Enterprise Singapore hiriing timeframe

Any fresh grads joining ESG? What's the starting pay they are offering? Got 4K? Saw in other threads some govt agencies offering 3K for 2nd upper. Has the starting pay been affected because of the virus outbreak?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

so what are they going to do

Don't understand why there is a need for the other poster to try and coerce silence by saying 'HR has been notified of this forum'.

Isn't the option to post anonymously here how outsiders can get inside scoops of what is probably going on in the organisation? It's just like all the comments from obviously fake fb accounts on issues like the handling of covid etc; although there may some with personal beef to roast, most comments give a good overview of the sentiments of Singaporeans.

Hiring isn't a one-way street. Just as the employer has the right to be ridiculously picky about who it chooses to interview, the potential employee who gets invited to the interview should also have the right to know more than vague descriptions of the jobscope and organisation in this case, on c@g and websites. If either party raises this during the interview, and the organisation is indeed guiltless, address it then. Both parties can make better decisions.

Anyway, doubt ESG HR will bother with what is said here though. With at least a thousand applicants for every advertised position, a couple of candidates put off from applying makes little difference to their workload.

Ok let me see if I can be an objective voice here...

The culture in ESG is indeed competitive. The people come across as just a little bit arrogant and hoity-toity. In that sense, it is abit similar to MFA, but perhaps a toned down version of MFA. The officers tend to be overachievers and your Hermione-types who are eager to please and to put it crudely, wayang. It is neither good nor bad. Some see it as having 'gumption' or proactiveness, while others see it as your archetype rat race. If you are the passive type, I suggest ESG is not suitable for you. Think class monitor or prefect types in school.

I mentioned that ESG feels like a toned down version of MFA which is known to have a bad culture, but I should add that ESG has the added disadvantage of having to fight for your promotion. Not that MFA folks don't have to, but in ESG this is really fleshed out. I totally agree with one of the previous posters, who mentioned that promotion depends on getting projects with high visibility and you have to 'kowtow' to management to get such projects. Maybe 'kowtow' is not the right word, but you get the idea. Basically, you need to be in the right place at the right time to get the 'good' projects. The distribution of such projects can be uneven and sometimes it leads to bad blood.

I hope this provides future officers with a clearer picture of what you are getting into. ESG is not your lepak civil service job. It is more akin to private sector in this sense and it can get quite hectic. Think of it as swapping work-life balance for learning opportunities.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ok let me see if I can be an objective voice here...

The culture in ESG is indeed competitive. The people come across as just a little bit arrogant and hoity-toity. In that sense, it is abit similar to MFA, but perhaps a toned down version of MFA. The officers tend to be overachievers and your Hermione-types who are eager to please and to put it crudely, wayang. It is neither good nor bad. Some see it as having 'gumption' or proactiveness, while others see it as your archetype rat race. If you are the passive type, I suggest ESG is not suitable for you. Think class monitor or prefect types in school.

I mentioned that ESG feels like a toned down version of MFA which is known to have a bad culture, but I should add that ESG has the added disadvantage of having to fight for your promotion. Not that MFA folks don't have to, but in ESG this is really fleshed out. I totally agree with one of the previous posters, who mentioned that promotion depends on getting projects with high visibility and you have to 'kowtow' to management to get such projects. Maybe 'kowtow' is not the right word, but you get the idea. Basically, you need to be in the right place at the right time to get the 'good' projects. The distribution of such projects can be uneven and sometimes it leads to bad blood.

I hope this provides future officers with a clearer picture of what you are getting into. ESG is not your lepak civil service job. It is more akin to private sector in this sense and it can get quite hectic. Think of it as swapping work-life balance for learning opportunities.

You gotta be kidding me. The culture at MFA isn’t all that competitive. In fact, the junior FSOs are a tightly-knit bunch. It’s no pressure cooker because those who have been earmarked for First Secretary posts are already sort of pre-determined. (Herp derp there’s no need to wayang for brownie points)

I can’t speak for ESG but have batchmates in there with 2 over years as a Dev Partner. The reason why it’s a rat race is because their higher-ups gauge performance based on visibility and how high enough of a profile of a project. This results in ADPs / DPs scrambling over for the best gig in hopes to be noticed.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Any fresh grads joining ESG? What's the starting pay they are offering? Got 4K? Saw in other threads some govt agencies offering 3K for 2nd upper. Has the starting pay been affected because of the virus outbreak?

Me. Kinda disheartened to see so many negative comments though.

Regarding pay, $4200 base for first class honours from NUS. Heard there is a six month graduation bonus after the programme

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Me. Kinda disheartened to see so many negative comments though.

Regarding pay, $4200 base for first class honours from NUS. Heard there is a six month graduation bonus after the programme

Did you serve NS? Well, don't be too disheartened. Go in with an open mind and just try your best! You are still young with a long way ahead. If it really doesn't fit you just move on to some other stuff.

Fch why bother with esg? Might as well s&t 9k-11.8k salary as fresh grad. Lol

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I hope this provides future officers with a clearer picture of what you are getting into. ESG is not your lepak civil service job. It is more akin to private sector in this sense and it can get quite hectic. Think of it as swapping work-life balance for learning opportunities.

I have to respectfully disagree. I've been through positions in both the public and private sector. ESG was the first (and only) public sector position I've been in that is actually like what people imagine work in the public sector to be like. Nothing productive to do, but the pressure to look busy and pretend like you know what you're doing is real. If you've either been in ESG or on the private sector end interacting with ESG, you'll probably get what I mean. For those in the private sector now, you can get a sense of what I mean by seeing how "smoothly" they have been processing the Circuit Breaker exemption requests.

Although to be fair, it could just be due to the department I joined, and the departments that I had interactions with back then. Things could also have changed. So take it with a healthy serving of salt if you will.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have to respectfully disagree. I've been through positions in both the public and private sector. ESG was the first (and only) public sector position I've been in that is actually like what people imagine work in the public sector to be like. Nothing productive to do, but the pressure to look busy and pretend like you know what you're doing is real. If you've either been in ESG or on the private sector end interacting with ESG, you'll probably get what I mean. For those in the private sector now, you can get a sense of what I mean by seeing how "smoothly" they have been processing the Circuit Breaker exemption requests.

Although to be fair, it could just be due to the department I joined, and the departments that I had interactions with back then. Things could also have changed. So take it with a healthy serving of salt if you will.

Are you refering to an industry cluster? or one of the middle office (e.g. policy, schemes)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have to respectfully disagree. I've been through positions in both the public and private sector. ESG was the first (and only) public sector position I've been in that is actually like what people imagine work in the public sector to be like. Nothing productive to do, but the pressure to look busy and pretend like you know what you're doing is real. If you've either been in ESG or on the private sector end interacting with ESG, you'll probably get what I mean. For those in the private sector now, you can get a sense of what I mean by seeing how "smoothly" they have been processing the Circuit Breaker exemption requests.

Although to be fair, it could just be due to the department I joined, and the departments that I had interactions with back then. Things could also have changed. So take it with a healthy serving of salt if you will.

Agreed. And in terms of prestige and pay, it is no where near EDB & MAS. Of course, selection process for EDB & MAS is notoriously difficult. ESG is also a very political place.