Government jobs v. Private sector jobs

[quincyyyyy]

I figure government jobs have better hours, more vacation time, and on a normal basis you are serving the public good.  Whereas working in the private sector you can make loads of cash.  Are these correct assumptions?  What do you guys think about this?

[NoUsername]

I work for the government, don't serve the public good, and make quasi-loads of cash.  More than the average starting lawyer but less than what the average law student expects. 

[smittypits]

I intern for the Government...hours are definitely better (most of the attorneys are in at 9 and gone by 5 or 6, with obvious exceptions if there is a trial coming up or something), and everyone, for the most part, is friendly and relatively happy...however, there is not much money in it, so you have to be prepared to either leave after a few years and go into private practice, or kinda scrape by, cause it's not easy paying off loans and paying living expenses on Gov't salary. Worst comes to worst, you do it for a few years, get great trial experience, then go over to private practice and make more money.

[quincyyyyy]

I intern for the Government...hours are definitely better (most of the attorneys are in at 9 and gone by 5 or 6, with obvious exceptions if there is a trial coming up or something), and everyone, for the most part, is friendly and relatively happy...however, there is not much money in it, so you have to be prepared to either leave after a few years and go into private practice, or kinda scrape by, cause it's not easy paying off loans and paying living expenses on Gov't salary. Worst comes to worst, you do it for a few years, get great trial experience, then go over to private practice and make more money.

Do you intern for the DA's office?  I hear federal government jobs have better benefits and pay.  Is this true?

[jsbowen]

however, there is not much money in it, so you have to be prepared to either leave after a few years and go into private practice, or kinda scrape by, cause it's not easy paying off loans and paying living expenses on Gov't salary.

There is a program that government/non-profit lawyers pay a lower monthly loan payment for 10 years, then the balance is forgiven.  CCRAA, I believe.

[smittypits]

Yeah, I work for in a DA's office in the NYC boroughs...not too sure about Federal v. State-based payment and benefits, but I guess it makes sense that Federal has better pay and perks...those jobs are harder to come by though, from what I understand.

JSBowen, I also heard of that government program, and that's a HUGE help with loans. Apparently, you can pay as little as around 350-400 dollars a month or something, as opposed to around $1K like most people will need to pay. It's a long time to stay in the public sector and not make a ton of money, but if you like your job, having your loans whiped out after 10 years is pretty great.