Quote:
Originally Posted by econfin
Hi Anonymous, thanks for sharing. I'm a scholar who's about to graduate, and I'm a little apprehensive about my future. Sorry if this is too personal a question, but could I ask what made you stay on even after your bond has been completed? Especially since you are aware of the motivations behind the hi-po scheme. I'm worried about finding a comparable private sector job if I do leave after my bond.
|
When I started my career as a civil servant, I was confident and enthusiastic about public sector work. Civil service as a lifelong career was a very real possibility and I didn't entertain thoughts of joining the private sector.
Things didn't start out that well for me in the first 2 years, but in the subsequent years, my luck improved and I was given many opportunities. Hence, I did quite well. The knowledge I gained opened my eyes to many things. My entire world view expanded. It was a good learning experience but yet at the end of it i was confronted with a dilemma that would eventually lead me to consider moving out to the private sector. Let me explain why.
You will come to realise that there are generally 2 paths an officer can take in the civil service: (1) Specialist, or (2) Generalist. [NB:I'm use these terms
very broadly here.]
By Specialist, I refer to job scopes like resource management (i.e. HR, Finance, technology, corporate communications), operations (e.g. front-line jobs like
SAF, Police, customer services, etc), research, etc.
By Generalist, I refer to job scopes like policy and planning work, international relations, etc.
Over time, I came to a conclusion that my preferred area of work is public policy formulation and implementation. It is gratifying to see the public policies which I have a hand in be implemented to the benefit of the people. It is also what I find most interesting and challenging, although of course I won't mind doing other things from time to time if the organisation so needed me.
However, I came to realise that unless I was in the admin service, I will never have the opportunity to cover a broad spectrum of public policy making, nor rise to a position where I contribute in a bigger role. There are exceptions to this, but not many. It is not even about the remuneration but about the opportunities for development, to expand my horizon and learn more things.
To have a sustainable career as a management executive officer, one has little choice but to pursue the track of a specialist. Unfortunately, I've considered most MX 'specialist' options but did not find anything which I'm truly interested in.
The way I see it, if I'm not able to reach my fullest potential in the civil service and have the opportunity to do what I like to do best, I should at least give myself a chance to spread my wings outside. Otherwise, I might live to regret it. There will always be a possibility that I will return of course, if my priorities change. I don't think that is a problem either because I would be able to bring back some outside experience which could be of relevance.
As for you, if remaining marketable is already a concern for you before you even join the civil service, then you should consider a post in an agency that is at least closer to the private sector (e.g. economic agencies such as MOF,
MAS,
MTI,
EDB). This way, should you eventually decide that a civil service career is not for you, you can at least tout your working experience to be of some relevance when you apply for a job. You might also want to consider taking part time courses such as CFA to beef up your CV in the meantime.
My own view is that as a scholar, you have a moral obligation to serve out your bond so I won't advise you to break it. You might hear differently from other scholars of course. To each his own.
Consider your stint in the public sector as an opportunity to look at the bigger picture and be educated about issues at the national/international level. If nothing else, you will be able to appreciate public service issues at a different level from the man in the street, when you leave.