Career advice and pathsCareer adviceGetting ready for the world of workIn which sector should I work?IN WHICH SECTOR SHOULD I WORK: PUBLIC, PRIVATE OR LIBERAL PROFESSION?
It is a personal decision which depends mainly on your personality, abilities and personal ambitions. You should consider this issue in the early years of university and before choosing a career path.
To help you making up your mind, here is a comparative table of the 5 most notable differences between each sector:
| Public sector | Private sector | Liberal profession | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Recruitment | Public service: By competitive examination or on file study in accordance with the procedures laid down by special or particular statutes. (Decree No. 94/199 of 7 October 1994 on the General Statute of the Civil Service, Art.15, para.1); Public companies: usual1ly, after call for applications followed by file study and/or test, and interview. | Freedom for the employer to recruit the employee of his choice and vice versa. (Generally, after a call for applications followed by a study of the file and/or test and a job interview, but sometimes without these formalities and on recommendations). | Access and practice conditional on obtaining the required diploma (after a competitive examination), registration with the order of the profession concerned (notary, bailiff, pharmacist, architect, etc.) and the granting of an approval or authorization to practice by the competent authority. |
| 2. Salary | Determined by the category and index of the agent (derived from seniority). Good to know:
| Freely negotiated between the employee and the employer and indicated in the employment contract; where appropriate, the collective agreement of the branch may serve as a basis for negotiation. Good to know:
| Fees are negotiated freely between the specialist and his client. These are usually high but proportional to the reputation and depends on the volume of activity (the latter being impacted by the economic weight of the city of practice) and the quality of the clients. Good to know:
|
| 3. Job security | Very high (Revocations are rare, only in the case of serious breaches or very serious misconduct). | Low in SME's
| Very high Removal from office and/or disbarment in case of serious misconduct; |
| 4. Career development | Promotion and advancement by regulation. (Based on seniority and title). NB: In practice, the network is decisive for appointments to management functions and positions of responsibility. | Promotion based on personal merit, performance, output and/or the power of networking. | Increased awareness based on personal merit and performance (transparent process); |
| 5. Retirement | Automatic when the worker has reached the legal retirement age. (unless exceptionally extended by the competent authority). | According to the branch collective agreement or freely negotiated between the employer and the employee. | Automatic when the worker has reached the legal retirement age. (unless exceptionally extended by the competent authority). |
With regard to working hours, physical hardship, constraints and risks, it is generally the profession and the hierarchical position that determine the working conditions, independently of the sector.
NB: International organizations such as the UN, African Union, IMF, World Bank, etc. ─ very popular employers among graduates and professionals seeking to pursue international careers ─ generally recruit on the basis of highly selective examinations. Check the websites of the different organizations for information on their recruitment policies and examinations periods.
