career as RSAF air force engineer ME4

Originally Posted by Unregistered

from one ex-regular to another, what you've said is how i feel exactly.
i think while the pay cut is one component of the difficulties following leaving the force, the other is on the connections with the outside world in terms of qualifications, and being willing to start, in a sense, from zero in your career. unless, the skills/ experience gained in the service are suited for the new job you are having.

but i would like to differ from the point of saving $$ for some years before leaving, cos i do think that though a heavy pay cut is quite inevitable, a regular pay does help in easing your financial liabilities early in the career. more importantly to know what you want to do after leaving the service, else i agree with the bro above that its better to stay for the $, at least for the interim.

Well, I was trying to say that it's a risk they must consider. Hope that if anyone enters, they will at least know the reality before entering. Yes, there are rich regulars, but those people have high discipline.
I know of a BG who is a multi-millionare, perhaps richest in SAF, because he got lucky with palm oil stocks. But, rich regulars are really little. The temptation is too much. People can say, 'oh i will save'. But in the end it's just like you going to school on first day and saying 'oh i will top the school'. The harsh reality is, regardless of how high you are drawing, many SAF regulars end up poor in their 50s. When money comes easy, you won't appreciate it.

But anyway for people wanting to leave after bond, i'd suggest going navy as an engineer. Few reasons.
1) Navy personnel can find jobs in Marine industry easily. This is due to similar engines used for battleships. As opposed to air force engineer who deal with fighter planes and choppers, zero relevance to civilian industry. And also, marine industry NEEDS people. Even if you don't learn the same things, they are ready to train you and you will learn faster.
2) Navy personnel get higher allowance due to sailing allowance. Further more, since you are on board ship for months, you will get a pleasant surprise when you come back singapore and find yourself $20k-$30k richer with zero expenditure.
3) You get to travel around the world. (or region, at least)
4) You work for about 6 months a year unless you are in some really long sail. (due to the 'resting period'.
5) You get good experience on board a battleship. How cool is it? Sailing is an experience. A friend of mine was in navy. We left the force together. I really think he brings out more experience and memories than i do, significantly.

I strongly suggest Navy engineer instead of AFE since many are just thinking of short term. Esp on reason one.

Face the fact. Being an AFE won't make you an aerospace engineer after bond.

Why nobody consider Army Engineer? Is it that bad?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Why nobody consider Army Engineer? Is it that bad?

Prestige i guess. Army has little to offer, instead of air force and navy which markets itself much better.

Also, army engineers do not have transferable skill sets as well.
Neither does air force, but most people who enters air force thinks it's transferable. Wrong perception out there.

off thread abit, anyone going for navy open house next week?

Looks like it's an old thread, but let me correct a lot of the errors in the posts before me.

Background:

Signed on as an AEO when I was in BMT after A levels in 2002. A level grades were 3A 1B with 2 S papers distinctions (not sure what's the equivalent now). Most of the people in my batch had similar grades. Went back in 2006 after studies. Commissioned as a LTA, automatic promotion to a CPT after 1 year, converted into an AFE (ME4-2) in 09/10, and left the RSAF in 2011.

Work-life balance:

As an AEO/AFE, there's two phases to the work-life balance in your career. Airbase or HQ posting for ME5 and below will have serious impact on the work-life balance. As an engineer in the airbase, expect to work between 11-16 hours on normal days if you want to do a good job. HQ posting will have much better work-life balances since you won't need to often work beyond 5.30pm. With the ME scheme nowadays, unless you are a high flyer (SMS scholar), expect 2 tours in the airbase as a ME4, and 1 to 2 tours in the airbase as a ME5, which is a period of somewhere between 9 to 12 years.

Jobscope:

As a ME4 engineer in the airbase, my workload was roughly divided into 1/3 man management, 1/3 engineering/troubleshooting, 1/3 secondary appointments. Some people mentioned a few times earlier that you don't get to touch the aircraft. This is ********. It's a personal choice of how involved you want to get into the defect troubleshooting process. What you cannot do are the actual tasks of components installation as you are not qualified as an engineer to sign off those tasks. You can still help to remove components if you have the time and the interest to.

