joining bonus in ministries and stat board

[Janechia]

Do the ministries and stat boards pay a joining bonus to the newly hired staff? When is the first performance bonus paid? Is it assured or subject to many conditions?
What else do I need to know while negotiating salary with a stat board/ministry?

Jane dear jane, first job is it?

No joining bonus. First performance bonus come after you go through your 1st year appraisal. So long as you are not brain dead, learn what you are taught, you should get a C along with your first year confirmation.

What else you need to know about negotiating your salary is to accept what you are offered if you are a fresh grad. Everything works on a pay scale.

Unless you have directly relevant experience, then they may give you more. But definitely not the upper end of the grade you are hired into. Otherwise you will max out your pay grade too fast and demand a promotion that you aren't deserving of.

[Janechia]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Jane dear jane, first job is it?

What else you need to know about negotiating your salary is to accept what you are offered if you are a fresh grad. Everything works on a pay scale.

Unless you have directly relevant experience, then they may give you more. But definitely not the upper end of the grade you are hired into. Otherwise you will max out your pay grade too fast and demand a promotion that you aren't deserving of.

Gee, thanks. I have more than 10 years of experience, most of it relevant, none of it with government/ministry/stat board. I hope to get an offer soon. What are the components of the offer? Is it a "take it or leave it" for an experienced person or is there some room to negotiate/discuss? Will they pay me according to my current salary or make a more accurate assessment of my capabilities?

Wait till you get an offer then you negotiate.

Do some research regarding the pay grade of the post you are applying for; there is a range there, it will look roughly like what is shown below. So you see a range there - paper qualifications are solid justification for each run within the grade ($100-300), eg. pass degree vs. 1st class hons, masters, etc. Experience is intangible and you end up negotiating with the HR people, not the interviewers (who would become your bosses). If you felt you did well during the interview and they were really keen to hire you, then you try to negotiate harder. There is no real "component" except the basic monthly salary. All the other benefits should be standard across the board and already established by your predecessor - for example if he/she had transport allowance, you would get it too. You can't negotiate for transport allowance if you are working desk bound.

2011 Civil Service Salary Range

Job grade: MX9 (Superscale)
Job title: Deputy Director, Director
Pay scale: S$10,580 – S$14,550 / S$14,551 – S$16,540

Job grade: MX10
Job title: Assistant Director, Deputy Director
Pay scale: S$6,350 – S$9,050 / S$9,051 – S$10,400

Job grade: MX11
Job title: Manager, Assistant Director
Pay scale: S$4,100 – S$6,160 / S$6,161 – S$7,190

Job grade: MX12
Job title: Assistant Manager, Manager
Pay scale: S$2,550 – S$5,130

Job grade: MX13
Job title: Management Executive
Pay scale: up to S$2,800 for fresh graduates

[Janechia]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Wait till you get an offer then you negotiate.

Do some research regarding the pay grade of the post you are applying for; there is a range there, it will look roughly like what is shown below.

Hi, I currently draw 7k per month fixed in a private company. Bonuses and allowances are massive. Culture is hire and fire. How is the ministry likely to match me against their scales? Will I be required to take a salary cut?

Most likely yes to a paycut, unless you were headhunted specifically. You are trading money for stability. It would be nice to have both, but you don't, not at this level of government service.

I estimate you may be offered $4000-5000. Depends what job you've applied for.

The typical Civil Service employee that at least pulls his own weight ends up getting 13-15 months salary as a annual package because of various performance bonuses, special bonuses, AWS/13 month, etc.

They only pay joining fees for the uniformed services.

Looks like you are going to have a pay cut. Doubt you can get 7k. Joining the public service mid career is often not very lucrative in terms of money.

Base pay was higher in the private sector but you have to deal with crazy workload, politics, cyclical fluctuations in the market. I got wage freeze and no bonuses for a year. Public sector offered less but add in the garanteeed PB, AWS and random bonuses, your yearly income is maybe 10-15% less? but workload is like 60% of private sector??

So what do you want??? secured and relaxed job or wish to make it big in the corporate game???

I chose the former as I realised that we Singaporeans are a privileged brunch. We tend to earn more than we actually think we need. You can live on very little. Just look at the rest of the world. Part time in something using your spare capacity to earn extra cash or have fun. Invest wisely and hopefully you can have a decent sum of money when older to do a small business or migrate to some cheaper country.

[karen123]

Everything is negotiable in the job market. Good luck. Once you get the offer you will know how much they need you. Then negotiate.