State gov. job v. corp. job

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krustytheclown
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State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by krustytheclown »

I am seeking career advise. I currently work as an in-house attorney at a financial services company. I'm 34 years old, the only debt my wife and I carry is a home mortgage and a car loan that we could pay off pretty quickly if we wanted to. I have been at current company 5+ years and I generally like what I'm doing, though there is a high level of stress and as of late, management expectations have kept me up at night. Our department is understaffed and over the last couple years I've been testing the waters looking elsewhere. I currently make roughly 120k (including bonus), though obviously the bonus is not guaranteed (and last year the bonus was a bust (company blamed the pandemic)).

Recently I have had the opportunity to take a roll working for the state government (think Commerce or Banking Regulation Department) in a role that seems to fit me really well. I genuinely feel that I would enjoy it; however, I would no longer be working as an attorney. The pay would be in the low 100s. It would include a defined benefit pension based on years of service, incredibly cheap health insurance, and the job security that government positions generally entail. That said, if I stay where I'm at (or lateral to another corporate in-house role), and keep working toward climbing the "corporate latter," I have the potential to earn significant compensation in the future.

Would I be an idiot for taking the gov. job and leaving the potential to make significant $ in turn for probably less stress, gov. pension and great benefits? My ultimate goal is to achieve financial independence and retire early, but I really don't think the corporate world suites me well. If I didn't like the gov. job I could always go back to practicing, in other words, I'm not overly concerned about getting back into the law if I wanted to in the future. I should also add that we live in a LCOL area and I'm confident that we could live comfortably on a 100k salary plus my wife's.

Any observations would be helpful and thanks in advance!
Last edited by krustytheclown on Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
shunkman
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by shunkman »

Many private sector workers assume that working for the government is stress free and worry free. I think this is a myth. The stressors may sometimes be different in the public sector but they are still there.
sport
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by sport »

krustytheclown wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:57 pm there is a high level of stress and as of late, management expectations have kept me up at night.
It seems you want to change jobs in any case. No one needs that kind of stress.
jaqenhghar
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by jaqenhghar »

Have you considered looking at the federal govt? Given your financial services background, something like SEC, FINRA, etc. where you'd be on a much higher payscale than 100k.
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anon_investor
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by anon_investor »

krustytheclown wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 7:57 pm And observations would be helpful and thanks in advance!
I am an in-house as well. Not all companies are the same, it sounds like you need an employer change not necessarily a move out of the private sector. I suggest that you at least look at other in-house roles. I am not sure the region or size of your company, but your pay seems low, especially for a financial services company unless it is small. Your pay probably will go up significantly just changing employers since most companies usually have tiny cost of living increases compared to true raises, and you have been there 5+ years.
TwoBitsCA
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by TwoBitsCA »

You say your ultimate goal is to FIRE...I'd submit that depends on how early you'd want to retire. You didn't mention how good the pension is but you might be able to retire by 55 with the gov job and have a nice steady retirement after that. With the private sector job, you might be able to retire earlier if you continue to increase your salary, control spending and invest well. As someone who will be retiring in less than 6 months with a nice gov pension at 55, I'm very happy with my decision to stay in the public sector (but after 27 years, I'm ready for a change). I think it depends a lot on your personality.
invest4
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by invest4 »

At a certain point in my career, I gave some thought to what I wanted out of the life and what kind of "race" I wanted to run to achieve it...and have acted accordingly. Positively, whatever you may decide now can be changed later. Give it some thought, weigh the options and plow forward.

Best wishes.
Mr. Rumples
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by Mr. Rumples »

At 34 years old, you have a lifetime ahead of you. Moving out of being strictly an attorney may open new fields in administration and policy in both government and out of government. Even in government, the way the work world is now, you may be working more than 40 hours a week - not a big deal if you love the job. And how a person reacts to stress, office politics &c is not only a factor of the job but the person's personality.

How the state pays salary increases, many times across the board without performance considerations, grates on some people, others see it as part of the deal so to speak.
"History is the memory of time, the life of the dead and the happiness of the living." Captain John Smith 1580-1631
namajones
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by namajones »

shunkman wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:07 pm Many private sector workers assume that working for the government is stress free and worry free. I think this is a myth. The stressors may sometimes be different in the public sector but they are still there.
This is true.

It's also a myth that private sector workers are paid more.
DarkHelmetII
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by DarkHelmetII »

shunkman wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:07 pm Many private sector workers assume that working for the government is stress free and worry free. I think this is a myth. The stressors may sometimes be different in the public sector but they are still there.
I think this is a great point. I myself have only been in private sector however have seen friends and family "grind" at various levels of public sector. More generally, regardless of this specific comparison, I think it is often hard to "guarantee" a more stress free environment while the $$ is a definitive cut.

