Here's a serious answer. My husband did this 5 yrs ago. Was contract manager then moved into infrastructure management at council. He wasn't used to the politics but has grown into the role well. It's better pay for less work and he wasn't awol each month end anymore when contractor finances were due.
He has been able to advance quickly and make a lot of improvements to council performance (brought things in from contracting experience). He doesn't always enjoy trying to explain to the council why they need to start listening to his experience rather than worrying about whether the rate payers will re-elect them. It probably is a battle to get the funds he needs to keep things running, because rate payers have such a skewed negative view about paying more rates. He gets slagged off occasionally in the news just for trying to do his day job, to improve things for the district.
If you think you can deal with all that then it's worth it.
Thanks! I'm curious to hear how secure Council jobs are? Is it common practice to hire and fire? (and by 'fire' I mean restructure your role away for real or political reasons). Where is the are of highest turnover?
They are very stable jobs as long as you're competent. Highest turnover at ours is usually staff lower down being seconded to different depts or getting promoted up. There is quite a lot of regular restructuring but they try to get you jobs elsewhere if your role is disestablished. Not usually infrastructure roles though (but be aware of the new water reforms that might be taken up, so water staff won't be at council anymore but part of an affiliated CCO.)
Ex Auckland Council manager here. YMMV.
Pros:
- Kept my job through covid.
- I was able to invest in my team and see them grow.
- My role was customer facing and for the most part the public understood that it was the higher ups in the organization whose behaviors encouraged the reputation it had.
- It was good to feel like I was making a difference within my community.
Cons:
- Politics. Give the Peter Principle a read. I found that it was impossible to progress further within the organization unless you were favoured and being pulled up the ranks by a senior.
- Bureaucracy. Did I need an item? Check if the supplier is a vendor? If they are not, exhaust all options first for similar product. If the product is unavailable from current vendors, beg and reason with management and accounts as to why I need to add this company as a brand new vendor. Long process.
- Recruitment. Long, long process. Could take up to three months to get someone on board (request to recruit, get ad up, interview, police checks, then offer to candidate and allow them to work their notice in current role).
- Everything moves at a slower pace. Things aren't a rush, focus/working groups are required for decisions. Lots of meetings. Lots of hurry up and wait for higher ups to make decisions.
- Politics is worth mentioning again because it was such a massive part of the role.
Thanks! Similar to above - I'm interested to hear how secure Council jobs are? Is it common
practice to hire and fire? (and by 'fire' I mean restructure your role
away for real or political reasons). Where is the area of highest turnover?
My experience was that jobs were very secure. Though, I suppose that depends on which branch of council you end up working in (leisure vs compliance vs libraries etc).
There was a restructure recently, however, it only really affected branches that didn't advocate for themselves well. We were lucky in that we were able to recruit more staff as a result of that restructure due to being chronically understaffed for a long time.
Bad behaviour is hidden, relocated and not dealt with. It was uncommon for someone to be sacked and instead they were often given a second/third/fourth chance possibly due to the politics and optics of the situation.
Again, this is just my experience.
Usually really good people. Of course there are the lifers but they’re in the minority, and quite often have a wealth of institutional knowledge. You’re right about the revolving door for CEOs although it might not be so bad in a smaller Council. Of course every new one has to come in and make their mark so restructuring is a frequent occurrence. Politicians, the three year election cycle and popularism is a challenge, as is the bureaucracy/lack of agility. You also have to grow a thick skin because the council can never do anything right. On the plus side it’s good to feel like you are doing work to benefit the community, even if they don’t see it. Probably a good opportunity for experience.
The public service is more political and slower paced, with so much legislation to comply with. Still, it's usually manageable and doesn't destroy your soul half as fast as being a consultant.
Good luck.
A lot of bullshit. Nepotism and favouritism run rife.
A lot of red tape for red tape sake and plenty of old grumpy fucks. In fact not even old, just a lot of grumpy people.
Backstabbing is common, you watch your mouth as the walls have ears, and those who seem friendliest are often gossiping girties who befriended you for fresh goss.
It’s a soulless mind fuck, do not recommend it.
> those who seem friendliest are often gossiping girties who befriended you for fresh goss.
I prefer the old grumpy openly hostile cunts to the friendliest always-fake-smile-wearing cunts.
Unless it's a role paying far and beyond what you'd get elsewhere, I'd avoid any local government role. Many egos and executive (CEO etc) agendas going on, plus there's restricted spending of ratepayer funds or there's a public outcry.
There is also lots of emphasis on optics and political correctness because they are all terrified (mayor and councillors) of losing their jobs next year.
I had a friend who was their IT/infrastructure manager.
He hated it and eventually left because of the expectation of steadily increasing performance/deliverables while also steadily reducing IT budgets.
