Looking for opinion and some clarifications from all the Guru who is working and worked for the City and County of SF. I think this will be a life crossroad for me. Besides, friends, families and doing my researches, I think Reddit Sub is probably the best place to get first hand information. Feel free to reply or DM me, I welcome all feedbacks.

Currently I have a decent job in private sector, 120k - 150k depending on bonus, not very high but steady, 5% match on 401K. If I make the switch to a entry level City job to get my foot into the door, the first few years the salary would be in the lower 75k-85k range , but eventually it will go back up as the steps go up (or transferring to a higher salary position down the road).

I will work for the next 20 - 25 years until I retire, Here is what I can think of so far:

Private sector

Larger pool of 401k with 10% contribution and 5% employer match. Estimated to be about 1.2-1.5 million in the fund for distribution + social security check. But downside would be no pension and no medical, I have to pay out of the pocket.

VS

City and County for the next 20 - 25 years, here are the benefits I found on the website.

Benefit Contributions

2.0% of your salary to the City's Retiree Health Care Trust Fund 

7.5% - 10% of your salary (for FY2023-24) as an employee retirement contribution . This amount can go up or down each year, depending on how much the City is paying. It's important to remember that you don't lose this money. If you leave the City before you are eligible for retirement you get it back on your way out.

7.65% of your salary for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA): 6.2% goes to Social Security and 1.45% goes to Medicare

Health Benefits

20 or more years of service = 100%

15 or more years = 75%

10 or more years = 50%

5 or more years = access to coverage, but the City doesn't contribute

I moved to SF about a month ago after graduating with a bachelor’s in Health Informatics and Information Management. I also have my RHIA and CCA and completed two healthcare internships.

I’ve applied to SFDPH. I’ve also applied pretty broadly outside of traditional HIM because I’m mainly trying to get my foot in the door and establish myself here.

I’m still trying to understand how City hiring actually works. For anyone who has gone through the process:

• How difficult is it to get hired as an external candidate?
• How important are eligible lists?
• Once you’re on an eligible list, how often do people actually get referred/interviewed?
• Are there other opportunities that are good entry points for someone with a healthcare/admin/data background?
• Does networking with people inside SFDPH help at all, or is the process mostly determined by civil service rules?

I’m not expecting my first role to be perfect. I’m mainly looking for a realistic way to get into being employed by the city, build experience, and grow from there.

I would greatly appreciate any advice from people who have actually been through the process!!

There was a position I had in mind that I was hoping to pursue whilst I was in college. When I graduated in 2024, I'd been told that the old Certification List was going to be used for 3 years instead of the original intention of 2. I applied 10 months after graduating when the position finally opened to create a new certification list. Took the test in Feb 2026. After a few weeks I received a very good result in the rankings. Took until a few weeks ago to be referred for open roles, and once I indicated my interest for the openings I've since gotten crickets.

Why does each of these steps take so long? The opportunity to try and get on the cert list is only open for a few weeks every few years. It took 4 months from the close of the application to have candidates take a test. Another few weeks to get results for a multiple choice exam. 5 months before the list was actually used for the first time. I applied 10 months ago, which would be about 1% of my expected lifespan. Plus at this point, it honestly feels like it could take an endlessly longer amount of time.

I have a different job for the time being, albeit an unstable one. I've invested quite a bit into wanting to work for the city. I love SF and want to help make it better.

Is there anything I could possibly do, or should I just keep waiting?

Today, they sent out the 2026 Employee Commute Survey to all employees. It says the survey is intended to help understand employee commuting patterns, improve commute options, and assess environmental impact.
Does anyone know if this is just an annual survey, or could it be related to future positive changes in the RTO/telecommuting policy? Has anyone heard anything about possible changes?

I technically qualified for the 1842 and ranked 4(which still had hundreds of people)

My non government background isnt in office work and probably reads as weaker than other city applicants.

I do currently work for another city department for the last 3 years. I haven't even landed an interview for 1842. But I think I might have a better chance at 1840 since that's the start of the series.

Do i need to reapply for 1840?

My partner found out our medical group Brown & Toland no longer covers Sutter Health as of April 2026. Did anyone who was also affected by this receive any communications from SFHSS about this? We’re not sure how to navigate this as we have a trusted team at Sutter Health. We were told we could get care at UCSF. Does anyone have experience with this?