Depends. You might not be able to afford a 4 bedroom penthouse unit, or something within the central region. However, a 'normal' condo will be well within your means. In my workplace I know of some singles who bought their own 1 bedder bachelor pad before they hit 30, and also many people who bought condos together with their not-filthy-rich spouses.

Everyone rotates. For the Functional track it’s every two years. Protocol, HR and Consular peeps work past midnight. Can you imagine having routine team meetings at 8-9pm - welcome to MFA.

actually many SB and Min have long working hours.

my typical work week as follows
monday to friday - start work 9am end 8pm, 1030pm (after kids slp) continue to work end 12plus
sat - 3pm to 9pm
sun - 2am to 10am

i am from IT and managing a team of managers and engineers. there are too many activities under my purview.

to put in context, managing a team of mx11a and engineers (mx12/13 + contractors)

Thats fair and I presume you are fairly remunerated.

Not sure compare to the rest. But i am getting about 18.5 to 19 months annual package as a mx10 equivalence

Don't bs lei. I know several FSOs and they're not FCH nor anywhere lei. Are you sure?

I am highly doubtful when this isn't even possible with the top MA programs in the private sector.. and to say that MFA > Citibank/P&G/Shell/UL etc is just hard to believe, especially remuneration wise.

How many years exp?

Do you know if after the panel interview, the reference check is the last step in the application process? Asking for a friend.

i am 35. 1.5 yrs in public service, about 9 yrs in private