Career Change Strategy for Those Moving from Public Service to the Private Sector: Part 1 - Pros, Cons, and Key Points
Hello. I'm Ryo-chan, also known as Ryohei.
Born in the first year of the Heisei era. In this era of the 100-year life, I have set a vision to continue challenging myself in both work and private life, contributing to many people, and creating a "village" by turning the things many friends and I want to do into a community.
On this account, I write about my activities as a career change agent, my own personal experiences, and insights that can be applied to daily work and private life, ranging from introducing professional athletes to providing information for those currently job hunting from the perspective of job placement.
Thankfully, I have received positive feedback little by little, such as having my work “Survival Skills for Salarymen”added to magazines and having my recently started paid articles recognized by Note. Thank you for always reading.
This time, I will introduce key points regarding
“changing jobs from public service to the private sector,” which is also a topic for job seekers I have been supporting recently.
1. Advantages of changing jobs from public service to the private sector
In conclusion, there are two major advantages to changing jobs.
(1) Easier to acquire IT literacy and business etiquette
Depending on the job, there are quite a few public service roles that do not use computers at all, so just by moving to a private company, your opportunities to touch a PC will increase significantly, making it easier to improve your IT literacy.
Humans can raise their proficiency to a certain level with things they use every day.
Also, business etiquette, which you might not be conscious of otherwise, often involves more frequent and closer relationships with people outside the company and with seniors or superiors, so you will naturally be in an environment where you are conscious of manners, making them easier to master.
(2) Increased future career options
It is not a matter of good or bad, but career options are limited if you are a public servant.
Even among public servants, there are transfers every 3 to 4 years, but significant growth is hard to expect.
By planning a move to a private company, you can aim to become someone who can add depth to the content of your resume and work history, making it easier to change jobs in the future.
2. Disadvantages of changing jobs from public service to the private sector
(1) Welfare and conditions are inferior
A major advantage of being a public servant is the welfare and salary conditions. So-called "stability," while not as strong as it once was, is still guaranteed to some extent for public servants today.
However, when you move to a private company, it is no longer based on seniority but performance-based.
If you do not produce results, your salary will be at a correspondingly lower level. Changing jobs from public service means
you are starting with no experience, so your starting annual income will definitely decrease. More than that, if you view the aforementioned advantages as "intangible assets" and build them up through your own efforts, it is highly possible depending on you, so people with that mindset are more likely to succeed in changing jobs.
Because the ability to build human networks and adapt to environmental changes is an asset that can be converted into money.
(2) Easily opposed by family and parents
In the generation of your family and parents, there is an image that public service is the ultimate "winner" and is "stable and secure." There are many cases where they do not understand why you would throw away those benefits and conditions to change jobs.
However, the times are different for our generation—those in our 20s, 30s, and 40s—compared to our parents' generation, and the way we work and plan our lives is completely different.
Now, without a doubt, seniority and lifetime employment have collapsed, and it is the "era of job changes."
Of course, I want you to report it to your family, but my recommendation is "reporting after the fact." "Reporting in advance" will almost certainly be opposed.
Most of the people reading this blog are likely working adults. You are already adults. Let's choose your own career. Because it is your own life.
And for advice, a professional career agent who has a lot of corporate information and can judge well is the best. Please keep updating your information regarding job changes.
3. Thorough self-analysis
This is common for those working in private companies as well, but
public servants should especially conduct "self-analysis" thoroughly.
Public service work inevitably involves many specialized tasks that are difficult to verbalize, so there are many things that are hard for third parties to understand about the job content.
Therefore, organize through self-analysis, extract objective information, and reflect it in your work history.
There are also tips for writing a work history, so
I have posted links to related articles I wrote previously below, so
please take a look.
In this post, I have written about the preparation required and the pros and cons of transitioning from a public servant role to a private company.
Next time, I will post about "Career Change Strategy for Public Servants Moving to the Private Sector (Part 2): 3 Recommended Job Types." Stay tuned.