The Revolving Door of Public/Private Sector Careers
I want you to engage in a little thought experiment with me. Think back to the time when you applied to college or graduate school. Now think about those essays you wrote, earnestly explaining to the admissions officers how you needed to obtain a degree from their university. If you were like me, chances are pretty good that your essays were filled with visions of social justice, civil rights, helping the poor or serving the public good in some other quantifiable way. Chances are not good that you wrote something along the lines of, “I need to attend your university so that, immediately upon graduation, I can work for a huge corporation and make tons of money.”
However, for many people in finance and law, the public interest vision fell by the wayside and the lure of the private sector, with its plethora of high paying jobs, became more and more attractive as loans mounted and recruiters beckoned. It seemed to be a common refrain among my first year law school classmates that each person I met fully intended to practice public interest law upon graduation. However, statistics indicate that over 90% of my colleagues ended up working for corporate law firms. So, when did everyone give up on saving the world? Did they all fall prey to a wave of mass cynicism sometime in our second year?
Now, don’t get me wrong. Working at a big law firm or financial institution provides lots of advantages beyond the monetary. Excellent training programs, networking opportunities and hands-on experience working on the biggest cases and deals are just the start. Amazing opportunities for mentoring and a chance to pay off loans and build a lucrative career are nothing so turn your nose up at either.
But many people get the wrong impression that you can’t have it both ways. They buy into the realistic vs. idealistic myth than once you have gone over to “the dark side” of the private sector, you have “sold out” your dreams of working in public interest. Or, that once you leave for the public sector, you will be shunned as a tree hugger and the world of high-stakes high paying jobs will be closed to you.
But this is not necessarily so. It is possible to build a career that forges a a path between the public and private sectors, with a little bit of thought, planning and commitment. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Find some role models. Wherever you work, there are probably other people who have successfully created a public/private career path that suits them and that you admire. No need to reinvent the wheel. Try to develop mentoring relationships with people like this, so that they can facilitate your transitions.
- Develop a skill set that is transferable. Within your financial services or law firm, there are some departments and assignments that are more or less transferable to working in a government or non-profit setting. Try to identify the skill set (like litigation or structured finance) that would be useful to you in both the private and public sectors and then work to hone it.
- Do pro bono or volunteer work. Whether you are interested in an area of public service that your current employer offers opportunities to get involved in, or even if your interests are completely diverse, find a project that keeps you involved in that kind of work, and find time to do it. At a law firm, I found that it was easy to take on pro bono cases in interesting areas of public interest law, while sharpening my litigation skills. Similarly, most financial firms and consulting companies have charitable initiatives that you can participate in. Even if you never leave for the public sector full time, it’s a great way to add meaning to your work and use your talents in a positive way.
- Keep your foot in the (revolving) door. Keep up your networks and ties to people in the non-profit or government world while you are working at your private sector job and vice versa. Whether the connections are through social networks, professional associations or volunteer activities, the people that you meet will be able to open doors for you or make sure they are not closed behind you as you leave.
