Pros
While each department has different specific policies, most provide for every other Friday off. You of course work an additional hour on eight other days for this privilege, therefore you are still working at least a 40 hour week both weeks. Having this extra day helps in a variety of ways; it reduces your commute expenses by one day (when gas was high, this was a huge savings as you do not have to pay for gas at least one day every other week). When you have to have a day to get things done that cannot be completed on a weekend, you know you will have one day every other week to take care of them. The people that I worked with really cared about doing the best job they could for the citizens of Los Angeles County. Which considering budget reductions each and every year over the last five years speaks volumes. If the people care about their job, care about the citizens of Los Angeles County to which they provide services, then they will care about you as a co-worker and work with you to make the most of any situation. It helps to overlook the one or two individuals that are more difficult to work with. Considering that there always seems to be one of two people that make others life difficult for no good reason, this is a blessing. If you are fortunate to work for the County of Los Angeles and the people in your department do not like the work, their job, the service, keep your head down, do your job with a smile on your face and when you can, transfer to another department where they do care about the services they provide to the citizens of Los Angeles County. Do not let the frustration of one or two sour apples spoil it for you. The benefits are very good with the county, so if you are concerned about medical benefits the county is a good place to work. If you are a healthy individual as I am, the county allows you to donate some of your sick time to others that are not as fortunate. Just as with donating Blood to the American Red Cross, you give to help others, hoping you never have a need, but if you should have a need, you know they will be there for you! If you should have an unexpected illness and go through all of your sick leave, you can fill out paperwork to ask for donations of sick leave. In the department I worked with, people arrived at work ready to work. When there was a little down time, had a smile on their face and an encouraging word or story to share. Granted this did not happen every day or even every week, however was welcome when it did occur. I found my work to be well received and an appropriate attaboy or thank you given when earned. All in all a very caring environment where one can grow their career with pride.
Cons
As mentioned before, there are always one or two individuals at any large company, with county departments being no exception, that are more difficult to work with then any one person should be. Sadly you never know if their reasons are due to outside, non-work related reasons (family death and illness are good reasons someone might be more down in their life than others) or they are just burnt out on work and life in general. If burnt out, they tend to bring everyone around them down. If in management, they tend to be overbearing and difficult to work for / with. While you cannot avoid this type of person with your first position with the county. Remember to always be pleasant, do the work, follow their instructions to the letter and when you have enough time in position to put in for a transfer, do it. Once working at the county, you can talk to the friends you have made (and their friends) to find out what different department and different managers are like, thus avoiding the poor managers completely. Every large group has one or two of these types of people, so it is better to learn how to work with them and avoid if possible. Just consider it paying your dues and learning about human behavior, whatever you do, don't allow another persons sour disposition to take you down with them. Life is too short for that. Remember while you can not control another, you can control your reaction to the situation...at the end of the day we are all responsible for our own actions. If everyone takes responsibility for themselves things tend to have a way of working out in the long run.