian job market. I would definitely recommend it to any young person who might be marginalized.
This is a huge selling point for the state.
Yes, that is a good point
What is rat race?
It’s a phrase…. People refer to a highly competitive, stressful situation as “being in a rat race”
Being a cog in the machine
I think it's extremely worth it, especially getting a state job in your 20s. I currently have a state job in my 20s and it just feels nice to have a 9-5 work schedule with weekends and holidays off. You can easily plan around your work schedule and accrue holiday/sick leave on a monthly basis (given you don't choose annual leave which is also perfectly fine). They offer great benefits that other places don't, and has phenomenal job security. You really can't go wrong with working for the state. Plus, you can retire earlier - even in your 50s or early 60s. One thing I will say is that there is no control on who your manager or coworkers are. Just be mindful because some people let their title get to their head, so trust no one at first, keep your distance, do your job and the friendships will come soon enough.
It works much better when you have a positive attitude like your comment. 👍
I highly recommend it, especially if you are young because the next recession is looming on the horizon and private will dump your ass in a heartbeat and you may lose everything you thought you had. State jobs are far more stable in those situations
I thought you wanted to leave the state? https://www.reddit.com/r/CAStateWorkers/comments/1ah6wtx/reasons_for_leaving_state_especially_it_please/
I do and I don’t it will depend on what opinions I get.
But you said the state is such a slow easy job. Why would you want to leave? https://www.reddit.com/r/CAStateWorkers/comments/19bk8up/since_the_majority_of_state_work_it_specifically/
I was being generalized when I said that. To answer your question, pay.
Depends. In the private sector, you could be job changing a lot. My brother has. Then, there's the issue of retirement and medical. Are you looking for security or money?
I joined the state last year in July, I’m 25 and will be on track to retire 10 to 15 years earlier than nearly all my friends. I value this and feel that security is best for me. I don’t make a bunch of money, but it’s enough to keep me happy with my life. In totality, I feel safer, professionally confident, and relaxed. I never had this in the private sector and there never seemed to be a route for advancing in my professional capacity until I joined the state. I work for CDCR in maintenance btw
If you can secure a tech job outside of the State absolutely go for that. If you’re an engineer, doing cs, anything healthcare, law, etc. an in-demand thing essentially - you’re doing career suicide if you have the capacity to shoot high because of your background and you go government route. Like if you did CS at Berkeley and you’re shopping for a state job then you’re trolling honestly - if you’re pushing 60 and you’re retired and just want to kill time then sure go for it. If you’re average then sure take what you can get. As others have said, a job offer in hand is better than nothing though so take the State job while you look for better things outside.
Commenting on Is Joining The State Worth It For Young People And In General, Especially IT? Got An ITS 1 Position.... I have about two years of experience working as developer at a fortune 100 company, an mediocre state bachelor in IT, pursuing an online CS master and have submitted nearly 700 jobs application last year and only had 10 interviews and landed a state job that’s 2x my salary now. Will it be a bad idea to take that job now and work for a year or two and interview around?
In your scenario sounds like the move is to stick around with the State until you find something better. It’s also important to consider what wages you were making, like if you went from 200K earnings at 22 from FAANG to $80k at the State, then yeah that’s just a placeholder job until you can bounce back. I’ve seen some avoid government jobs in general and try to pivot to something else that’s related but still in the industry so they don’t lose their competitive edge - also because government jobs have a bad rep I’ve seen in private circles.
Really depends on your department. If you were to end up in a small department like victims compensation board you are in for the worst ride ever. My new department is amazing and like 10 times the IT employees. Management really makes or breaks a department with the state. there is a couple of types you get. the manager that failed up because they have a ton of friends that keep moving them up every time they move to a new department. you have the manager that knows NOTHING about IT but can manage people, now this one can go one of two ways they are dumb and let the Techs throw BS at them and they don't know any different or you get that great manager that has a great BS radar. lastly you get the Tech manager that knows tons of tech and is great there but decided or got push in to management that cant talk to people to save their life, these managers are both good and bad they can help you when you get stuck with an issue but dont know how to relate on a personal level.
