Any Replies?
 

Hi, I would like to ask those who had gone for the DSTA interview. Usually would they email/call to inform you tell you are rejected for the position. Or they will not call at all?
And how long does it take for them to reply you?

Because I have gone for the interview during September. But no news from them.

Thanks a lot

I assume you have been rejected because my frens already got the offer less than 2 weeks after their interview.

I see. So is not the usual practice for them to inform the interviewees the final outcome of the interview?

Thanks a lot for the reply :)

Enquiry about working in DSTA
 

Hi,

I am a fresh graduate from local uni with second upper degree (Business). I was invited for an interview with DSTA soon. I didn't expect to be shortlisted, but well, I was. Strangely, but now, I am having second thoughts about working in DSTA.

I am concern with:
1) Whether if the experience/ skills I learn in DSTA (if I able to secure the job) could be of transferable and recognize by private employers if I decided to switch jobs after 2 to 5 years.

2) Is DSTA starting salary for fresh graduate consider very high when compared across market rate, even compared to the private sector?

3) Do you think if I planned to continue to stay in DSTA for a long time, would my salary be similar (or a bit higher) than my peers in private sector who switch jobs to get higher pay?


As I am the oldest siblings (and even among my cousins), I really do not have any one to consult to and ask for opinions about working life, or even working in a public sector. Thankfully I manage to find this forum and would like to ask you guys about this. I hope that you guys, especially those who are working in DSTA or have worked in DSTA before, to provide me on your insights in this.

Your opinions matters to me a lot, and will definitely shape my starting path for my career.

Thank you very much.

Since you mentioned you are studying business, i assumed you should be accepted for HR, procurement or business excellence? Correct me if I'm wrong.

DSTA as its name imply, deals mainly with technology, engineering and defence related projects. Non-engineering grad going into DSTA often find themselves losing out on salary/prospect. They are also on two different pay scheme.

I'm not sure what role in DSTA you are being offered so i cannot comment much. But DSTA has put in alot of effort in making sure their staff are paid competitively in the market. Salary adjustment will be made if your salary was found to be losing out competively.

1) This depends on what your job scope will be like and where you would like to head to when you go over to private. IMO, young fresh grads, especially those from biz like you should start out in private sector when you still have a lot of energy. Down the line, when you are older, you can make the shift to public and get a pay cut in exchange for more free time. When you are older, it will be much harder for you to make the shift to private and you will be reluctant to do it. At the end of the day, you might just end up stagnating.

2) For science and engine grads, yes, their pay is usually pretty high. For biz grad, probably not. Might be similar or even lower as compared to other ministries. DEFINITELY lower than private sector in the long run. After 2-3 years, your biz peers in private sector confirm surpass you by at least 35% of your pay.

3) No. DSTA might be the wrong stat board for you. IMO, biz grads don't really go far in public sectors. Public sectors tend to prefer academics, i.e. economists, statisticians, and for DSTA's case, engineers and scientists. If you stayed in DSTA for long, maybe you can rise up, but they will always pick an engineer or scientist to be at the top, since they will understand the ground better. DSTA is mainly a procurement arm for military weapons, although they do some research and development themselves as well. But although they are the procurement, their people must be able to understand weaponry and equipment well, something a biz grad definitely would not be able to grasp.

Your pay would definitely be much lower than your pte sector peers in the long run. Biz grads can really earn big bucks in the pte sector. Especially for a person like you with a second upper. IMO, you should go into the pte sector first. Gain experience and also earn a lot of money. Once you feel you are tired, wanna settle down and slow down your pace, transit over to the public sector and take a pay cut.

Thank you very much for your indepth insights!

Both of you have definitely convinced me not to work in DSTA due to my mismatch of skillset. I am so glad to be able to consult you about this. I guess I am slightly insecure about not having any job now, and over reacted to this interview chance. Though I only just graduated Nov/Dec 2014.

I think I would not go the interview then? I could use this time to look for other jobs in the private sector.

Thanks so much for your help! :)

It could be that HR are not hiring fresh grads at this point of time. The hiring usually occurs after the May graduation. Since most local uni students graduate at this time. Dont jump on the first thing that comes by. Be patient. If you have to wait until May to get a better job then so be it.

Hi I understand that DSTA provide competitive starting pay,

But would like to know about the career progression of working in DSTA as an engineer-building infrastructure or other system?

Will it be more competitive than pvt sector in the long run?

procurement executive
 

Hello all, I'm an undergrad (3rd class) in my last year.. I applied for procurement executive and got a call for the interview, but I can't make it for the interview.. They told me there should not be other interviews already, but they seems to be hiring all year round right? (from what I've read from this thread)

Also, anyone doing procurement over there? Care to share about it? I am pretty clueless about this to be honest.. >< How is the environment and turnover rate for procurement? Their procurement department seems to be really different from the procurement dept of other companies right? And will they usually hire third class for procurement? (I know they don't, for research..)

