what could such criteria be?

In private they offer based on past drawn, so technically you're at a disadvantage if you're coming from CS since the monthly is lower?

Shag messed up by reject a GLC (bad rep) and waited for ministry offer, end up GLC was higher haiz

Private Degree (UOL), early 30s. Able to get at least 9k gross in CS/PS/GLCs?

how old are you? likely to grade promo without any title.. really depend on your boss.. your boss will have been prompt by HR on your salary reaching the ceiling. dont be surprised there are many farmers hitting the ceiling when they are 50+ at MX10.

stuck forever unless there is reason to put the person in a superscale mx9 role

Nope…impossible

I’m 36F. Non-scholar

I don't think it is true that private sector offers based on last drawn. Aside from the type of industry, it depends on your bargaining power and how favourably the prospective employer sees your employment experience.

But going back to your question, yes, generally speaking, civil servants will be disadvantaged in most cases because they'll spend years pushing paper, squandering years learning basically nothing useful/relevant. So of course these years are discounted and one ends up being paid less than his/her peers who spent those years accumulating relevant experience. This, together with the fact that CS pays you just enough to not quit, is probably why many end up becoming unwilling "lifers" - they don't really have a choice.

Which is why I say that one big consideration is whether you can take advantage of CS to augment your CV. In other words, can the time spent in CS be seen as a value-add to the prospective employer? In some specific situations, yes. For example, payment services were a very hot area in the last one or two years - employers will jump on folks with MAS experience.

Simply put, the question one should ask before joining is: would you be able to quit your CS job, and find another in a reasonable amount of time, without suffering a significant cut in your pay? If not, you should be going in with your eyes wide open, knowing full well that it is likely that you are going to be a lifer. While there's nothing inherently wrong about wanting to be a lifer, the important point is to understand what you are signing up for. If you have reservations about this, then maybe this path is not cut out for you.

The cap for MX10 is 10,000. It's 12,000. And you are just 36 but already hitting 5 digits, you are probably in an economic or defense or tech agency, correct?

In any case, if you are getting B+s and even As, I really doubt you have anything to worry about. Are you not already on some leadership development track? Your LP should be quite high.