For anyone looking to make a difference in the world in which they live, public administration is a career that gives you plenty of opportunities to do just that. While you can liken public administration to business administration, you will soon learn that you play by a whole different set of rules. Whereas in business administration each company can set its own policies and operating procedures, a public administrator is bound by government procedures, laws and organizational rules set up by some higher entity. However, this is where you can make an impact on your community, be it local, regional, state, national or even global.
1. You Can Make a Difference
Today’s public administrator with an advanced degree in the field will be heard by those who make the rules. You no longer need to be simply a game player, but you can help to shape a brighter future for those you serve. A Master of Public Administration from the University of San Francisco, for example, can help you learn how to work within the system to bring about the changes necessary within the public organization in which you work.
2. You Can Be the Liaison Between the Public and Private Sectors
Perhaps many people don’t realize that many public programs are funded by private entities. With the skills you learn and acquire along the way, you can bring about an awareness of the needs within your organization. The difference between a good public administrator and a great public administrator is an ability to bring all factions together for the common good. While there are always going to be documents to sign in duplicate, triplicate, quadruplicate and so forth, you can weed through the legal jungle to get the funding you need to make things happen.
3. Public Administrators Can Build Like-Minded Teams
One of the problems which many people have with public (that would be government) groups is the fact that they are dominated by what they see as the ‘good old boy’ system. Today’s public administrator is charged with doing away with that archaic organizational mindset. Why do things as they have always been done in a system that seems to be irretrievably broken? No, you don’t make the rules, but you can work within those rules to build teams committed to bringing about the changes necessary to get things done. You are, after all, a public servant, and as the administrator, it’s up to you to choose others committed to identifying breaks in the system and then setting into motion ways to ‘fix’ those problems.
Whether you set about lobbying for change or finding ways to make the rules work for you, a public administrator is tasked with the welfare of those being served by his or her organization. It takes a forward thinking individual who can be a liaison between the private and public sectors so that it is possible to work within the rigid confines of a government regulated environment. If you see that the system is broken and the people you live and work among are not being adequately served, public administration is the career that can help you work to mend those tears for a brighter future for all involved.