privatizing government job selection

Daellea is single, 32, and wants a more permanent job than the one she has now but her efforts to gain a government job have left her cold. She queries the ethics of the increasing trend to privatize public sector job selection.

“I’m all for private enterprise,” says Daellea, “but I don’t think the selection of government jobs should be farmed out to private agencies. It figures that businesses out to make a fast buck are not going to be as scrupulous as government employees in the etiquette of selecting new recruits, and after three bad experiences I’m only going to apply for government jobs that recruit directly from now on.”

“I put the first two bad experiences down to bad luck,” laughs Daellea, “but when the third agency turned out to be worse than the other two I got smart about what was going on.”

“What really annoys me is that a government department places the advertisement but when you telephone for an information package you’re directed to a private recruiting agency which invites you to an information session at which information packages are given to interested applicants. It’s all about money! The more people who attend the information sessions the more money the agency gets.”

“I don’t waste my time applying for unsuitable jobs so the information packages are really vital,” says Daellea. “I resent having to give up a whole evening, sometimes traveling out of my way, in order to obtain something that can mailed to me.”

“And when the information package presented by these private agencies is not up to the usual standard of government information packages - and none of the three I’ve received have been - my resentment is exacerbated.”

“Despite all this, I actually applied for the third job - it was something very unusual, requiring unique talents that I possessed and the money was good, too,” says Daellea, “but I should have listened to my gut feeling and given it a miss.”

"I really don't think it is proper or ethical for the government to privatize public sector job selection."

Read more by Daellea on this issue:

government job selection ethics
Interviewed for government job by foreign consultant
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