Although 85% of the 600,000 public sector workers facing redundancy would consider working in the private sector, more than 90% of commercial employers believe that their background and experience is irrelevant.
 
The situation is not helped by the fact that 87% of private sector bosses believe that public sector candidates need to better identify and communicate their skills, lack sufficient market insight and are unrealistic about the differences between the two sectors.
 
As a result, they struggle to assess the skills and experience of potential candidates accurately, with more than half indicating difficulties in understanding differences between job titles.
 
These are the findings of a survey undertaken among 1,435 staff and 348 employers by recruitment consultancy Hays. Mark Staniland, managing director of Hays Career Transition Services, said: "To make themselves attractive to the private sector, candidates must understand how their skills and experience are relevant and useful to potential employers, be ready to prove they understand the markets and companies they apply for and be capable of demonstrating how they can add value."
 
Therefore, it was crucial that existing public sector employers offered staff professional support in making the transition to the private sector. For example, some 29% of potential candidates expected interviews to be both harder and more structured, while one in five said that they needed help with interview skills.
 
Moreover, they need help in ensuring that their expectations are realistic. While 22% of respondents said they feared that their public sector background would put them at a distinct disadvantage when going for a commercial position, a third believed that it was an advantage instead.
 
But two thirds of respondents indicated that they intended to develop new skills or gain new qualifications to make themselves more attractive to employers, while three out of five believed that a move to the private sector would enhance their career progression capabilities.
 
Most felt that salaries and benefits were also better than the public sector, but believed that private sector work/life balance was worse. Employers, meanwhile, felt that career progression in the private sector was more informal and the hours worked by staff longer. More than two thirds also indicated that the benefits provided were not as good as in the public sector.
 
Staniland said: "There’s a lot of stereotyping about working life in both sectors, which both sides have to overcome. Having a clear idea about your career goals, understanding your skills and how you can add value to a prospective employer are always essential in a job search, but it is even more critical that you can convey them in the current climate and when making the transition from the public to the private sector."