Public Versus Private Sector Employment: Making a Choice

You are close to graduation and giving serious thought to what you would like to do with your fine educationbesides make money. When searching for employment, what do you look for in a job description to determine whether you are interested in pursuing the opportunity? Considerations like meeting the minimum qualifications for the job, the rate of pay, job location, the fit with your career goals, and the reputation of the potential employer are some of the issues that need to be evaluated before you invest the time and effort in pursuing an opportunity.

The potential employer's reputation is very important. Your attitudes toward work and the path that your career takes depend on the work environment your employer provides for you. Choosing the right employer is not trivial.

Last year I made a major transition: I moved from the public sector to the private sector. For the first eight years of my career, I worked for the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM). The USBM was the largest single employer for mining-related jobs for engineers and scientists in the United States until it was phased out by the U.S. Congress in 1995. I now work for the fifth largest gold producer in the world, Newmont Mining Corporation. What do I mean by the public and private sector? The public sector is composed of federal, state, and local government entities. The government hires engineers and scientists for a variety of jobs, mostly in the area of R&D. The private sector is the heartbeat of a capitalistic society. It is composed of any entity providing goods or services for a price; the objective of the private sector is to produce and market a product that returns a profit to investors.

GOALS: There are fundamental differences in the objectives of the public and private sectors. The role of government in the scientific field is to expand the knowledge base and provide for the public good. This is usually referred to as high-risk research because the payback on the initial expenditures is neither guaranteed nor near-term. Government R&D programs are set-up such that the public-at-large benefits from the results (e.g., the space program, medical research on genetics and diseases such as AIDS, and defense-related technologies that have civilian uses). Private-sector R&D is focused on short-term results for developing a new product or improving an existing product to provide a competitive edge for the company or to increase profits. Private-sector research in the minerals industry is not normally high risk or long term.

ENVIRONMENT: Both sectors can provide exhilarating and satisfying jobs, depending on what you want. The government is better suited to provide for the overall long-term R&D needs of an industry, whereas, a company is better suited at meeting company-specific R&D needs.

If you can work on a project for 3­5 years and be comfortable with the possibility that results will not be implemented for another decade, then the government would be a suitable employer. The USBM, for example, provided the basic R&D needed to develop new technologies that were a decade or two ahead of what was needed by the industry. The USBM's research provided companies with a basis to start tailoring the technology to their particular need.

If you need to work on projects that are short term with immediate results, you may want to seek employment in the private sector. Many of the projects I currently work on last less than four months. The results of the test work are used to make decisions that effect plant operations almost immediately. For instance, Newmont's short-term goals include annual gold production; the work that I am asked to do in the laboratory is designed to help meet that goal for the year.

EXPERIENCE: When I graduated from college with a B.S. in metallurgical engineering, I did not have a clear idea of where I wanted to go in my career. So, I went to graduate school and got a M.S. in nuclear engineering. The two years I spent in graduate school really helped me recognize that I wanted to do research; thus, I joined the USBM in Reno after graduation. Here, I could quite conceivably work on developing a new process for the recovery of iron from the Duluth Gabbro one year and work on the recovery of gold from disseminated sulfide ores the next. The USBM also focused on the environmental needs of the minerals industry. This provided a young metallurgical engineer with quite a well-rounded background.

Industry provides the opportunity for a young engineer to apply his or her understanding of the scientific principles to actual processes. This is what most of you will end up doing. The results of the test work that I do at Newmont have immediate application. This is a much more satisfying scenario than working at the USBM, where the application of results was not always guaranteed. At Newmont, the work I do is initiated by a request from an operational unit. This means someone is waiting for the results before I start my work.

A significant difference between public and private sector R&D is how far a project is taken from the laboratory to commercial operation. For instance, Newmont Gold Company started looking into the treatment of low-grade sulfide ores. The company started with a R&D phase to develop a process, followed by smallscale demonstrations and largescale demonstrations. It is now planning to commercialize the process. This scenario is typical for the introduction of new processes in industry. Public sector R&D, however, stops at the small-scale demonstrations. In some cases, an industrial partner who needs the technology immediately will take the technology to commercialization.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: There is a major difference in philosophy between the public and private sectors regarding participation in professional societies. Active participation in professional societies such as TMS was encouraged and accepted by the USBM as part of the job. Newmont employees attend pertinent meetings, but Newmont does not actively encourage its employees to do more than attend meetings.

The value of networking with other scientists working on long-term R&D in the same field cannot be over-emphasized. When I first moved to Washington, D.C., to take over the management of the USBM recycling R&D program, I had no knowledge of the field besides curbside programs that I participated in as a homeowner. My participation in the TMS Recycling Committee helped me get into the technical aspects of the recycling industry much faster than I would have done otherwise. The network I established through TMS helps me in my current position as well. The importance of establishing networks is paramount. You do not want to reinvent the wheel if you do not have to!

The publication of research results is another area that is different between government and private industry. The government is interested in disseminating research results far and wide. When I joined the USBM, I was asked to work on developing a process to treat refractory gold ores in an alkaline system. Within eight months I was writing a paper for publication. If I had worked for a gold company, I would not have breathed a word of this to anyone outside of the company because this process could have ended up providing a competitive edge to my employer.

DECISION: Should you focus your job search in the private or public sector? I joined the government for my first job not out of any ideals, but because it appeared to provide the kind of work environment I could feel comfortable in. I felt at the time that I needed to work in an environment where being a woman would not be a hindrance. Eight years later, I came to industry much better prepared to deal with the conservative nature of the mining industry.

Your decision depends on whether you are looking to get into the R&D field or if you are looking to get some practical operating experience. For someone not quite sure where his or her interests lie, the government agencies are a good source of varied work without having to change employers. If you know you want to get into the practical side of being an engineer or scientist, look to the private sector for employment.

Pragna Bhakta
Senior Metallurgist, Newmont Gold Company