Public Vs. Private Sector

[Planderella]

In approximately one month, I'll be making the jump from the public to the private sector. Any words of advice, caution or whatever from the peanut gallery or those who have been on both sides of the fence?

 

[Downtown]

Congrats on your new job! Having been from public to private and back to public again, I think the biggest (pleasant) shock to my system when jumping into the private sector is how fast things get done, in a good way. If you need info from another department, there isn't any monkeying around, they usually just give it to you with out interdepartmental hassle. The other really cool thing about private practice, well, a good private practice, is that they are big on retention, since when I was there, getting and finding people was pretty challenging. It seems to me that in public planning, there is the expectation that your benefits gravy train will keep you in your job (which in new york isn't that far off. state benefits rock), and there isn't the same level of concern with keeping you happy and challenged. I don't know what that translates into our new "pre-growth" economy as the guys on the Daily Show have dubbed this, but I can't imagine it should be too different.

 

[Andy Dobson]

Public vs private

Having made a similar jump a year or so ago, there are several cultural shifts you'll have to get used to.

One of the most challenging, is how to actually make a profit on planning projects!