Public or Private sector for internship?

[jaeterius]

Hi guys,

I have a dilemma, I have been offered a 3 month internship with one of the ministries, but also have offers from the private sector for similar role. Private sector I know will have the probability of continuing post-internship, ministries, maybe not so much so especially with the current government's mandate to cut back OPS.

I'm sort of struggling with which internship to choose. Can anyone who has worked for OPS or even not, share some insights and what would you do in my situation? Keep in mind the unit I will be working in is fairly new (about a year old).

Thanks

[Syne]

When you're looking for your first full-time job, which would you prefer to work at?

If we're talking management or office positions, I would go public. I don't like working for most private sector companies. They expect you to adopt their corporate culture, and it's not always nice. The public sector, on the other hand, is fun birthday parties every week for a different person, and chatting by the water cooler. Liberal sick and personal days. Not competing with the person next to you. Nice, big margins to get things done. Private companies are all about unpaid overtime, and results, results, results, where the guy next to you could be making 1.7x more, simply because he busted some balls in the interview process.

I find comfort in the bureaucracy and the transparency that the public sector provides.

Choose wisely.

[Gofishus]

^ yes, but private sector is usually better for people who are more productive. If you aren't productive in the public sector, no one cares. But in the private sector, you could get fired for that. If you are one of those people who work hard, likes to gain a lot of experience, goal-oriented and ambitious, then private sector would be better. You can get promotions and bonuses quite fast if you are a good worker in the private sector. However, public sector can be difficult to get into if you haven't interned there before. All up to your work habits and ambitions...

[jaeterius]

Thanks Syne and Gofish,

I have a biz degree so I sort of come from the corporate mindset but like what you said Syne, my thinking is changing and I want my work to more socially rewarding. However, having said that I am also very young and still ambitious in terms of learning, wanting more experience and being able to do as much as possible. The positions in the private sector provide me with an environment with younger likeminded individuals I think, some of the companies are very 'fun' and 'laidback'. For the ministry, the people are all older and serious.

[nalababe]

First, there is not the difference between the private and public sectors with regards to how hard one works, ambition, opportunities and yes, I work closely with equivalents in both Public and Private sectors. One difference is that in Public Sector you will likely have a lower earning potential...though there will be a trade off with a higher potential pension.

Again, don't generalize with the fun and laid back...both of these exist in both

[jaeterius]

nalababe, I understand and agree with what you said. I didn't generalize to the population, I was referring to the private sector opportunity available to me which is in companies that DO have that sort of culture. The comment wasn't meant to condescend those that work on that side.

[Nacothaw]

Work in the public sector. Trust me. I've worked in the office environment of the private sector, it aint pretty. Occasionally you'll come across a nice company that cares, but there's still the bottom line and they'll drop you on your ***** in no time once you're of no use to them or they can pay someone else 5 cents less an hour. Working for a public sector area you are going to have a pension (which is HUGE these days), really good benefits and of course insane job security and higher pay than you probably would get in most private companies. I work for the TTC though not in an office area. They are treated very well there. They are given realistic time frames to finish work and treated fairly.

[insurance1]

Not to be contentious, but I see first hand how the private sector's dying, with Canadian companies unable to compete internationally. In the future the only stable jobs will be government, and they'll be the largest employer. Also, wages are stagnant in the private sector, but growing every year in the public sector.

[Gofishus]

Not to be contentious, but I see first hand how the private sector's dying, with Canadian companies unable to compete internationally. In the future the only stable jobs will be government, and they'll be the largest employer. Also, wages are stagnant in the private sector, but growing every year in the public sector.

Yes but this is only in Canada, where there is big government, overpaid union workers, and lack of innovation and entrepreneurship. It should be the other way around.

[fuzzai]

If you don't mind me asking, what Ministry and what type of job is your intern ship with?
I can shed more light on it that way.

The cutbacks are real, however out out of the 3000 jobs they have to cut back, the HST helped by moving over 1200 Ontario Gov jobs to the Fed's....with the baby boomers set to retire, some ministries wont be cutting back much.

Send me a PM for more detailed info if you'd like.

[Terrific_Deals2k8]

True, people shouldn't generalize the Public sector. It'll just start a flame war. From my perspective, the public sector provides more of a work/life balance (e.g. 35 to 37.5 hrs/wk versus 40+ hrs in the private sector). Like nalababe said, one of the main differences is earning potential - with the private sector having the ability to offer higher bonuses and other renumeration (e.g. shares, paid expenses, trips etc...)

In contrast, the public sector provides great benefits (e.g. vacation, pension, medical etc...) and you'll most likely work less hours, but still be expected to achieve milestones/goals. It's a matter of what you hope to accomplish and value in life, not everyone is willing to sacrifice personal/family time in order to obtain greater wealth.

However, I agree that there are more opportunities in the private sector, especially if you intend on climbing the corporate ladder. On the flip side, there are also many prestigous public sector jobs in the treasury, office of the auditor general, research/engineering ministries, and public law.

