When I was studying in engineering college, almost everyone I knew wanted to join the government, probably due to the job security and the illegal income that every government employee was said to make. So, when I got simultaneous offers from a private firm and the government electricity company (KESC), I wanted to join the latter company.
It was my father who advised me to join the private firm. "In a government job, you don't develop mentally, you become a yes-man and when you are fired for some reason, you cannot get a good job in the private sector. So I took his advice and have never regretted it.
One day a candidate was interviewed by the directors of a private shipping company. They were greatly impressed by him, until one director asked the candidate, "How are you so well-informed about this field, despite being unemployed?" The man replied that he was employed in the Customs and frequently came in contact with people working in shipping companies. The directors were divided on whether to employ him or not, until one of them said that since he had spent some years in a government department, he might be dishonest and corrupt. So the man didn't get the job.
Needless to say, this is what most people think, that a government officer has to be totally corrupt (even though I have known a few who were scrupulously honest). As I said, I'm glad I joined the private sector, even though I'd have been sent to Germany for training (as two of my class mates were). I came across them a few years back and I was stunned to find that they were just like country bumpkins. That is how I would have been today if I hadn't taken my father's advice.
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