Public Servants/Political Science Majors

Public Servants/Political Science Majors

Hi All,

I'm so close to finising my degree I can feel it! I've got a BachBus Studies from Massey in Communications Management, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Vic (Feb2010).

My long term thoughts are to either get into politics, or work behind the scenes for politicians or government departments doing business or communications type work. Anyone on here either working as a public servant or studied Pols & IR?

For public servants do you enjoy your role and how did you get into it? Graduates of Pols & IR, what are you doing and is it where you wanted to be when you graduated?

Congrats Brumbys - always a good feeling to know that your own efforts have resulted in academic achievement, despite what many tall poppyists would say otherwise.

Many moons ago I dabbled in the public service so can't really offer any thoughts on what it is like today. I do deal with a range of gummn't depts in my work and must say that there is a particular culture and person that    inhabits those places.

Best of luck in pursuing a future career in that area. I find that in the various jobs I've had, having a sense of humour and not taking oneself too seriously is a pretty good way to get through things (and of course being competent in what the job entails!).

oh oh here comes Gen Y to kick out the boomers and the X

get the hell out of the pool Rich!

nah, good on ya-

Advice? take a starter job in a good organisation, i.e. one you respect, rather than aiming for a bigger job in an organisation you have no sympathy for.

You are young, you have time to climb- Gen y seem to want to be at the top straight away which just doesn't happen. put in the hard yards in the early days and be patient.

what was the quote i heard from someone like Peter Biggs recently- something like:
" a Gen Y applicant asked me about the work/life balance at bthis job and i said when you have worked here for 20 years then you can come and ask me about work life balance".

The one thing i can say about the public sector is once your in, it is so much easier to find other jobs in the public sector as you have an understanding of how the "system" works. My wife currently works for NZTE and thats a good organisation to get into if you want to do some traveling. UberGunner2009-10-10 11:28:06

I like Brumbies am about to finish Uni, 5 years all done at the end of this week. I have the Ba in Pols and IR plus a Law Degree.

brumbys, your inbox was full. just vist https://jobs.govt.nz/ and see if anything takes your fancy. usually the job market is quite in the lead up to xmas but january febuary there is always a huge amount of vacancies

How are you at giving handjobs?

I'm currently temping at the NZ Parole Board, and had 11 months in Corrections before that, it's a pretty interesting area to be honest and it may well become a legitimate career choice after years of not having a damn clue what I wanted to do after uni.

What are you thoughts on pay rises

I think Vic Uni arranges internships in Ministers' offices - have you checked that out? Our department works closely with a couple of the senior Ministers and their offices and it seems like a pretty interesting / challenging environment that could be a good way to work out whether its where you want to be... vickmeist2009-10-10 21:38:54

nice use of current politics in humor there 2ndBest

if you want to work in the Public Service don't vote ACT
a lot of my whanau have done time in the public service
I like the stories about when the Minister changes Policy overnight
or is replaced dramatically leading to a literal midstream convulsion

mostly however it is for people who can't make it in the real world
or are so weak they need a Union to negotiate a contract for them

UberGunner is completely right there.

I've been in the public sector for three years. I currently work in an international relations team in a large public sector agency, and have been there part-time for almost two years while at uni. I go full-time into a graduate role in November. I don't have an IR or political science background either (honours in film and media studies, and architecture), but I have had a previous job in the public service which basically meant that getting another job (this one) was much easier. Contrary to many preconceptions of the public sector, my job is full-on, although I love it, and I will get some travel in the future (yay).

My first public sector job was as a result of getting a State Services Internship (I was offered a job post-internship). Unfortunately due to the current economic climate, that programme has been cut. Otherwise that is definitely one of the best ways of getting a foot in the door.

Given the current economic climate, I would also consider roles across the public service (provided they interest you), as UberGunner says, once you get in, it's so much easier to find other jobs within the public sector. A lot of jobs are often only internally advertised as well.

Keep in mind that you will probably do a lot of crappy work to begin with (e.g. OIAs), but it does get better. Before accepting a role, I would also find out what the agency is like in terms of staff development as well. And like any other role, public or private, there are great agencies to work for, and crap agencies - it pays to ask around friends, networks etc. who have had experiences with said agency.

Good luck!

Thanks HEAPS for all the thoughts guys and gals! Theres a role with the WCC i'm looking at and a few with the Queensland State Govt so i'll keep you'll posted, but my expectations of what i'll have to do to get my feet in the door are not high, i'll take anything!

@ UG, i'll clear it now boss!

Another thing about the public sector is they are a lot more tolerant of special needs. flexi time, tele commuting, etc. All of this is driven by government policy and HR policys set out by the SSC,and employment law changes, that usually takes a while to trickle down to the private sector.

I flexi-time.

Did Pol Sci too.
Get the hell out of here, you can do much better than trailling around one of our politicians.
Get yourself on a big public project overseas. Pol is really useful for planning & analysis.
Then when you figure out what you want there's plenty of post grad diplomas, especially overseas.

If you know of any let me know, there is a big shortage in grad roles at the mo...bloody recession!

Also due to the public sector pay rise freeze, they are doing alot of upskilling and trainging programs to help with staff retention, so thats another plus at the moment.

And minus if you're not in there!!!