^ yes, but private sector is usually better for people who are more productive. If you aren't productive in the public sector, no one cares. But in the private sector, you could get fired for that. If you are one of those people who work hard, likes to gain a lot of experience, goal-oriented and ambitious, then private sector would be better. You can get promotions and bonuses quite fast if you are a good worker in the private sector. However, public sector can be difficult to get into if you haven't interned there before. All up to your work habits and ambitions...

+1

First, there is not the difference between the private and public sectors with regards to how hard one works, ambition, opportunities and yes, I work closely with equivalents in both Public and Private sectors. One difference is that in Public Sector you will likely have a lower earning potential...though there will be a trade off with a higher potential pension.

Again, don't generalize with the fun and laid back...both of these exist in both

[Terrific_Deals2k8]

You should provide some evidence for your broad generalizations. Truthfully, union workers are overpaid in many countries, not just Canada, which is why there have been layoffs and cut-backs. Furthermore, innovation and entrepreneurship are hardly ever fuelled by the private sector. Much of the innovation begins from university labs, govt research centres, or gov't-backed incubators (think Stanford which is a public university or Waterloo/McGill for the Canadian equivalent).

Honestly, some of the most catastrophic crisis have been caused by private sector "innovations" (e.g. subprime mortgage lending, CDO/ABS, oil speculation, tech bubble), because of the incentive structure to take higher risks in order to boost profits and commissions. Although the venture capital market helps to generate new entreprenuerial organizations, the industry only captures a small percentage of funding from the broader private sector (even in the US where VC is most commonly practiced). "Every year there are nearly 2 million business created in the USA, and only 600-800 get venture capital funding." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital

Usually, it's only the public sector that is willing to invest in projects/innovations that may benefit the general public without simply focusing on profits and ROI. For instance, British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) is the leading sponsor in most entrepneurial conferences/competitions in British Columbia. Check out the "BCIC New Ventures Competition"

Yes but this is only in Canada, where there is big government, overpaid union workers, and lack of innovation and entrepreneurship. It should be the other way around.

[Terrific_Deals2k8]

http://www.newventuresbc.com/the-competition/prizes/

Prizes are awarded at the BCIC-New Ventures Competition Awards Ceremony. Prize packages may change without notice.

•$130,000 BCIC first-prize package, including:

$110,000 cash from BCIC
$9,000 in-kind services from Ernst & Young
$9,000 in-kind services from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
$2,000 in-kind services from NVBC’s bronze sponsors

•$70,000 BCIC second-prize package, including:

$57,000 cash from the BCIC
$6,000 in-kind services from Ernst & Young
$6,000 in-kind services from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
$1,000 in-kind services from NVBC’s bronze sponsors

•$40,000 BCIC third-prize package, including:

$33,000 cash from the BCIC
$3,000 in-kind services from Ernst & Young
$3,000 in-kind services from Fasken Martineau DuMoulin
$1,000 in-kind services from NVBC’s bronze sponsors

•$40,000 BC Hydro Sustainability prize
•$20,000 BC Bioenergy Network prize
•$15,000 Vancity Social Venture prize
•$30,000 Agritech Innovation first prize
•$20,000 Agritech Innovation second prize

[cosmica76]

I think that the private sector is much more perspective for individual and ambitious types of people. Why? Because who wants to build up a good career in the public sector then he/she should has friendly contacts at one´s disposal in the political sector. In my opinion the measurement of responsibility is smaller in the private sector.

[Gofishus]

You should provide some evidence for your broad generalizations. Truthfully, union workers are overpaid in many countries, not just Canada, which is why there have been layoffs and cut-backs. Furthermore, innovation and entrepreneurship are hardly ever fuelled by the private sector. Much of the innovation begins from university labs, govt research centres, or gov't-backed incubators (think Stanford which is a public university or Waterloo/McGill for the Canadian equivalent).

Honestly, some of the most catastrophic crisis have been caused by private sector "innovations" (e.g. subprime mortgage lending, CDO/ABS, oil speculation, tech bubble), because of the incentive structure to take higher risks in order to boost profits and commissions. Although the venture capital market helps to generate new entreprenuerial organizations, the industry only captures a small percentage of funding from the broader private sector (even in the US where VC is most commonly practiced). "Every year there are nearly 2 million business created in the USA, and only 600-800 get venture capital funding." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venture_capital

Usually, it's only the public sector that is willing to invest in projects/innovations that may benefit the general public without simply focusing on profits and ROI. For instance, British Columbia Innovation Council (BCIC) is the leading sponsor in most entrepneurial conferences/competitions in British Columbia. Check out the "BCIC New Ventures Competition"

You don't need evidence for something that's common knowledge. Innovation stems from the private sector, small businesses have always been the engine of growth, not the government. Stanford is a private university, not a public one. There are a lot of good public research universities, such as Berkeley, but you can't reference something as blatantly wrong as Stanford being a public uni. Waterloo/McGill doesn't even compare to the amount of innovation happening in Berkeley/Stanford. You can't compare Waterloo/Markham to the 'innovation' happening in Silicon Valley. What's the biggest IT company in Canada? RIM? We have very few companies that can compete globally. RIM is going downhill for lack of innovation and competition against Android and Apple. VC funding is mostly for IT ventures; you don't necessarily need VC funding to be an entrepreneur.