About getting to MINDEF Building by bicycle
 

This may seem like a weird question to ask: I wanna ask if cycling from Cashew MRT to the MINDEF building is allowed because the walk is ~1km according to google map?

I will be starting my job at MINDEF the next month and my workplace is supposedly at the MINDEF Building in Gombak Dr. I don't drive. Neither do I want to grab to the workplace from home; although it takes 1.5h in total to get to the building from home by public tpt (but it is cheaper to travel by mrt la).

I tot got shuttle bus?

I think it is allowed. as long as you follow traffic and camp rules. i.e safety gears. do ask your new dept though.

side note: you know the slope to mindef is quite steep right?

Worth it for law fresh grad to join MINDEF Legal as DXO?

u got try apply other places' legal or???
not interested to join law firm either?

only you can answer the question...
U planning for a job or a career?
What are you options and opportunities now?.....5 yrs later....10 yr later, etc
You cannot plan for everything, but fail to plan and likely you plan to fail

Failure to do adhoc financial declaration on loan status
 

Hi would like to check if anyone knows the procedures of failure to do adhoc financial declaration? How to mitigate?

To add on, still under probation…

what u meant u fail to do?

tot HR side or organisation wide would have some mailer to email everyone to hello that the time of the year is here to do the financial declaration?

must also submit a nil return if u have nth to declare.

I think there should be 2 parts to your qn.

looks like you took a loan and didnt/forget/dont know need to declare. then just seek your immediate superiors advice. maybe he need to write a report or conduct investigations or help you clarify with the policy people.

second is whether you are considered indebted. some loans are ok, but some loans must declare. if indebted, then you cant hold financial positions until you pay off.

dont really have any advice on how to mitigate. maybe just quickly pay it off if possible and get it below 3 months of your salary. make sure you are paying on time.

indeed, i accidentally took up a personal loan which months later when i realised the mistake, i have immediately informed my direct superior. report already written, loan has been early payoff. now just worried what will happen next since im still under probation.. sigh..

Applying HR Manager/Manager position with MINDEF
 

Hi everyone, any kind souls can share some light on the current remuneration on the above position? Gotten a deg with HRM, almost 10 YOE as JO. Looking for new prospect. Apart from progression, how's the annual increment and bonus for managers?

Yoe
 

Quick question:

When you guys applied for the DXO Manager/AD job. The YOE you guys mentioned refers to the Years of experience at related work or just Years in working? HAHA

Thoughts of leaving
 

Is there anyone who has thought of leaving just a mere 4months due to all the red tapes and culture in the min the military? My past experiences were all commerical can i start to feel painful here

usually should refer to years of working since graduation

SDD Salary & Office Location
 

was reading through the forum and understand that SDD is a newly created division.

anybody knows the salary range & DX grade for AM, M and SM?

Also, where is the office location for SDD?

your posting in the unit or HQ? unit culture definitely sucks a bit when DXO have not much power inside and not much people in the office to help... what's your position?

Dis
 

Anyone joined DIS?
Actually is MDES scheme.
I'm a software engineer just hit 40s, looking for a gov job i can work until retirement in as startup life starts to feel too hectic and uncertain for my age.

Hi, I am thinking of applying for an IT role (M) in Mindef. Have about 6 YOE and last drawn was about 6.1 monthly / 85 annual, was thinking of a 10% increment and considering the role falls in maybe a DX10 pay range, but YOE may not hit DX10, will I still be considered for the role?

Can try nego with HR. 6YOE should be relevant to role else you will be consider “fresh”. With YOE should be able to get DX10.

Any idea if mindef even hire pple in their 40's for their jobs in the 1st place?
Do share estimated % or real life case examples if any.

Ex DXO here. I've known people who leave immediately after they start work. if your values can't match the organization, it will indeed be painful. govt work is always with a lot of red tapes, in the name of preventing abuses or corruption. more so in the military where DSTA has even more red tapes.

other than that, secondary appointments are plenty and waste a lot of time. it's not as if they pay us extra to do another person's job. worst is staffing papers for approval and bosses ask stupid questions and waste time.

my advice to you is to stick it out for 1 year. be humble and spend time talking to colleagues to teach/guide you. build rapport with the guys under you (if any). read up more on all the orders to understand the organization better. then evaluate again. sometimes its not the work, its the people.

there are plenty of mid career hires like yourself. you just need to win your competition.