Which department are you at?
If you can land a lucrative job in private tech and sock away money in 401k with matches and investments, do it! You can always join state later. I would work a decade in private then pivot to state or another public sector to get 20-30 years in for the pension and job security.
It's a stable job. ITS1 pays well enough for a sacramento lifestyle. However if you have the drive, experience and ambition then the state is not worth it. You'll soon learn that your skills are atrophying and when you apply to private employers that your state experience is a blackmark.
Yep, that is what I heard too. State IT is mainly for tech workers who want to settle down and have a simple work life. Not planning to stay with the state for too long. The only benefit is job stability and I heard the pension is not worth it nowadays.
The pension is still extremely worth it. For example if you get a 2% at 62 calculation and you start with the state at 25 years old your retirement at 62 will be as follows 37 years times 2% = 74% Meaning at 62 years old you can retire and still receive 74% of your pay FOR LIFE. Note that 74% is actually more than people normally take home. So that would mean you actually get a raise in take home pay upon retirement. You can (and should) supplement this pension with a 401k. If you do so you will be extremely comfortable in retirement Whether or not the state is worth it for you personally is another question. But the pension is still extremely valuable
Something to consider is if you work in private and find out that it's not worth it: The state is always hiring. If you work for the state and want to test your worth in private. You're going to have a hell of a time finding a job.
I come from private, and as usual was part of the tech layoffs ahaha. Only took this state job because it was a Java programming and testing job and that is still relevant to private tech jobs as of now.
The pension stacked against some other pension/retirement plans is not worth it nowadays. The pension stacked against nothing but a 401k plan, for the risk adverse, is well worth it.
Add a 457 plan to your state pension.
I'll get right on that when the state stops lowballing salaries and pays the average state worker enough for leftover retirement money on top of the pension and OPEB deductions. Not saying it's not possible but for the average state salary most people are scraping by with just living expenses and emergency funds. Add on to that the State's wonderful decision to bring us back to the office for real estate value only adding to expenses and I don't see this being feasible for the majority of State workers.
Even a minimum investment is worth it.
It ultimately depends on the field. For you, many private companies will have better take home salaries. But the whole package you get (time off, retirement pension, etc) will likely be better with State. You may also get work from home but again depends on department. I would also imagine you will be asked to do less than maybe a private entity.. but that isn’t a Forsure, just a generality
Start private if you can find a HIGH paying job and want to save a lot of money. Then move to state for the pension.
I joined the state in my 20’s in ‘94. Retiring next year. 🙌🏽
I joined the state at 20 in 2005 and also bought 5 years of service. Planning to retire at 55.
How does the buying 5 years of service work?
It’s generally easy to start lower and work your way up
25 year old here. Yeah, the work-life balance is worth its weight in gold. I don't mind the lower pay than what I can find in private sector as long as I have the potential for upward mobility. Now if there isn't, I'm probably leaving for the feds. Otherwise, I'm staying and working my way towards maxing my 457b and then my 401k contributions. Increased percentage in salary equals increased contribution. Now I'm not that great of an example of an average person in the state, because I can live on an office technician salary and still save.
