The study estimates the role of personality traits in choosing between careers in the private and the public sectors among Russian students. We used the 10-item Big Five instrument (TIPI) on a sample of 804 students from a major Moscow-based University in conjunction with a questionnaire of career preferences. The results demonstrate that students aiming to work in the public sector differ from their peers who prefer a private sector in terms of personality traits. The results are particularly strong for students preferring a career in government: they score higher on extraversion, conscientiousness and lower on openness to experience. Conscientiousness is by far the strongest predictor of government career preference. At the same time, panel data (N = 184) collected two years after graduation show that those who actually stayed in the public sector score higher only on emotional stability scale. Thus, the public sector seems to attract individuals with one set of personality traits but holds those with a diff erent one. Implications of this finding are discussed and a more active use of longitudinal designs is advocated.