Got contacted for interview (for defence policy office). Anyone know roughly what/how they will conduct the interview? Like is it just going to be you and the hiring manager or will have more interviewers? Fresh grad here btw.

**** you **** this testing testing

Omg. U really pointed out my main concern. To be frank, my main join is manageable, not as hectic/busy as compared to MNCs. But is the secondary appointment (which i just been selected for 2 roles) and the regulars under me. I dont seems to be able to blend in and with their long service (10YOE +/-) keep giving attitudes which i kinda unable tolerate. Still trying to figure out a way to talk to them..

Omg, you pointed out my concern. It’s people. For job itself, it’s manageable and not as hectic as compared to commercial. There are SAs under me who are regulars and very experienced (10YOE +/-) and thus they have this attitude which i cant handle. Kinda rude. Still thinking how to talk to them. They are the only problem in this role.

yup, understand what you mean. my advice is to stand from their point of view. they are used to certain speeds/standards. they need their superior to understand them and the work process. suddenly a new guy who knows nothing become their supervisor. they have to teach you while busy, probably entertaining a lot of your questions.

my advice is to still be humble. be careful on how you talk to them, i.e. dont boss them for answers. dont think you are above them, but partners at work. sit beside them to understand and discuss (dont always email or text). you could also appear rude to them, so be really aware on your words and expressions (rolling eyes, giving frustrated look etc). lastly, demonstrate that you really have the ability to lead them and your ability to work and learn. overtime, once there's mutual understanding, you all will develop a pace or style that suits both of you.

To be frank, they keep telling me that they are busy and not able to entertain my questions and gave me that the frustrated response. I can self service if they can at least point out where i can find the answers... i dont see i have a problem handling people until i am here. It's a whole new different world from commercial. Now i understand why people who used to be 1 side usually have difficulties crossing over to the other side

hi, does anyone know if after submitting G50 i still have to go down for any test related to g50? if yes how long does it usually take?

Job rotation
 

Around 6 months into the job and realised I am having some job fit issues. There are however other roles in the organisation which I feel are more suitable for me. Do I have to wait for the minimum service period ( I believe mine is 2 years) before having any chance of rotation?

I heard so, unless you got a very strong case to justify for the transfer (of cos both side willing to let go/accept you) which i also heard a successful case on my side tho i dont know the details

Hi all, am very new to the realm of DXO. I was recently offered a position as mgr under Service Delivery Division. But I heard scary anecdotes from the experience people in here. Just hope to clarify because the stories was like from 2022. Appreciate anyone's advice! Thank you!

Helping to bump this up, hoping to know more about Service Delivery Division as there's not much info about it.

Attended interview recently, but not for defence policy office. It was through Zoom, with hiring managers only.

So your work place at MINDEF or at units?

What role issit

SDD is more of creating values for MINDEF in areas of service delivery. Currently their offices are everywhere - some WeWork, some MINDEF and etc - i think you would know it at your site preview.

Super big boss is a retired General, and the organisation is into Service Delivery so guess you should have enough work to do!

Anyone know what’s the hiring process like for DPO?

I had the same thoughts as you back when I joined in 2020 Jan. My background was in data analytics and I had 3 years work experience before I joined a specific process and policy department in Gombak camp. people were generally nice and respectful but I hated how I had 4 computers for different purposes and 3 access cards to these terminals. Felt incredibly constricted as I couldn’t even install certain BI programs or analytics software to do my work, was told I had to wait months just to get approval for IT guy to install certain packages on my laptop. Always had very unproductive long hours of meeting with directors and often without much conclusions - usually lasts 3-4 hours and sometimes past working hours.

I resigned in Apr 2020, went back to my old company for another 2 years before resigning again to join a local bank. Never looked back on my decision but I always recall the painful constrictive environment when working there. My only solace was that there was a free gym to workout and relieve stress. Advice to you if you really can’t get in sync with that environment, start looking elsewhere for opportunities. Grass can be greener on the other side!