Morning!

I am the poster of the original question. Thanks for sharing =)

I assume your portfolio is mainly policy-oriented, especially geared towards the economic aspects? In your opinion, do you think policy work is quite generalist in nature and has little transferrable skills? For example, if one were to start off handling fiscal policy, the domain knowledge built up in terms of understanding when to apply expansionary vis-à-vis discretionary fiscal measures, knowing what's Reinvestment Funding and Revenue Recognition Framework will all be quite specialised. Should the incumbent moves to another agency handling another domain of policy making i.e. social / transport / Infrastructure policies, there will be a need to start from scratch in terms of building up the required domain knowledge for him / her to formulate and execute policies.

Then again, arguing from another angle, the officer might also be conversant in macro-economic analysis from a projected global and local outlook. He / she could be possibly also assessing the tax receipts that we are collecting how we should allocate those resources equitably and efficiently to various needs of the nation i.e. healthcare, transport, education and enhancing social safety nets. Such intangible skills will therefore be useful when crossing over to a new policy portfolio, due to his / her ability to model the future and adequately evaluating the different needs of the country.

Apologies for being long-winded, as I am trying to understand the irony between policy work and non-policy work (i.e. Finance, Procurement, HR). The former is favoured in public sector as it sets out the initiatives of the government, yet it seems to have little transferrable skills. The latter is always seen as a support function, subordinated to policy work. However, it increases one's marketability across agencies as he / she builds up his / her experience.

Appreciate your views =)