Service Provider vs IT Gov job

Phileeeeeeep651

Hey everyone! I have two job interviews coming up this week, a NOC role with a local service provider and a Net Admin position with a local government entity. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience working in these two industries and would like to share some pro's and con's of either one.

I am currently working in the enterprise realm and I'm really looking for a change. It's really hard to imagine staying in the enterprise as it seems there is little to no advancement (rather hire on contractors than promote from within) and being silo'd into one department is the worst. I have a feeling the govt environment would be very similar to the enterprise and also working for the military for 5+ years I have a good understanding on how slow things can move in the public sector.

Any advice on either of these industries would be great!

TheCudder

My first two IT jobs were for private sector service providers and they were both dead end jobs with extremely low pay. I'm currently on my second job (4th total) working as a government contractor (technically still a service provider, but not so much) and the pay is very good and I have the opportunity for advancement (this could vary depending on your location). I personally have no plans of ever leaving the public sector unless I'm able to get a job working directly for a government contractors (meaning not on a contract or program).

TWX

You need to find out about the costs of the benefits and the nature of the retirement. Lots of public sector jobs have excellent pensions and good benefits. Pensions are increasingly rare in private-sector jobs.

It really depends on how long you will remain with an employer.

Also bear in mind that public sector jobs can be less stressful as far as the work itself is concerned, as unplanned outages don't mean lost profits. There are some exceptions; doing IT work for the police, fire department, or 911 could be even more stressful if that work involves phones and computer-based dispatch, but for just about every other government agency there's more tolerance for downtime than there would be in the private sector where it could spell the difference between meeting the projections or not.

Now, that said, you'll probably make more money in the private sector, but you'll probably have to work more hours too, while the public sector job will probably demand less unpaid overtime and will possibly be more flexible for comp time when one does work over, and will probably have better vacation accrual rates and less complaints to you about using it.

Danielm7

Phileeeeeeep651 wrote: »

I am currently working in the enterprise realm and I'm really looking for a change. It's really hard to imagine staying in the enterprise as it seems there is little to no advancement (rather hire on contractors than promote from within) and being silo'd into one department is the worst. I have a feeling the govt environment would be very similar to the enterprise and also working for the military for 5+ years I have a good understanding on how slow things can move in the public sector.

That sounds pretty spot on. If you're bored and looking for quicker progression I'd imagine a government job would be even slower.

tedjames

I've been working in state government for over 10 years. My first state job had a little room for advancement and not much in the way of merit increases. Eventually, at this particular agency, I ended up in a silo and was also a single point of failure (i.e., the only one who knew how to do my tasks/no cross training). Got an offer from another agency and my boss matched it to keep me. Still in a silo with no room for growth. Got an offer from yet another agency with another nice raise and took it. My new boss promises lots of room for advancement and merit increases. Essentially, he said that wherever I want to go with my career, he'll support it. It was like that at Motorola in the '90s.

I know a lot of IT and security workers around the state, and some get advancement and some don't. It just depends on the agency. I could make more money working in the private sector, but I feel that in working at the state, I'm making a difference in citizens' lives versus just working to make the company richer.

networker050184

Service provider all the way for me. Love the scale and complexity of it. Never had any desire to work in a government gig.

Phileeeeeeep651

Thanks for the replies everyone!

tedjames wrote: »

I'm making a difference in citizens' lives versus just working to make the company richer.

If I was working for the pretty much any other government entity this would be the main factor for me but the position is more of a political setting which is actually making me reconsider it altogether, as I absolutely despise politics.

networker050184 wrote: »

Love the scale and complexity of it.

This is a really big thing for me. I want a challenging job, not saying the gov job wouldn't be challenging but the scope of the position seems pretty narrow only really working on the LAN side of things, whereas the NOC position seems like I would be able to get my hands dirty in both LAN and WAN technologies.

Ryan82

Service Provider.

SteveLord

Worked in state government for over 7 years now. Benefits and health insurance especially are almost unbeatable. But this varies by state and level of government and strength of the union.

At least for Iowa, I can tell you most leave via retirement. The handful of ultra senior SME/essential workers here make $160k + full benefits. Most of the other seniors make 80-100k.

Bonuses do not exist. You can't accept gifts worth more than $3.99. There are a lot of waste. Budgets vary depending on whether your agency uses general funds or is self funded via fees to citizens.

Also, the change of political parties can affect your job. This doesn't seem to be a big deal for IT though.

For me, I have enjoyed paying $0 health insurance monthly for 7 years now. (That changes in 2016 to $20/mo I think.) I never pay more than $50 for an ER visit. Had 2 kids born and other non-serious treatments.

Career advancement is hit or miss. If nobody ever leaves, it limits your ability to go elsewhere. I am running into that issue now. That and the fact my state seems to only hire app developers!