Whether to pick a government job or a private job is a glaring question among the fresh graduates. Some prefer the government job for its job security while others prefer the private one for more growth opportunities in the future. In this article, we’ll try and compare both government jobs and private jobs from different points of view. And at the end, we’ll see which one is better.
Government Job and Private Job: Meaning
Government job employees are simply the persons employed in different government agencies or ministries & their departments. For e.g. Police, Public Sector Bank employees and various other bureaucrats such as IAS, IPS etc.
Private Sector jobs are of endless types, but largely we’ll focus on the corporate sector jobs wherein the scope for growth is much higher.
Now let us compare the government and private jobs from various viewpoints.
Various Viewpoints of Government Job & Private Job
Job Security
It is said that the government jobs are difficult to get but it is even more difficult to remove a government employee from the service. That’s the level of job security we have in the government sector. This over protection is also a reason for inefficiency among some of the government officers, as per experts, however, that’s another topic of discussion.
In the private sector there is no concept of job security as such. You might be removed from the post citing lack of performance or financial constraints in the organisation. The recent layoffs in big MNCs due to recession is a good example that there’s a lack of job security in the private sector. However, if you are skilled enough in the particular domain, then you may not remain unemployed for long.
Salary & Other Perks
The salaries of lower rank government employees is higher than the average income of any private sector employee of the same class. The salary of a clerical level employee could be as par with a freshly graduate Engineer working in the private sector.
Despite having low salaries at the entry level, the private sector jobs will reward you, as you update yourself and try to become expert in the respective fields. A private sector employee of higher class may fetch salaries close to crores or even more than that once they are experienced enough in that field.
In terms of other perks, most of the government employees get facilities of residential accommodations and other number of allowances which may not be there in the private sector.
Career Growth & Other Opportunities
Even if you begin your career at the lower ranks in the government jobs, you may still be close to the top level, as the promotions are seniority based. Also, better work in one department is sometimes rewarded with another responsibility. However, undue political interference and influence may not always reward the deserving employee.
There are ample opportunities to grow in the private sector jobs if you update yourself in terms of skills from time to time. Better performance is also rewarded with promotions and bonuses. Also, all the promotions are merit based and not on seniority, hence this is a competitive space and everyone in the sector strives to update themselves.
Ease of Getting a Job
Largely all the government sector recruitment is carried on 3 phases of prelims, mains and the interview. Thus, you have to be at your best in all the 3 phases in order to get selected.
In case of private sector jobs, your educational qualification, experience and references matter more. There is no written exam as such but may have to clear multiple rounds of interview.
Hence, both the types of job are difficult to get into.
Leave & Holiday Policy
Most of the government sector employees get day-offs on various public holidays. Also, the leave policy may differ as per the organisation. The police and other law enforcement agencies hardly get any day-offs. They also have a strict leave policy. In any case, the government employees are paid even during their day-offs.
The private sector employee may not get paid for the leave that they take. Also, they mostly have to work even on the public holidays. The leave policy is also somewhat strict in all the private organisations, which makes it difficult to get a leave once in a while.
Flexibility
The government employees, barring police & other law enforcement departments, have fixed working hours. Also, the work-from-home option is generally absent in the government sector.
In case of private sector jobs, there could be fixed hours for some work profiles, but for others, you may have to work for longer hours to complete the assigned tasks on time to achieve the targets. Also, the work-from-home employees might need to be available at any scheduled time.
Therefore, both government and private sector jobs offer advantages in terms of flexibility.
Post Retirement Plans
Government sector employees get the benefit of pension and other facilities post-retirement, however, no such benefits are available to private sector employees.
So, which one is better of the two?
Government Job vs Private Job- Which one is better?
We have looked at both the government and the private job from different aspects. Both are good in some aspects and bad in others. Thus, we cannot decide which one is better in general. But we can definitely decide which one is better for you.
Why Government Job?
For those who want to work at the lower ranks, government jobs offer a better package in terms of salary and other benefits. It also helps you grow in the respective organisation based on the promotions on seniority. The likes of Railways or SSC CHSL & SSC CGL are only a few such exams that recruit candidates on a large scale. You may have a look at these exams.
Many people desire to have the status and recognition in society that the government jobs have. If you are the ones who aspire for societal recognition and respect, then government jobs are the ones for you.
Why Private Job?
Some of you may want to have immense growth in your career. You may want to gain specialization in the respective domain knowledge that you work in. For such candidates, government jobs may not provide as many opportunities as compared to the private sector. Hence, they can update their skills and focus on their development more to excel in the private sector.
Apart from this, if you are looking to have a flexible nature of work in terms of working-from-home opportunities, then private sector jobs could be better for you.
Conclusion
You might have got an idea about both the types of jobs. Now it’s up to you to choose which one you want to go with. But keep in mind that every job offers you a chance to develop and succeed. It is your responsibility to work diligently and make the task enjoyable. This will guarantee that you’ll like your work no matter what position you have.
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