What does a city do if there’s a sudden disease outbreak? Who decides between building a new highway or adding a railroad? People in public administration are the ones who hold the answers through their research, analysis, leadership and public service. They listen to concerns, collaborate with others and respond to the community to improve people’s lives.

Why It’s Important to San Diego

The public administration sector includes work in local, state and federal government. San Diego County is home to more than 3 million people, living across 19 local governments. San Diego also shares an international border and is home to many federal agencies, making public service work an especially important part of our economy. 

Subsectors

• Local (city/county) government
• State government
• Federal government
• U.S. Postal Service

Sector Job Growth 

What Are the Largest Occupations in This Sector? 

How Do I Start My Career in Public Administration?

Do Some Research

• Use Career Coach to explore which occupations align with your interests, get a behind-the-scenes peek at careers and discover local companies

Expand Your Network

• Use social media tools like LinkedIn to network with professionals and request informational interviews to ask people about their career path, education and job responsibilities. Check out this video for help getting started. 
• Go to local public council and committee meetings to network with city professionals

Get Hands-on Experience

• Visit sandiego.gov to learn about internships, mentorships and job shadowing opportunities with the City of San Diego
• Volunteer to be a poll worker on election days for San Diego County at sdvote.com

Get Training

• Check out our On-demand Training Library to build essential and technical skills related to occupations in the field
• Paralegal: Get certified through UCSD Extension programs
• Firefighters: Get training through Palomar College
• Consider degree programs at the SDSU School of Public Affairs or one of our other 4-year universities

Posters and Printers

Visit workforce.org/posters for more Posters and Printouts

Data source: Emsi Labor Market Analytics, 2020 – economicmodeling.com