Don't be sour grapes la. There is only one better paying agency which is govtech, provided you are in computer engineering or cyber field. All other tech agencies pay about the same if you are in technical scheme. The pay varies because of the classification of your degree. HTX is not easy to get in, you know yourself because obviously you haven't even got the offer. If HTX you can't get in, i don't think you can even go in to DSTA and DSO. Quite a number of the colleagues, especially Head and DD level in HTX came from DSTA so they have their benchmark when it comes to selection of candidate.