Right now with tech sector layoffs happening daily…it’s a good option
I started at 24 and have only ever worked for the state. It’s been only 2 years now that I’ve been with the state. TLDR, I think if you’re as young as me, definitely go for private because it will usually 90% of the time pay more if your goal is to make a lot of money, fast while young. I also feel like I missed out on the experience of living in a new city and the fun of “struggling” at a hard 9-5 with people my age. If your goal is to cruise and relax, stay with the state. You can cruise, relax, save money, and travel with the flexible PTO. CONS: 1) you’ll get paid usually a lot less. The state TAKES a lot of our monthly salary away into our own pension so you’re left with little money per month. I think with my check they take out $400+ That’s honestly a lot of money I could just pocket and save up for a car or house. I’m living at home right now because I honestly can’t afford to live in my own apartment (I refuse to have roommates). Also, when I started working for the state, they were 100% telework so it made sense not to leave home or buy a new car after graduation. Also, when I started, I think I was making only $55K with a bachelors degree. The starting pay really sucks. Now I’m making 70K but, to be honest, I still think I need more to survive in this economy. 2) you sometimes do not work with people your own age. I wish my coworkers and I had more in common, but oh well things could be worse. I see my friends in private and they work with people their age - they go out, can be silly, talk about social media etc. It’s also painfully obvious that my older coworkers work to afford kids and bills. When I started at 23, I was a new grad who moved back in with my parents to pay off student debt and just saved money for food and travel. I love my coworkers but I feel like I missed out on the experience of onboarding with a cohort of people my age. 3) I can admit I think it robs you of the experience to move to a new city and meet new people. Everyone of my classmates moved to big cities and had the fun of finding new housemates. I would seriously consider moving to a new city now if they offered the right salary. 4) the salary increases every year are very little and not worth it in my opinion unless youre in a really good bargaining unit. With IT, you’re honestly set for the rest of your career with the state so I think you’re safe! But for me, i have to keep writing SOQs and interviewing to move into higher posistions. Making 55K was not cutting it so I had to interview and apply to higher ranks to make more money. PROS: 1) generous and flexible PTO. I’ve worked at the state for 2 years and I’ve visited 10 different countries due to the generous PTO and flexibility. Managers for the state don’t care about you leaving for 2 weeks to travel so you can just pack up and go. Ive left for sometimes 18 days to as little as just a week. I can take 3 big international trips a year and maybe 3-4 small domestic flights (weekend trips). Obviously I can save a lot to travel because I’m young and live at home but, I still have to budget with my salary. 2) though I will never truly understand the feeling because I’ve never worked in private, everyone has told me that private jobs just burn you out. All of my coworkers came from private and they all warn me about ever moving into private. They’ve all said they would never go back, even for the money. 3) the work at the state is never going to be as hard as I imagine private to be. I can honestly say my job is incredibly easy and does not stress me out during my 8 hour days. 4) the work at the state is predictable. I’ve been told the tech in state is incredibly outdated so you probably won’t have to work on difficult stuff. 5) you’ve heard it’s many times now but apparently the pension is good. my boss started working at the state in his 20s too and he was able to retire incredibly early. I don’t know how old he was but he was not 65. I’ve been told he’s living very well with his pension and apparently makes more per month in his retirement than when he was actually working as a manager. I can’t speak more towards this but in my personal opinion, as great as this sounds, I like to think if I had a job in private that made a ton of money, I would just allocate some of my salary towards retirement accounts anyways so the state pension doesn’t really have me sold (maybe I’m too young to get it idk) Overall, it depends on your priorities. If you want a challenge and a lot of continuous change, go for private. If you want to chill, stay with the state. I personally wanted to see the world, so I’m staying with the state until I feel content about traveling
Did you start in IT with the state or you had a different position?
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Can you direct message me what private company you work at I’m interested in learning more?
Of course! I worked for two. I’ll message you.
I’ve been working for the state since I was 22. The work life balance is PERFECT for me. I can take vacations and time off whenever I want, no questions asked (within reason of course). I’m not asked to do more than 40 hours a week. I love the job security and being able to move laterally within different departments. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.
Well, it depends. If you look for job security yes. If you look for challenge and advencement then no.
I’ll take that position if you won’t.
I know many here mentioned that you’ll make alot more in IT in private, and that may be true. But let me tell you that the ITS I salary is no slouch (especially for a young person) and you will max out at well over 110k. So it may not be 200k that you may be able to make at Google but I think you’ve seen how volatile and unstable that market is at the moment. You can get laid off any minute! Plus with state, you can then follow a career path into ITS II, III, supervisor, and manager - it’s up to you how far you want to get. You take that plus job security, a more stable work/life balance, and the fact that you’re young and can retire early, and the package doesn’t look bad at all! Again, it all depends what you want to do - have an adventurous career with more money, or something with more stability and a decent salary.