GeekDrew
Diamond Member
A lot of people complain about government jobs because the "front line" of the government - the ones that interact with the public - are (in my experience) usually the ones that aren't all that bright, and are tired of working with the incompetence of the general public (yes, even the stupid ones realize that the general public's stupidity is second to none).
I hit my 5-year service anniversary with the government a few months ago; I'm 24 years old right now. The office that I work for (that is, the entire hierarchy under the single elected official to which we report) runs very well, and there is no doubt in my mind that we have the brightest employees of all of the departments in our local government. There are a couple of people that are fairly clueless, and are in way over their heads, but you have that in *every* office - public or private - and time will eventually take care of them (they'll be fired or resign; not promoted). I'm extremely proud to have my current position -- it pays well and the benefits are decent. That said, we're not immune to layoffs, budget cuts, etc. Some counties are going bankrupt, employees are quitting or being let go, etc. We aren't to that point right now, but we might be next year. I don't think that I will personally be touched by any cost-savings measure (nor anyone else in our IT sub-department), but there's no guarantee of that.
The last two government jobs I had, however, were nearly the opposite of my current office. Few people had any idea that the world was round, much less what it was they were supposed to be doing. They were almost all overpaid and underworked. My contempt for those offices grew extremely quickly, and I got out of them at the next point that I felt would be beneficial for me in the long-run. Part of me does feel sorry - still - for the last agency I worked for, because only 1 out of their 10 employees (that one being my former assistant) has any idea what it is that needs to be done to make the office keep going for the long-haul, and she doesn't have the authority to order it be done.
In my not-in-the-least-bit-humble opinion, the nation needs to reinvent our political parties, and it has to happen at the LOCAL level, and work up, because the locals are the ones with the most direct impact on citizens, and they also are generally the most clueless ones.
I hit my 5-year service anniversary with the government a few months ago; I'm 24 years old right now. The office that I work for (that is, the entire hierarchy under the single elected official to which we report) runs very well, and there is no doubt in my mind that we have the brightest employees of all of the departments in our local government. There are a couple of people that are fairly clueless, and are in way over their heads, but you have that in *every* office - public or private - and time will eventually take care of them (they'll be fired or resign; not promoted). I'm extremely proud to have my current position -- it pays well and the benefits are decent. That said, we're not immune to layoffs, budget cuts, etc. Some counties are going bankrupt, employees are quitting or being let go, etc. We aren't to that point right now, but we might be next year. I don't think that I will personally be touched by any cost-savings measure (nor anyone else in our IT sub-department), but there's no guarantee of that.
The last two government jobs I had, however, were nearly the opposite of my current office. Few people had any idea that the world was round, much less what it was they were supposed to be doing. They were almost all overpaid and underworked. My contempt for those offices grew extremely quickly, and I got out of them at the next point that I felt would be beneficial for me in the long-run. Part of me does feel sorry - still - for the last agency I worked for, because only 1 out of their 10 employees (that one being my former assistant) has any idea what it is that needs to be done to make the office keep going for the long-haul, and she doesn't have the authority to order it be done.
In my not-in-the-least-bit-humble opinion, the nation needs to reinvent our political parties, and it has to happen at the LOCAL level, and work up, because the locals are the ones with the most direct impact on citizens, and they also are generally the most clueless ones.
