On being civil servant
Hi all. Here's is a small resume of my situation. Looking g forward to hear what you think.
Cheers
Jo
I come from a family where I received a very strong education and grew up with a lot of intellectual and cultural capital. My parents are top-level public school teachers in France. On my father’s side, the family came from the bourgeoisie but lost its financial wealth. On my mother’s side, there is an engineer. Despite this background, we never had real financial capital (by that I mean the kind of wealth associated with the high bourgeoisie — even though, looking back, we traveled a lot, lived in central Paris, and had a comfortable life, the cost of living was much lower at the time).
We grew up surrounded by culture — art, design, and music — but outside traditional elite social circles (private schools, inherited networks). My parents were strongly attached to public education, which meant we didn’t follow the standard elite paths leading to places like Harvard, or Cambridge.
I first pursued music and studied at the French National Conservatory (the highest level in the country), while also studying political science. I then tried twice to pass the top civil service entrance exams. I currently work at the Ministry of Culture.
I’m now on track to become a senior civil servant. In France, this usually goes through a very selective state school (formerly ENA), which traditionally trained top administrators. What I’m realizing at 30 is that, given today’s cost of living, the salaries in this career may not allow me to offer the standard of living I want for my future children
Salaries start around €3,000 and peak at about €6,000 per month. By comparison, my younger brother earned CHF 80k in his first job in Switzerland, and my older brother earns around €100k. My parents earn about €5,000 (mother) and €3,000 (father).
I feel like things are moving fast, and I’m afraid of ending up wanting children without having the financial means to give them the education I aspire to. For me, raising a child properly would require at least €8,000 per month, ideally closer to €12,000.
At the same time, I’m good at what I do. My path is coherent, with real successes and real failures that have shaped me, and I’m actually very much within the norm for this kind of trajectory. Right now, my instinct is that the best option may be to stay on this path and find ways, within this field, to eventually earn more — even if it takes time — rather than starting over in a world like banking or finance, which feels culturally and socially foreign to me.
I’d really appreciate outside perspectives
I’m not French, am from an Asian country but studied in America. I work in my government because they paid for my college while all my friends went off to Wall Street.
I fucking hate my life and the work. I think the public service is completely meaningless, filled with mediocre people without aspirations in life, pays shit, and has taught me zero commercial skills thus far. Even though I’ve come in in a very privileged position (govt gave me a full ride), I recognise that I’m absolutely rotting here and am looking to recruit out ASAP into banking/consulting. Concern is that the longer I stay, the more useless and further away from a career where I can make half decent money I’ll be.
If money is a concern (and it should be), figure out a way to get out. The way inflation has gone last few years, your and my public service salaries won’t cut it if you have hopes of making it out of the underclass.
If its singapore then say singapore, anyway plenty of scholars over the decades found their way to banking /consulting after their bond ends. It used to be 8yrs during my time. Your first order of business is to find a way into a more market-oriented function (eg economist at mti/mas)
Good guess. It has been genuinely so bad (even for government standards) that I’m rerecruiting and looking to break ASAP. Org is extremely pigeonholed despite marketing itself as finance and economic policy focused; realised from talking to seniors that I will gain zero transferable or commercial skills here by staying; not one scholar in last 10Y+ has left to do anything beyond back office compliance or becoming a “financial advisor”. Minimal chance for a transfer anytime soon bc they like to hold on to “talent”. Only wish I had found all this out sooner and could’ve recruited while my U.S. F1 visa was still active.
I’ve chiefly realised the govt scholarship system has a huge adverse selection problem - after going to a top global school, your best and most dynamic individuals will likely never gel with the rigid bureaucratic local culture of the govt and will look to break ASAP or leave immediately after their bond. Those that stay, rise up and ultimately become leaders are mostly the mediocre chaff that couldn’t hack it in an actual competitive environment. It is no wonder the country is now mostly headed by reactive paper pushers who know how to keep the system ticking just fine but lack commercial awareness/experience or forward thinking strategy.
The sg(and hk) financial service market is full of ex singapor public sector folks from all backgrounds, overseas scholars in particular. Government experience is viewed favorably by the best employers (we arent talking about your aunty uncle SMEs). Take a look at MBB , gs and the like and you'll see many ex gov scholars. Anyway you should also reach out to them as they are yourbest source of information. There was a time when banks would actually help pay off the bond of scholars (via a sign on bonus) but those days are gone. Time to navigate the system and get into a market facing stat board or ministry
You should also have had at least 1 rock solid internship in financial services given your target school background. If all else fails you will be a 100% lock for a top mba
Appreciate it, I have really been struggling to find positive LinkedIn examples of those who were clearly government scholars and then broke bond / exited to a good finance gig. The few I’ve found and spoken with either exited to less-than-ideal roles after their bond, did an MBA to pivot, or broke their bond 1 year in so that they’d still qualify for Analyst programs. Will do more searching nonetheless. I still do believe most govt experience (even that of an overseas scholar) ain’t worth jack shit on its own to an investment bank or fund manager. At the end of the day my scholar friends and I in the finance ministries and stat boards are just pushing papers and replying to emails. Not learning anything commercially relevant which is scary
Based on the most insightful WSO threads and discussions, here's a breakdown of your situation and some advice:
1. Your Current Path and Strengths
2. Financial Concerns
3. Exploring Options Within Your Field
4. Switching to the Private Sector
5. Balancing Financial and Personal Goals
6. Perspective on Comparisons
Final Thoughts
Your instinct to stay on your current path while finding ways to increase your income within your field is sound. Focus on leveraging your strengths, exploring higher-paying opportunities within public administration or international organizations, and building financial security through strategic planning. At the same time, keep an open mind about the private sector, as it could offer opportunities that align with your skills and values without requiring a complete cultural shift.
Sources: Former Deloitte and Booz Allen Ask Me Anything, Comprehensive guide of studies in France, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/ib-in-france-0?customgpt=1, I Don't Want to be Underpaid
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