<p>What are some of the perks that both offer?</p>
<p>I know that government work offers:</p>
<p>-better hours
-more job security
-health care/benefits?</p>
<p>Private:</p>
<p>-better pay
-prestige
-BYOB possibly</p>
<p>Perhaps some from each field can comment?</p>
<p>Hi - I worked in a government job for 9 years and in the private sector for 10…here are my 2 cents</p>
<p>I know that government work offers:</p>
<p>-better hours---- no, not necessarily. I worked in the IT department and we had a ton of weekend/after hours work. I work about the same amount of after hours in the private sector but get compensated with more pay/bonuses and comp time.</p>
<p>-more job security - no, not really. I got laid off after 9 years due to restructuring. So after putting in that time for job security and lower pay I ended up with nothing</p>
<p>-health care/benefits - same in both gov’t and private</p>
<p>The benefit of working in the private sector is that the pay is better, there is potential for bonuses. Time off (vacation/holiday) etc is about the same in both. There is more room for growth in the private sector that if you work hard you can get ahead. Govt didn’t really have that potential, for example by boss told me I could get ahead when someone retires or leaves (not much incentive there). The benefits were about the same in both as far as life insurance, dental, health etc. The tradeoff for a gov’t job with perceived security isn’t worth it, the lower pay and stagnation weren’t worth it in the long run.</p>
<p>Some government legal work is extremely prestigious, outranking almost any private sector job.</p>
<p>Government lawyers don’t have the job security they used to, but in this downturn, they did a little better than those at big firms. I don’t know many government agencies that got rid of half their junior legal staff; lots of big firms did.</p>