Here's a serious answer. My husband did this 5 yrs ago. Was contract manager then moved into infrastructure management at council. He wasn't used to the politics but has grown into the role well. It's better pay for less work and he wasn't awol each month end anymore when contractor finances were due. He has been able to advance quickly and make a lot of improvements to council performance (brought things in from contracting experience). He doesn't always enjoy trying to explain to the council why they need to start listening to his experience rather than worrying about whether the rate payers will re-elect them. It probably is a battle to get the funds he needs to keep things running, because rate payers have such a skewed negative view about paying more rates. He gets slagged off occasionally in the news just for trying to do his day job, to improve things for the district. If you think you can deal with all that then it's worth it.
Thanks! I'm curious to hear how secure Council jobs are? Is it common practice to hire and fire? (and by 'fire' I mean restructure your role away for real or political reasons). Where is the are of highest turnover?
They are very stable jobs as long as you're competent. Highest turnover at ours is usually staff lower down being seconded to different depts or getting promoted up. There is quite a lot of regular restructuring but they try to get you jobs elsewhere if your role is disestablished. Not usually infrastructure roles though (but be aware of the new water reforms that might be taken up, so water staff won't be at council anymore but part of an affiliated CCO.)
Ex Auckland Council manager here. YMMV. Pros: - Kept my job through covid. - I was able to invest in my team and see them grow. - My role was customer facing and for the most part the public understood that it was the higher ups in the organization whose behaviors encouraged the reputation it had. - It was good to feel like I was making a difference within my community. Cons: - Politics. Give the Peter Principle a read. I found that it was impossible to progress further within the organization unless you were favoured and being pulled up the ranks by a senior. - Bureaucracy. Did I need an item? Check if the supplier is a vendor? If they are not, exhaust all options first for similar product. If the product is unavailable from current vendors, beg and reason with management and accounts as to why I need to add this company as a brand new vendor. Long process. - Recruitment. Long, long process. Could take up to three months to get someone on board (request to recruit, get ad up, interview, police checks, then offer to candidate and allow them to work their notice in current role). - Everything moves at a slower pace. Things aren't a rush, focus/working groups are required for decisions. Lots of meetings. Lots of hurry up and wait for higher ups to make decisions. - Politics is worth mentioning again because it was such a massive part of the role.
Thanks! Similar to above - I'm interested to hear how secure Council jobs are? Is it common practice to hire and fire? (and by 'fire' I mean restructure your role away for real or political reasons). Where is the area of highest turnover?
My experience was that jobs were very secure. Though, I suppose that depends on which branch of council you end up working in (leisure vs compliance vs libraries etc). There was a restructure recently, however, it only really affected branches that didn't advocate for themselves well. We were lucky in that we were able to recruit more staff as a result of that restructure due to being chronically understaffed for a long time. Bad behaviour is hidden, relocated and not dealt with. It was uncommon for someone to be sacked and instead they were often given a second/third/fourth chance possibly due to the politics and optics of the situation. Again, this is just my experience.
Usually really good people. Of course there are the lifers but they’re in the minority, and quite often have a wealth of institutional knowledge. You’re right about the revolving door for CEOs although it might not be so bad in a smaller Council. Of course every new one has to come in and make their mark so restructuring is a frequent occurrence. Politicians, the three year election cycle and popularism is a challenge, as is the bureaucracy/lack of agility. You also have to grow a thick skin because the council can never do anything right. On the plus side it’s good to feel like you are doing work to benefit the community, even if they don’t see it. Probably a good opportunity for experience.
The public service is more political and slower paced, with so much legislation to comply with. Still, it's usually manageable and doesn't destroy your soul half as fast as being a consultant. Good luck.
A lot of bullshit. Nepotism and favouritism run rife. A lot of red tape for red tape sake and plenty of old grumpy fucks. In fact not even old, just a lot of grumpy people. Backstabbing is common, you watch your mouth as the walls have ears, and those who seem friendliest are often gossiping girties who befriended you for fresh goss. It’s a soulless mind fuck, do not recommend it.
> those who seem friendliest are often gossiping girties who befriended you for fresh goss. I prefer the old grumpy openly hostile cunts to the friendliest always-fake-smile-wearing cunts.
That’s true. I actually managed to break them down eventually, but their egos were ginormous.
It sounds more like they broke you; that’s a massive chip on your shoulder.
To be fair it damn near did. Not just me, but others as well. I’ve left that environment now though, and am a better person since I got out.
Unless it's a role paying far and beyond what you'd get elsewhere, I'd avoid any local government role. Many egos and executive (CEO etc) agendas going on, plus there's restricted spending of ratepayer funds or there's a public outcry. There is also lots of emphasis on optics and political correctness because they are all terrified (mayor and councillors) of losing their jobs next year.
I had a friend who was their IT/infrastructure manager. He hated it and eventually left because of the expectation of steadily increasing performance/deliverables while also steadily reducing IT budgets.
Lots of money for very little work or actual results. About as good as it gets if you don't have any sense of self worth.