Careers in Public Service - Working in the Public Service sector

I feel there is more value and job satisfaction working in the public sector.
I feel privileged to work with very capable people in a service which sits easily with my personal value base.
I have found that working in the public sector an extremely rewarding career...those individuals who want an interesting and challenging career - will be rewarded with opportunities to develop, and they will also find that their hard work and commitment to bring about positive changes to the social landscape will be far more tangible!
Having worked in all 3 sectors (private, public and voluntary) i can highly recommend the voluntary - no pressure of share holders, more flexibility and understanding that there is more to life than work. although it is precarious due to funding, employment in the voluntary sector is much more satisfying on a personal level and enjoyable for a working life.
The public sector often requires it's employees to multi-task and learn new tasks or responsibilities on the hoof - as they can often not afford to hire new staff - this means someone working in the public sector will develop a wider range of skills than someone in the private sector who only ever needs to specialise in their own field.
It is a challenging environment and at times has stretched my capabilities, but once i have overcome them i have been proud of my achievements, this has also helped build my confidence and self esteem.
I have been in the public sector for over 26 years and apart for the first 5 years I would say that the pace of change is ever increasing and the expectations placed on local government employees working to ever higher standards and the pressure to be seen to monitor and report on our activities add even more pressure but from an ever decreasing pool of employees - I feel well paid and value the pension scheme but resent comments from the public which reflect the time warp from 20 or so years ago that we don't actually earn our money in local government - I think we excel over the private sector
Working for the youth service, I find that there are not enough restriction or conditions around poor performance. As with any other business, customer satisfaction is priority and FT and PT staff should be made to be more accountable to maintaing high standards
I have worked in local government as well as Education. I found Local Government particularly to be flexible, committed to equality and diversity and, through its policies and procedures, to be transparent and fair.
Public sector generally I have found less actual as well as overt gender discrimination than in the private sector. Economies of scale enable far better learning and development opportunities, and although in general the work is rather more regimented than private practice,initiative is generally either tolerated or actively encouraged.
I couldn't work to make others a profit. It goes against all my principals so I work for the public services, first as a nurse then as a nurse tutor now senior lecturer. I feel that what I do is honourable and I am not taking advantage of others.
I enjoy my role very much as I plan my own work load and have automonomy in this post - therefore I feel valued and respected by my line manager.
I particularly love the stability - there is no profit motive or threat of redundancy. This means that I work hard at doing my job well without worrying about cutting corners to make a quick buck.
Working in the public sector allows you to make a real difference to people's lives. Also, if you are smart it allows you the freedom to drive forward new ideas.
I have always worked in the public sector and have undertake a variety of job roles. If it was not for the professional developent afforded to me through the public sector policies and strategies in developing talent I would not be in the high powered role that I am in. The public sector is very people focused and is striving to be the employer of choice.
I have had a very positive experience of working within the sector, as I have been able to gain enough experience and skills over the years to move easily between voluntary / community organisations and the public sector. My work is always varied and interesting.
I've been in Public Service so long I cannot make a reasonable comparison with working in the private sector. However, I would not have stayed so long had I been dissatisfied.
I am enjoying a fantastically varied and rewarding career in the public sector, having started in a relatively junior position and worked up to a senior management position, still with scope for further learning and progression.
I have always found the public sector to be incredibly stimulating place to work. I great driver for me is serving the community in which I live. However, this is something that has driven me since I joined the public sector and was not something that I recognised at the outset. The variety and stimulation I get from my job is counter balanced by the "challenges" posed by working in a large, political, hierarchical organisation. If you have the reilience to survive and thrive in this environment you will be able to do so anywhere!
On the whole the Public Sector is rewarding and provides enough challenges to never be boring. A little less change would be good!!
I returned to working in the public sector almost 2 years ago, from choice. Having worked in the private sector as well, for a short time, I made the decision to give up my company car, stress, unpleasant boss, and higher salary for flexible working hours, a decent pension scheme, longer holidays and a working environment that I feel at home in. I work in marketing and publicity, and it is really important to me to be dealing with real-life issues rather than business-to-business and technical subjects that were of no interest to me!! However, there is a great deal of change within my organisation right now and I do not feel as secure in my job as I had expected.
The demands are very hard on your stress levels and ofetn you find you are working for people (clients) who are so desperate they react in a less than appreciative way. the key to sustaining yourself in this is to have a clear moitivation for your work in service of people and communities and to see tye bigger picture in the social value of your work, more than expecting individuals to say thanks.
You get to meet and liase with a a range of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences.