signing on in army(short term) vs working outside
 

like to hear advises from ppl here, this decision has troubling me for quite sometime and time to make a firm decision.

23this yr, a diploma holder, doing NS in the ARMY now, considering to sign on that comes with a sign-on bonus of $25k. seeing the $25k, it will enable me to take up a degree in the future without getting a bankloan.
starting pay is $2.2k not bad for diploma holder, however i dunno how much is the increment every year.
the minimum term to serve is 4 years, i was thinking doing my part time degree during the 4 years. however, by then ill be 28, w/o any working experience other than army.
my end goal is still getting a degree and working outside. the thought of signing on is because it can prevent me getting into study debts. and of cos a safe income every month.

my other plan in getting a degree is start working then study part time or work part time study full time.

let me know what u guys think, thank you.

do not be lured by the sight of money!

There are also two other ways to pay for a first degree: scholarship/sponsorship and parents' CPF.

I'm also from poly and thought of signing up during NS but in the end chose parents' CPF to pay for a full time degree. Used all my savings and army allowance and some academic part time jobs for expenses during my study. I paid my uni+poly+laptop debt within 7mths after graduation. It's possible but one must be frugal. Didn't spend on unecessary stuff like extra clothes, new handphones, "expensive" dining (incl fastfood), etc. Live a simple life and focus on study/work for that 4yrs.

i dun see why not signing on for 4 years to finance your study.

you are 23 this year.. sign 4 years contract to get your part time degree...

seems to me, its almost the same as those who ORD and studied 4 years in local uni

after graduation all come out still fresh without working experience.

You are embarking on a quest to pursue your life and that's impressive for someone of your age.

I suggest taking up the offer and studying part time whilst in army.

For those who oppose this option, may I ask - what's the viable and betterer suggestion? After all, besides joining the army, he would be working in the private sector and we know that working in the private sector encompass extreme hard work and downsizing of profile by the employers nowadays.

Besides, we are facing an imminent danger of recession in Singapore that may take another few years to form up. The army is a blanket to shelter you from the shocks facing the economy. I don't suppose you would want to worry about your next month paycheck whilst studying for your exams. Even if retrenchment is not on the cards, given your age and starting pay, we would need to be realistic about how the employers squeeze you while retrenching other people! The job market would be bleak, should recession come.

For those who are in semicon industry, you would know that your orders are slowing down since last month, and it takes 6 mths or so before it tickles to the other industries such as banking, manufacturing, shipping, etc.

You are going to study anyway, but the decision is only: in the army, or private sector. Granted, the experience in the army does not bring you many places. But HR is not a pail of water in the toilet - they gauge your degree pay based on the date of which you obtain your degree. Hence, your 'diploma' experience is still, only diploma consideration for them; and that in turn makes your private sector experience irrelevant as well. It would be the same.

Of course, that would depend which industry you are going in. If you are going in Sales line, that wouldn't be a problem because Sales are dictated not by certs, but by solid performance. And that Sales experience is able to be carried forward. Now, if you are thinking, you would say: "But since Sales is based on performance, then what does my cert bring me to?" Precisely! Degree and diploma is not critical in Sales, in number, in figures. It is merely a tool to progress to management.... in the future.

Alot of people suggest that joining the army is as good as eating wasted rice, but that's the idea because you wouldn't want to have a lack of time to study for your degree.

Trust me. Because my wife has been studying for her SIM degree for the past 4 years and have yet to pass because of her work schedule. She always have to make choices to stay back for meetings (after work, mind you), and go classes. If she stayed back in office, she would miss classes. If she went for classes, she would be marked by her superiors because everyone else stayed.

Unless you are confident of finding a job where the schedule matches your preference, the army is a more suitable choice.

This is a good piece of advice.

I have problem with this kind of sweeping statements. This whole long post basically say that private sector sucks, will get retrenched and have to work like a cow while staying in the Army allows you to slack, take good money and have a lot of time to study.
In real life, everyone regardless in private or in Army got very different experience depending on your boss, the culture where you work and your colleagues. You can’t generalize like Private = Bad or Army = Good. For eg. If in some camp that kena some siao on OC/CO that always volunteer his Company or Battalion for some SAF CCA then you can forget about slacking and studying liao, likewise my friend last year win Toto whole camp assigned as part of NDP security, many late nights and weekends burn with no OT pay.
Although private sector got danger of retrenchment, it also allow you to switch jobs much more easily in case you don’t like the boss, company or work hours. If in the Army unit got issue, you are stuck there and very hard to request for transfer to another role or unit.

End of the day, both sides got pro & con, not a straight forward answer like some people say.

TS care to share what vocation you're hoping to sign on as? Spec or Officer?

Army? Navy? Airforce?

It's important to know these details before further advice can be given?

You are also making a sweeping statement that advice that seems like a sweeping statement isn't good advice. If everyone speaks or writes with lots of caveats and ifs and buts, then we all will sound like lawyers. Is this a sweeping statement?

I dun think above poster was asking everyone to caveat or talk like lawyer. He just challenging the assumption on that long post that imply Army is always some zhobolan place and private sector is some slave driver.

For me my advise to TS is if he really have no interest in Army better dun sign up. The few NS friends I have who sign up just to get easy money all regret because later very hard to transit to civilian job.