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I work in GIS as well. Starting pay in the public sector is good, but that is because the only way the public sector gets anyone with talent is by recruiting them fresh out of school. Once you have even a little bit of experience, private sector pay is dramatically higher than public sector in GIS. Since NGA is based here in St Louis, we have an enormous amount of private sector contracting companies. 5 years experience and an advanced degree will land you $100k-$120k per year. Check out glassdoor for Esri.
Now, most of the revenue for these private sector GIS jobs are coming from the public sector, but make no mistake that their pay is much higher than it would be doing the exact same job duties in the public sector.
I also work in GIS. My current job is in the private sector and it's a nice low stress position at a good small company, but I understand the pay is quite low compared to public sector GIS jobs in my area. My job does involve working closely with state and federal agencies.
Locally we have BLM/USFS/NPS/BOR offices, as well as county and city here. I am not planning on leaving my job but I keep my eyes open for local GIS job postings.
I left a job at a government lab because I didn't want to spend my life living and working in a rural area so far away from any major cities. Also, I wanted an academic position and the right job opened up at the right time.
I left a job at a government lab because I didn't want to spend my life living and working in a rural area so far away from any major cities. Also, I wanted an academic position and the right job opened up at the right time.
Funny, I am in quite the opposite . I am in a government lab and live very close to a major city (hint: think bay) and the cost of living is making me think of jumping ship. I'd love to find a place where I can call my backyard 'the back 40' and not have it be measured in square feet.
Hmm a lot of private sector corporations have very little meritocracy. My last job at a recognizible F50 food conglomerate the place was terrible they treated their workers like complete trash no matter how hard you worked. In the govt you may not get huge bonuses or recognition if you do very well but they also can't [bleep] you terribly either.
At a lot of private sector jobs it is all about who can do a job cheapest and who is budy budy with everyone and the manager would like to go to drinks with (extremely shallow).
As someone who is working in the private sector I must agree with your analysis. It is truly all about who you know in the private sector. There are so many people in positions of power who are idiots, however they knew the right people. I haven't worked in the public sector, however I have numerous relatives and friends that do. Based on my conversations with them, there is some favoritism however if you come in and do your job, you will more than likely see some advancement in time. I have an interest in public policy and I am currently looking to jump in to the public sector. Having said that I would like to go back to the private sector as a consultant, in due time, mainly due to the money.
At a lot of private sector jobs it is all about who can do a job cheapest and who is budy budy with everyone and the manager would like to go to drinks with (extremely shallow).
Especially the last part. The popular ones (almost always mediocre employees) are the ones who are recognized by management, get the promotions, and are layoff proof.
At my last job, I kept my head down and concentrated on my work from the minute I showed up at work until I left. I was polite to everyone, but I only talked about work while I was at work. The guy in the cubicle next to me was on sports websites half of the day and he was always in the boss's office chatting it up about baseball/football/whatever. He had even had a "talk" at one point about his Internet usage and got a slap on the wrist. Of course when layoff time came I was the one out and not that loser.
There is favoritism in govt. jobs too, but it's a little more likely it will be discovered among more neutral higher-ups than possibly a private sector job.
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