How hard is it to get an IT Government/School Public Sector job?

Pedro_ramirez

I want to get into Public Sector.
Instead of private sector

Any good tips and tricks on how to get into Government IT work and how hard is it?

NVLady

I work for a state agency and the lower level jobs (help desk, desktop support) and programming jobs come open far more often than infrastructure (networking, servers, database etc) jobs. In fact, it seems my state is really hurting for programmers.

revned

For Federal jobs, the best way to land that "coveted"/secured position is to start off as a contractor. Once your hired as a contractor, network, network, network and never stop searching for positions. Key thing is getting a job first and then start looking. Unfortunately, it is who you know in the federal system that gets you hired. People tend to hire people they already know and hardly take a chance on someone no one has heard or worked with. Look into DOD contractors such as Lockheed, Boeing, General Dynamics, DynCorp, L3, BAE Systems, Vectrus, SAIC, Northrop Grumman. Visit their careers section.

eansdad

Having worked in a public school setting I can say a lot of it is who you know or if your lucky and they are hiring multiple positions and your skilled you could be hired to cover the "friend/family" hire who might not know much of anything.

I've applied to State level work and was even hired but turned it down. As long as you have the requirements, because they are a must, you have about as good as a shot as any. Revned is right for Federal work but make sure your credit is clean...dumbest rule they have for a security clearance. You could also look at CSC as a government contractor. Had a job through them working in APG, MD but SF-86 was denied for some old credit crap.

Best advise....stay private. Public is good IF you can stay put for years at a time.

UncleB

Pedro_ramirez wrote: »

I want to get into Public Sector.
Instead of private sector

Can you tell us why please?

My experience is that many candidates think the public sector is a cushy life where you are very secure and can't be sacked even if you underperform, and a few of my last roles have been where I was brought in to purge these sort of staff from the likes of the helpdesk teams to turn them into a more efficient unit.

I think more and more of the public secor (and in the UK the Civil Service in the government) are wising up and at interview stage actively filter out people who seem to be looking for the security without the corresponding hunger to grow and progress.

I'm with a public sector company at the moment and it is one of the hardest working roles I have had - not in terms of long hours but in terms of delivering a lot of work in the hours alloted and to a high standard. It is very clearly stated that if you can't preform at this level then you will be performance managed out of the role and sacked. It may not be typical of public sector companies, but it is a growing trend.

My advice is go where the work is and actively try to grow your career in the direction you want it to go - never rely on your employer to do this for you as that almost never will help that much.

thanks
Iain