Originally Posted by Nani

I left the civil service after 12 long years, with a last drawn salary of $3.6k. I have a degree in engineering but was neither promoted nor paid according to my qualifications. Had tried applying for a senior post twice but was rejected.

Leaving the ministry was the toughest decision ever in my entire life (being in comfort zone for too long) but I was determined to leave for private sector or even stat board (public service) as I do not see myself remaining in the civil service forever till I retire.

Firstly, I see the learning curve in civil service quite gentle and to a certain extent, unchallenging.

Secondly, even if i get promoted to a senior post (based on my performance), there will be certainly a cap on my progression. Only graduates will not have any ceiling in terms of CEP (also depending on performance). If both graduate and non-graduate performs equally well, I'm very sure that the CEP for the graduate will be higher than the non-graduate. This is a fact that we can't deny.

Thirdly, if I want to earn big money, I should not remain in the civil service. If you don't dare to explore, you never would and be able to earn the big money you want in life.

Of course, it is not all about money after all, like what most of you have mentioned here, it's about job satisfaction. Do what we want in life, not what we have to.