Private or public? : final year B.Com students’ career choice between the public service and the private sector in Malta

Abstract

This research study was undertaken to evaluate the career choice of final year Bachelor of Commerce students between the private sector and the public service, and the reasons behind this choice. The aim was to give recommendations that can make the public service a more attractive employer to knowledge workers. Semi-structured interviews were used to answer the research questions ―Do final year Bachelors of Commerce students opt for the private sector over the public service for their career?‖ and ―What are the underlying reasons of this choice?‖ It was found that students prefer working for the private sector to the public service. This is mostly due to a lack of knowledge available to them on the reality of the environment found in the public service. They are also influenced by their family and friends whom they turn to in order to try to fill the knowledge gaps. This can give rise to a number of misconceptions that makes the career choice based on false information. Moreover, it was found that bureaucracy and ambiguity push newly graduates away from certain career paths while an environment that offers opportunities for growth and development pulls them towards particular firms. This study shows that the public service needs to make more information available to students about its environment to help them base their choice on facts rather than misconceptions. Various methods can be used to spread this information such as working with the University of Malta to introduce credits more focused on the public service or by using the media such as social networks to market itself as a viable employer.