normal degree in stat board vs ministry

[hanszzz]

hi all.. been reading invaluable advices here and have a question of my own..

i'm currently in the midst of making a job switch away from my current job at a stat board.. went for interviews blah blah blah... now i got 2 offers, one from a ministry and one from another stat board..

the thing is i am not a scholar.. heck.. mine only no honors degree nia.. been reading up on posts and was wondering if career progression-wise, is it better if i go stat board than go ministry??

ministry got alot more scholars? if i go ministry, i can expect NOT to progress very far?

stat board got their own schemes and hiring systems.. so that means i stand a better chance in career progression (less emphasis on my degree class)?

in all honestly, the offer from the ministry one seems higher post (head) than the one in stat board (manager).. but i got gut feeling that i might diao for v long in the ministry..

of course, i am not aiming to be CEO or wad lah.. but i'll be glad to reach Director level by mid-40s.. i know that it is possible in stat boards.. in ministry, director level reserved by scholars?

any advice?

Originally Posted by hanszzz

hi all.. been reading invaluable advices here and have a question of my own..

i'm currently in the midst of making a job switch away from my current job at a stat board.. went for interviews blah blah blah... now i got 2 offers, one from a ministry and one from another stat board..

the thing is i am not a scholar.. heck.. mine only no honors degree nia.. been reading up on posts and was wondering if career progression-wise, is it better if i go stat board than go ministry??

ministry got alot more scholars? if i go ministry, i can expect NOT to progress very far?

stat board got their own schemes and hiring systems.. so that means i stand a better chance in career progression (less emphasis on my degree class)?

in all honestly, the offer from the ministry one seems higher post (head) than the one in stat board (manager).. but i got gut feeling that i might diao for v long in the ministry..

of course, i am not aiming to be CEO or wad lah.. but i'll be glad to reach Director level by mid-40s.. i know that it is possible in stat boards.. in ministry, director level reserved by scholars?

any advice?

If offer package is similar, go stat board, then jump to private. But I heard some stat boards have long hours - not that they have a lot of work to do, but the people are afraid to go home before the boss.

[hanszzz]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If offer package is similar, go stat board, then jump to private. But I heard some stat boards have long hours - not that they have a lot of work to do, but the people are afraid to go home before the boss.

any reason why i should ignore the ministry offer? higher title leh??

[miwashi]

titles mean nothing.
At my place 22-year-old fresh graduates with no working experience are called 'managers'.
So are 50 year old aunties who cannot even construct a simple 4-choice survey question in english.

it's the grade that matters.

[hanszzz]

Originally Posted by miwashi

titles mean nothing.
At my place 22-year-old fresh graduates with no working experience are called 'managers'.
So are 50 year old aunties who cannot even construct a simple 4-choice survey question in english.

it's the grade that matters.

hmmmm.. thanks for shedding light.. i'm thinking the title might be useful for a future job switch..

anyway, any ideas for the position level of scholars in stat boards?? can roughly expect to have a career ceiling at the position just under them.. (eg. lowest scholar - President = ceiling at vice-president)..

Originally Posted by miwashi

titles mean nothing.
At my place 22-year-old fresh graduates with no working experience are called 'managers'.
So are 50 year old aunties who cannot even construct a simple 4-choice survey question in english.

it's the grade that matters.

exactly. In govt, the job grade determines your basic salary range. Some stat boards keep "re-designating" the titles .. today you can be a "head" which sounds quite ambiguous , next week you can be re-designated to "director" but essentially no pay rise and you are still doing the same things, in charge of a section/branch/team whatever you want to call it.

Originally Posted by hanszzz

hi all.. been reading invaluable advices here and have a question of my own..

i'm currently in the midst of making a job switch away from my current job at a stat board.. went for interviews blah blah blah... now i got 2 offers, one from a ministry and one from another stat board..

the thing is i am not a scholar.. heck.. mine only no honors degree nia.. been reading up on posts and was wondering if career progression-wise, is it better if i go stat board than go ministry??

ministry got alot more scholars? if i go ministry, i can expect NOT to progress very far?

stat board got their own schemes and hiring systems.. so that means i stand a better chance in career progression (less emphasis on my degree class)?

in all honestly, the offer from the ministry one seems higher post (head) than the one in stat board (manager).. but i got gut feeling that i might diao for v long in the ministry..

of course, i am not aiming to be CEO or wad lah.. but i'll be glad to reach Director level by mid-40s.. i know that it is possible in stat boards.. in ministry, director level reserved by scholars?

any advice?

From a long term career standpoint, there is not much difference in terms of ceiling for a non-scholar be it stat board or ministry. You will likely retire as a Deputy Director (MX10 or its equivalent in statboard) or Director (MX9 or equivalent) if you are good and/or lucky.

As for stepping stone to private sector, I've heard mixed stories for ministries & stat boards. I think successful transition has more to do with your specific skill sets and character than whether it is civil service or stat board.

[miwashi]

actually i don't understand this.

Even with high attrition rates, there are still going to be more people left than deputy director positions, and not everyone is going to be able to be shoehorned into the limited positions. So is finally ending up at deputy director level the norm or exception? I feel it is the latter.

In my current workplace I notice alot of people repositioning themselves after joining, neglecting all those low-profile menial work (that they're supposed to do) and taking on those high-profile tasks that bosses notice (and have value in the outside world), and quitting after 1 or 2 years of boastable experience in these.

Personally, I think it's quite unethical. Like for example in my first 3 years in my job I was walking around picking up rubbish in the hot sun and doing other useless work that didn't develop any useful skills, but I notice new staff don't have to do this and they are given attention-commanding work very early.

But this practice definitely increases your desirability to other companies, of course.

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by miwashi

actually i don't understand this.

Even with high attrition rates, there are still going to be more people left than deputy director positions, and not everyone is going to be able to be shoehorned into the limited positions. So is finally ending up at deputy director level the norm or exception? I feel it is the latter.

Where I'm from (ministry), many non-AO senior officers reach DD and MX10 in their mid 30s (some earlier). Throw a stone can hit a few.

[miwashi]

does this mean that the attrition rate is like 90%?
Because I think in most ministries there will be only around 50 directors?