State job vs private tech sector job (movers, job market)

[mixxalot]

I am looking but jobs keep getting harder to find even in IT with current skills.

[davidt1]

We just lost another staff to the state. That's two this year and three last year. Government jobs attract slackers like crazy, not that's the OP is a slacker. I don't know you personally.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by davidt1

We just lost another staff to the state. That's two this year and three last year. Government jobs attract slackers like crazy, not that's the OP is a slacker. I don't know you personally.

Or maybe they aren't slackers at all but are attracted by defined benefit pensions, great health insurance and paid overtime

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by davidt1

We just lost another staff to the state. That's two this year and three last year. Government jobs attract slackers like crazy, not that's the OP is a slacker....

To suggest that state government workers are slackers is inaccurate.

I have worked for private companies and I also worked for the State of California in IT. The standards and hoops one had to jump through to obtain and keep state work at the level of my job were far higher than with private companies.

First of all, professional IT workers for the State of California must have at least a bachelor's degree and had to do so long before private companies required it. We also had to take a long, complex aptitude test and then go through one or two group interviews. Then our name got put on a list. Later came the interview with the manager who actually did the hiring.

The people with whom I worked were the most intelligent, most capable and most dedicated people I ever met. Though salaried, people stayed to finish their work before leaving for the day.
I recall getting at least a couple of headhunter calls a day for private IT companies, and I was not the only one.

Those professional state workers that I knew absolutely deserved the benefits of the job and they don't deserve your ridicule.

[mixxalot]

@SFBayBoomer- as a state employee in IT and having spent 20 years in the private sector, you are correct for the most part.
I don't think a degree was required at one point as many ex-military work at the state. Half of the folks are smart and honest but half are slackers. But not much different than private sector.

Pay is LOW for tech jobs- I was making 150k in private sector and current job doing the exact same work is paying half that!
Now throw in bad micromanagers and lack of training on new technologies and no option to work remote and it sucks.

[mixxalot]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Or maybe they aren't slackers at all but are attracted by defined benefit pensions, great health insurance and paid overtime

Well they cut the bennies a few years ago and you need to pay into it for 20 years to get a decent pension. Compare that to 401k matching and it stinks compared to private sector. You can no longer retire at 55 with a decent pension if you are a new state employee. I would need to work another 20 years to get anything worthwhile compared to banking and stacking cash from the private sector for another 10 years.

[SFBayBoomer]

Originally Posted by mixxalot

@SFBayBoomer- as a state employee in IT and having spent 20 years in the private sector, you are correct for the most part.
I don't think a degree was required at one point as many ex-military work at the state. Half of the folks are smart and honest but half are slackers. But not much different than private sector.

Pay is LOW for tech jobs- I was making 150k in private sector and current job doing the exact same work is paying half that!
Now throw in bad micromanagers and lack of training on new technologies and no option to work remote and it sucks.

If no degree was required to become a Programmer Analyst, then you must be older than me.

By the way, our degrees did not have to be in Computer Science, as we were given extensive schooling. The Systems & Programming Manager was an English major and he liked people with excellent language skills and aptitude for analysis, problem/puzzle solving, and communication skills, all of which I do have.

The data entry clerks and the technicians didn't need a degree, just those of us in Analyst positions.

(Bold mine.)

[mixxalot]

Also they changed the entire IT classification from different areas to one series for non management: IT Specialist I, II, and III. A lot of folks got promoted who did not deserve it into higher pay tiers.

Add in nepotism which is rampant and you have a nightmare workplace. Of course nepotism is illegal but I see it a lot where I work.

[mixxalot]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Or maybe they aren't slackers at all but are attracted by defined benefit pensions, great health insurance and paid overtime

Not us! We don't get paid overtime because according to management we are EXEMPT IT STATE WORKERS! No comp time either. It really is a $hitty place to work.

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by mixxalot

Well they cut the bennies a few years ago and you need to pay into it for 20 years to get a decent pension. Compare that to 401k matching and it stinks compared to private sector. You can no longer retire at 55 with a decent pension if you are a new state employee. I would need to work another 20 years to get anything worthwhile compared to banking and stacking cash from the private sector for another 10 years.

Yes, pensions were cut but they are still quite generous, and it's always been the case that you need to pay into a defined benefit pension for 20 + years. But it's your choice, I'm not trying to talk you into or out of anything. As as far as paid overtime, my son works for a bay area county and he's considered management so no overtime but he does get 123 hours extra pay every year to compensate for not receiving overtime.