Care to share the things you regret if they are pertinent to other people in a similar situation, or any advice re: making a similar decision?
Sure thing. And, reading back up, I really was in a very similar position to you EconDiva. My company had been purchased by an American mega-corp. The centre had started shifting away from where I live. In the last year I was there I was travelling quite a bit. After the company was purchased, a lot of the old guard left, leaving a clear path to the upper management roles. I was basically there. Family issues had me questioning whether I needed to downshift.
The position I took with government was both lower pay and less seniority - I essentially started from the bottom again. I chose the opportunity I did because it was/is a pretty unique job with a lot of interesting possibilities.
It terms of regrets, obviously the special species of bureaucracy you have to come to terms with is an issue. And I'm speaking less about day-to-day stuff (mega-corps have their own admin issues), and more about HR. In my last job I moved up quickly in recognition of the things I accomplished. That doesn't happen in the (Canadian) government. You get back slaps and glowing reviews, but there's very little opportunity to move ahead in your career on your merits. You need to compete up with people who may just be better at writing their silly tests.
More broadly, I miss the immediate feedback of a job well done. Very little in government compares to winning a six-figure job off a proposal you wrote, knocking a client pitch/presentation out of the park, or creating a product that people pay for. There are still victories in my new role, but you rely on people telling you how you're doing, as opposed to just objectively killing it.
Associated with this, I also miss some of the flexibility that comes from producing for your boss. In my last role I had more control of my day-to-day work life as long as I was doing a good job. In government you're being paid by the tax payer, so there's a heightened sense of responsibility to do the nine-to-five and stick to your officially negotiated entitlements.
Benefits-wise, it was nice to always have the possibility that my pay would be higher than my salary, bonuses feel good. Oh, and frequent flyer miles. I miss those.
On the pension, I think it was a bit of a wash if you take risk out of the equation. Because I was so late starting in the public service, the benefit doesn't pay off as quickly as I would have liked. Additionally, my previous employer matched contributions. I certainly appreciate it, risk is obviously huge, but it wasn't the benefit it would have been had I joined up 10 years earlier (I'm 35 this year).
