re: Private Sector vs state employment

It depends what career you’re in.. obviously the state pay is not great for lower level maintenance and labor jobs.

For engineering, yes you make less than consulting firms but after the new SER rates took place in 2019, the pay scale shifted by at least 15k for entry level positions, and at that point I was only making 10k more in private, at mid-small size civil engineering firm. Barely noticeable after taxes..
Came back to the state and have gotten a 3-4% raise each summer with JBE in office… Don’t know that it’ll continue with Landry.
But that put me right around what I was making in consulting, maybe a little less. Still six figures and +/- a couple grand.
Way more stability, less stress, and better benefits, plenty time off. I just depends what you value.

In civil, there’s plenty of jobs in transportation to go around at the state level. I could see why some civils would work for a large firm or oil company if you have a structural background, but working at a small transportation firm vs the state doesn’t make sense to me unless you just want to say you work for a consultant.