The majority of the time i spent on engineering/troubleshooting was on climbing aircraft with my technicians and helping them with the fault isolation until their shift ends at 2-3am. I did not do the hands-on work, but I made the decisions on what components to change based on the defect symptoms and my understanding of how the system work. This is the key value-add you have as a junior AFE to your technicians' work, to minimize the wasteful maintenance time spent in isolating defects that can have 5 or 6 possible causal factors and to answer to the higher management if there's delay in recovering the aircraft due to poor diagnosis.

For the ME5s in the air base, other than the deadwoods you sometimes get in the govt sector, they usually have a lot more responsibilities and things to do compared to the ME4s. So don't expect a cushy job for 4-6 years in your first 9-12 years in the RSAF.

Skill-sets:

Some asked if the experiences in the RSAF are transferable to or recognized in the private sector. Obviously since you don't have commercial aircraft type or MRO experience, if you apply for those roles, you won't have relevant experiences. Personally i did not get a pay cut (slight pay rise even) when I joined the private aerospace sector because there's overlap in the jobscope in my new job with my RSAF roles. It's all about what you did in the RSAF (which can vary greatly), and what job you applied for in the private sector.

Of the 15 batch mates that joined as AEO with me, another 7 had left the RSAF. 3 became SIA/Silkair pilots, 1 joined the consulting arm of the big4 accounting firm, 1 became a poly lecturer, 1 is in the same aerospace company as me (not too sure what's the last doing). So were their experiences in the RSAF as an AFE useful/recognized? I would say yes to myself and these 6 others. Don't forget these are pretty smart people

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Looks like it's an old thread, but let me correct a lot of the errors in the posts before me.

Background:

Signed on as an AEO when I was in BMT after A levels in 2002. A level grades were 3A 1B with 2 S papers distinctions (not sure what's the equivalent now). Most of the people in my batch had similar grades. Went back in 2006 after studies. Commissioned as a LTA, automatic promotion to a CPT after 1 year, converted into an AFE (ME4-2) in 09/10, and left the RSAF in 2011.

hi i am interested to know the salary of regular

could you tell us your salary

when you are a

-LTA
-CPT
-last salary as ME4-2 when you left RSAF

so that i can have a gauge how good is the pay increment in RSAF


Thank you

Originally Posted by Unregistered

hi i am interested to know the salary of regular

could you tell us your salary

when you are a

-LTA
-CPT
-last salary as ME4-2 when you left RSAF

so that i can have a gauge how good is the pay increment in RSAF


Thank you

My salary is no longer a good gauge as there has been many pay adjustments over the years. I started at 3.3k as an cadet and LTA (no pay rise for commissioning). Merit increment during training was $50. Promotion to CPT was ~500 increment. Over 5 years from 3.3k increased to 4.9k gross monthly pay after 1 or 2 pay adjustments, 1 promotion increment and 5 merit increments. Average merit increment is ~150 at that time. Times have probably changed. Starting salary in 2011 for fresh grad direct entry good honors (2nd upper or 1st class) who were officers before during NS were around 4.8-4.9k around the time I left. Not sure what's the range now.

Anybody recently went for interview?

I'm posted to aftc as an airforce tech just a few days back and I'm having a dilemma if i should sign on as an AFE(M). Primary reason is for the $$ and I wish to lighten the load from my parents and pay my own degree. I graduated with a Diploma in Mechatronics (Aerospace option) with a GPA of 3.20 with currently no uni placing yet. You could say I have the interest in the aerospace field. My current plan is to serve the 6 years bond, then get a degree (probably not signing on as ME4)
However I get the impression from many "not to sign on for $$" and "make it a life career if you sign on".
I planned to become a LAE after my further study but from what I know/heard, rsaf skills are not really applicable in the civi side, but ive also heard otherwise..

I read all of the posts here (though i'm signing on as me1 instead), really useful but I still cant make a decision.. any thoughts/advices?

Hi so during the interview, there are how many interviewers and what questions they asked?