This blog attempts to make an indicative comparison between government and private jobs. For the comparison, we would consider a few key parameters like recruitment process & job competition, job security, opportunities & growth prospects, work-life balance & holidays, compensations & perk and social respect, etc.
Let’s discuss how the two sectors fair on the above-mentioned parameters.
Recruitment process and job competition:
Recruitment process of most of mid-level (SSC, Bank-PO, etc.) and high-end (IAS, PCS, CDS, etc.) government jobs are very elaborate and a long drawn. In some cases, recruitment process lasts for more than a year. The same is not true for private jobs whether the recruitment takes place through campus placement or lateral hiring.
Since for most of government jobs stream of education doesn’t matter, this makes more aspirants eligible for these jobs. Owing to this factor, along with unemployment situation and prestige associated with government jobs, especially in rural belt, competition is very stiff for government jobs – at least in term of number of applicants who apply for these jobs. As some sort of expertise is must for most of mid-level and high-end private jobs, here competition is not as stiff as it is with government jobs.
Job Security:
Job security is one of the most luring factors of government jobs. If one gets a government job, his/her job search worries are over for the life unless something untoward happens, which is a very much of a rarity, or he/she voluntarily wants to quit. However, the same is not true for private sector jobs on account of survival of performers and growth being the sole driving factor of private companies.
Opportunities and growth prospects:
Private sector offers far more opportunities to grow and learn new skills as compared to government sector. Good performance is more readily rewarded in private sector. This sector tries to catch up with new technology and practices, and thus people working in private sector are bound to update their skill set and learn new skills. As there is a well-defined promotion structure in government sector and there is low appetite for keeping up with best technology and practices, the growth opportunity and learning in government sector are not at par with that in private sector. Having said this, there are certain key positions in government sectors which offer a lot of opportunities to grow and contribute.
Work-life balance and holidays:
The work pressure in government sector, barring for high-end jobs, is not as much as it is in private sector. Also, government employees have a large number of public and national holidays. Hence, as a whole, government sector jobs offer a good work-life balance and give more time to indulge in other activities. Since work pressure is more and holidays are not as abundant, to strive for a good work-life balance is a little challenging for private sector employees.
Compensation and perk:
For mid-level jobs there may not be much disparity between government and private sector jobs. However, in case of high-end job, private sector employees are paid significantly better than government sector employees. When it comes to perks, though government sector employees get more perks, private sector is closing in the gap.
Social respect:
Until 2-3 decades back, government jobs carried more prestige and social esteem. Now, that landscape has changed completely. Now, it is more associated with nature of job and position rather than sector.
In a nutshell, jobs in the two sectors have their pros and cons, challenges and opportunities, and it all depends on the individual in which sector he/she wants to take up a job depending on his/her aspirations and objectives.