Thank you all! :)

anyone receive 2nd round interview for air/land/naval systems? its been quite some time since my 1st interview, and some of my peers that have been rejected are notified quite early.

Eh you sure there is a 2nd interview? I went for my interview for BI and got in right after the 1st round of interview at HQ.

It will not be.
Advise you to leave after 3 to 5 years.

i tink we're kinda different, cos dsta had a campus interview for us at NTU, so there will be a second round for us. just that some of my friends got rejected, while the rest of us still have no notification.

Applied for air system. No reply till now. Whats gg on ?

what is the DSTA starting salary for fresh grad engineer for 2015?

thank u

any insights on the culture of procurement department?

Yup, not much info on procurement...

Hi, can I check if you are currently working in Dso & want to jump to dsta. What is the procedure? Any chance of success?

Dsta
 

Hi all

Im graduating in a year time, I am not really keen to do maintenance or manufacturing stuff. Can someone share their experience at DSTA? And may I ask if they accept 2nd upper grad from mech engine? Thank you.

If you are not going to do those stuff related to ur course, then likely to be project management liao.

Pay: higher than pte for fresh grad in engineering sector but not necessary higher than other civil/public service organizations.

Job: boring and slow moving. Limited learning opportunities for learning useful industry related skills.

Does dsta give out the $500 SG50 bonus?

DSTA is a really good organization to begin your career in.

Up for replies

Yes .

wat is the starting pay for dsta engineer this year 2015

1st class = ???
2 upper = ???
2 lower = ???

+$300 with NS

pls advise

Average 3.5-4.5 mths bonus for C grade

1st class = 4250+250(NS) = 4500
2nd upper = 4050+250(NS) = 4300
2nd lower = 3850+250(NS) = 4100

Average 3.5-4.5 mths bonus for C grade>>>is it inclusive of AWS??

Included AWS

Is dsta data analytics a good place to start in? And is it true if you want to get out it's difficult to jump into private sector?

Appreciate any advice here. Thanks.

Depends what you learn, but yes, in general it will be hard to jump to private sector, not say impossible but hard

Thank you for the response. Why would it be difficult to jump to private sector? Because the domains are different?

Culture very different, also most big mnc from pte sector got stigma of hiring gov sector ppl who stay there too long.

I see. What kind of culture are you speaking about?

Typical red tape top down gov sector approach to do things. Everything write paper, meeting minutes, clear boss after boss, lots of budget & time to spare, go through motion etc.

To be fair not every gov sector staff is like that, but there are a lot around that find it hard to change and this kind of failed hire scares pte sector employers. Youngsters with <3 years exp inside still ok, those above 30 entire life in gov sector usually find it hard to find employment outside.

I see. So what are they afraid of? That they are not suited to a fast pace culture in the private sector?

It's not just fast or slow, but the general thinking is very different. Gov sector emphasize on follow process, documentation, step by step, approval layer by layer etc.

Pte sector want things done fast, problem solving mode, flexible to change, find ways to keep budget or cut cost etc.

For e.g. earlier this year we had a girl who join us from a ministry for 5 years. Her job was to support the clients to exhibit their products. When she first start, she came to the first monthly meeting with a long pre-read, some research she did with clients & online, and a few concepts for the boss to see what he want.

Boss say not interested in any of these, he just want to know what she want to do, when and how much will it cost and what we get out of the whole thing in the end. Lucky for her she quite pretty with good personality so a lot of colleagues willing to help her and she slowly adapting now.

Just a case to show the difference.

Yes the culture is totally diff, this is based on what I have heard from my friend who is working in govt sector and myself in private sector.

Also, you might not learn much from the organization itself because most of the stuff are outsourced to other company to do (not sure about your job scope). So learning opportunity is very low. and the skills that you learn in DSTA might not be useful in the outside world.

Also, if you jump, you might be facing a pay cut, which many people cannot accept because your peers will be earning more than you and also you might face difficulty in handling your expenses (if you are the one who spend every single cents that kind)

Pace is different, because if you stay too long in public sector, you will get a bit slow due to red tape and such, but in private sector, is different, you got the idea you do. Thus, you will be expecting different kind of pace.

last but not least, you will be comparing benefits from public and private sector, cause DSTA the benefit is certainly good and some private sector gives their employee a bare minimum employee benefits. then you will start to complain and many things will happen from then on (attitude, lack of motivation and etc.)

i see.. i would like to thank the both of you for your valuable insights.

and i suppose dsta is very scholar orientated in terms of promotion and advancement huh?

Just like most stat boards or quasi gov agency, advancement up to non-superscale level very much depend on your own performance. But if you want to go beyond that into superscale territory then yes you either have to be a scholar or someone powerful in DSTA/Mindef/SAF must take you under his mentorship.