And so to make this more actionable, perhaps OP considers holding out for something better that becomes more of a "no brainer" be it a higher level government opportunity where there is no drop in pay, a lateral to another company and / or find a way to increase current compensation.
Topic Author
krustytheclown
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by krustytheclown »

jaqenhghar wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:46 pm Have you considered looking at the federal govt? Given your financial services background, something like SEC, FINRA, etc. where you'd be on a much higher payscale than 100k.
Thanks for the recommendation. My impression is that working for SEC or FINRA would require a relocation to Washington or elsewhere and unfortunately relocation is not an option for my family at this time for reasons I can't relay here.

[/quote]

I am an in-house as well. Not all companies are the same, it sounds like you need an employer change not necessarily a move out of the private sector. I suggest that you at least look at other in-house roles. I am not sure the region or size of your company, but your pay seems low, especially for a financial services company unless it is small. Your pay probably will go up significantly just changing employers since most companies usually have tiny cost of living increases compared to true raises, and you have been there 5+ years.
[/quote]

I agree that my comp. is low and despite my attempts I have not been able to successfully convince my employer, or at least they are willing to play the game of chicken until I get another offer. I am positive that if I get another offer they will match or outbid the offeror, though even if they did I would not stay because of fear of reprisal for doing so in the future. Another issue I have is that I am in a relatively rural area and unless I could secure a work-from-home arrangement, I would have to relocate which unfortunately is not an option at this time. Many in-house legal gigs lend themselves to on-site work, especially if doing corporate governance and interaction/advising executives/directors is part of the job.

I really appreciate all of the comments. It means very much to me.
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anon_investor
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by anon_investor »

krustytheclown wrote: Sat Oct 16, 2021 7:23 am
anon_investor wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:22 pm I am an in-house as well. Not all companies are the same, it sounds like you need an employer change not necessarily a move out of the private sector. I suggest that you at least look at other in-house roles. I am not sure the region or size of your company, but your pay seems low, especially for a financial services company unless it is small. Your pay probably will go up significantly just changing employers since most companies usually have tiny cost of living increases compared to true raises, and you have been there 5+ years.
I agree that my comp. is low and despite my attempts I have not been able to successfully convince my employer, or at least they are willing to play the game of chicken until I get another offer. I am positive that if I get another offer they will match or outbid the offeror, though even if they did I would not stay because of fear of reprisal for doing so in the future. Another issue I have is that I am in a relatively rural area and unless I could secure a work-from-home arrangement, I would have to relocate which unfortunately is not an option at this time. Many in-house legal gigs lend themselves to on-site work, especially if doing corporate governance and interaction/advising executives/directors is part of the job.
Don't write off the possibility of remote work. A lot of companies are moving to remote (or mostly remote). A few of my friends who are also in-house attorneys are fully remote. Some of them were full remote before Covid times and some become fully remote forever during Covid times (company policy change).

I work at a megacorp and basically 100% of the attorney roles (and most corporate roles) are now effectively remote. We used to be 100% in-person, but the company has downsized office space after finding that everyone was able to work effectively remotely. Technically we are "hybrid" but that basically means that once a month we will have to go in for all day meetings (currently suspended for in-person). I personally still live near the office, but I have coworkers that live well over an hour drive away, not a big deal if you only have to do that once a month.
carolinaman
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by carolinaman »

I spent the last 22 years of my career as a IT director at a large local govt after spend first half of my career in private sector including 5 years as a SrVP in a consulting company. Overall, I was glad I did. The benefits were great and still are in retirement. However, it was not stress free. I had long hours and lots of pressure in getting things done. I worked a lot with state govt agencies and they were much more bureaucratic than local. My impression was they had less pressure than we had, but that depends on your position and organization culture. I would not assume it is low stress.

Given your situation, it sounds like this might be a good change, especially since you are confident that you can return to private practice if it does not work out. Best wishes.
RoadagentMN
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Re: State gov. job v. corp. job

Post by RoadagentMN »

TwoBitsCA wrote: Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:54 pm You say your ultimate goal is to FIRE...I'd submit that depends on how early you'd want to retire. You didn't mention how good the pension is but you might be able to retire by 55 with the gov job and have a nice steady retirement after that. With the private sector job, you might be able to retire earlier if you continue to increase your salary, control spending and invest well. As someone who will be retiring in less than 6 months with a nice gov pension at 55, I'm very happy with my decision to stay in the public sector (but after 27 years, I'm ready for a change). I think it depends a lot on your personality.
BH’s opine endlessly about FIRE, and your 100% correct, often the public employees often can in fact FIRE. I retired from a public safety position from a large Midwest city. I retired at age 50 at 95k per year with cola and 100% survivor benefit.
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