Compare civil service salary

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi Blackswan,

I totally agree with your view on this. I guess we all have our own personal preferences as to the sort of environment we would want to work in. I have done IA (industrial attachment) in Exxon during my undergrad studies, and that experience was enough to tell me that THAT is not my cup of tea. No doubt the money is good and the bonuses are crazy, but from what I observe, the engineers are made to work for extended hours and the daily work do get kind of routine. Only occasionally will there be exciting episodes in their career, such as during plant start-ups and shut downs. Other than that it is rather routine. Of course there may be those who may contest my views on this, but then again everyone's entitled to an opinion right?

Similar to you, I am also a 2nd Upper Chem Engrg graduate from a local uni graduated in 2009.
Following that, I pursued for my MSc in Chem Eng overseas, which I decided to go for since it was an all-expenses paid, with monthly stipends and bond-free Scholarship.
Now I am back in Sg and soon joining a Stat Board. Have been offered a position but have yet to receive my salary package from HR.

I wonder if someone could tell me what I should be offered by the stat board, given my educational backgrd. Or at least, what is the range? This is so that I will know if I should negotiate or accept/reject the offer. I also heard that recently, there had been some positive revisions to the starting pay for public and civil service. Is this true?

Any input is much appreciated.

hi "totally agree..." , good to hear someone thinking same as me.
I did my IA at exxon too .. but i was at harborfront the regional hq office doing mainly commercial stuff but with some technical work. And how late r the engineers made to work at ur side? speaking of bonuses , i heard exxon bonuses r fixed at 3 mths .

for ur qn, it really depends on which stat board... u might want to disclose the name or the name of its parent ministry.

the Msc is likely to be counted as 1yr of work (assuming u did 1 yr masters from 2009-2010)

so there will be a 2nd upper pay + 1 yr increment
i guess would be ard 3600-3700 (assume u did NS)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Even in NTU & NUS, there are bond free PhD scholarships such as the NTU Research scholarship and NUS Research Scholarships which are bond-free. Although the benefits are not that fantastic, but hey, you're getting paid for your studies!! Many people are not aware of these scholarships.

There is no free lunch in this world. The money for your pay while studying comes from your future income stream, which is diminished upon getting the PhD. Most people don't realise that a PhD has a negative value to their long term career.

The law of supply and demand dictates that everything in this world has a price. Somethings just have a negative price, and thus have to be "encouraged" by the Government. Think life sciences. Most of those who were "tricked" into it would have led a happier alternative life, in an alternative dimension, if they had not gone into it in the first place.

Originally Posted by blackswan

hi "totally agree..." , good to hear someone thinking same as me.
I did my IA at exxon too .. but i was at harborfront the regional hq office doing mainly commercial stuff but with some technical work. And how late r the engineers made to work at ur side? speaking of bonuses , i heard exxon bonuses r fixed at 3 mths .

for ur qn, it really depends on which stat board... u might want to disclose the name or the name of its parent ministry.

the Msc is likely to be counted as 1yr of work (assuming u did 1 yr masters from 2009-2010)

so there will be a 2nd upper pay + 1 yr increment
i guess would be ard 3600-3700 (assume u did NS)

Hi Blackswan,

I was at Jurong Refinery and some engineers did stay as late as 9pm on several occasions. I guess it comes with the job that you have to show full commitment to the plant, its operations and of course the super-stress-inducing managers. There are numerous others (every year 400-500 Chem Eng grads from NTU/NUS applying) waiting to pounce on their jobs if they fail to perform exceeding expectations, not just merely meeting them.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the salary estimate. Yeah I did NS.
I am thinking along the same salary range too and you basically confirmed my estimation. Will update you again when I eventually get more details on the salary package that they offer.

Plus, I'm beginning to think that I am a computer program and not a human, cos this is my 3rd attempt trying to post this but keep on getting the wrong 2 words from reCAPTCHA program.. lol!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

There is no free lunch in this world. The money for your pay while studying comes from your future income stream, which is diminished upon getting the PhD. Most people don't realise that a PhD has a negative value to their long term career.

The law of supply and demand dictates that everything in this world has a price. Somethings just have a negative price, and thus have to be "encouraged" by the Government. Think life sciences. Most of those who were "tricked" into it would have led a happier alternative life, in an alternative dimension, if they had not gone into it in the first place.

Hmmm, I guess you do have a good perspective here.

A PhD does limit the range of jobs and the number of companies that would even look at your CV. There is the possibility of being caught in a situation whereby you're too specialized in your own field and too pricy for the industry. That is why the majority would eventually turn to academia so as to at least earn a living, and also more freedom in research.

But I have seen PhD holders in the public and civil service. Quite a number of Dy Directors and Directors have "Dr" in front of their names I think.
I wonder if their specialized skills are actually needed in the govt sector.
Plus, I also wonder if they did their PhD and then joined Govt sector, OR, they joined Govt sector with a Bachelor or Masters and then furthered studies to PhD while still employed by the public/civil service.

Anyone can shed some light in this? Thanks a lot..

Hi guys, I need some information about ST Marine. Does ST marine pays good bonus like other shipyards? Need help on this as i need to calculate the annual package to see if it's worth it to go over. Thanks in advance.

[miwashi]

most of the time those drs in directorial positions are doing general admin and nothing that requires a phd level of intellect.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi guys, I need some information about ST Marine. Does ST marine pays good bonus like other shipyards? Need help on this as i need to calculate the annual package to see if it's worth it to go over. Thanks in advance.

As long as it's ST, no.

[blackswan]

Originally Posted by miwashi

most of the time those drs in directorial positions are doing general admin and nothing that requires a phd level of intellect.

well, it depends on the job too... some issues the directors are involved in are very complex... probably less of technical skills but more of analytical skills and foresight

E.g. a director in edb in charge of energy and chemicals need to understand the needs of the industry in order to attract foreign chemical companies here... might need to work with multiple industries such as JTC as chemical plants need industrial land, NEA for environmental studies etc etc .. and how it fits into existing govt policies....

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hmmm, I guess you do have a good perspective here.

A PhD does limit the range of jobs and the number of companies that would even look at your CV. There is the possibility of being caught in a situation whereby you're too specialized in your own field and too pricy for the industry. That is why the majority would eventually turn to academia so as to at least earn a living, and also more freedom in research.

But I have seen PhD holders in the public and civil service. Quite a number of Dy Directors and Directors have "Dr" in front of their names I think.
I wonder if their specialized skills are actually needed in the govt sector.
Plus, I also wonder if they did their PhD and then joined Govt sector, OR, they joined Govt sector with a Bachelor or Masters and then furthered studies to PhD while still employed by the public/civil service.

Anyone can shed some light in this? Thanks a lot..

There are two types of civil servants with PhDs. Those who got their PhD before joining the service and those who got theirs after (usually academic or research positions). Either way they're checkmating themselves, it's just a question of before or after.

The reason, for want of a better description, is what you have written: "A PhD does limit the range of jobs and the number of companies that would even look at your CV".

Even academia is not an easy option, especially for our local universities. The number of PhD holders hoping to land an academic position every year far exceeds the number of tenure positions available at NUS, NTU and SMU combined. In fact recently NTU has followed in the footsteps of NUS in spring cleaning its academic positions.

Originally Posted by blackswan

well, it depends on the job too... some issues the directors are involved in are very complex... probably less of technical skills but more of analytical skills and foresight

E.g. a director in edb in charge of energy and chemicals need to understand the needs of the industry in order to attract foreign chemical companies here... might need to work with multiple industries such as JTC as chemical plants need industrial land, NEA for environmental studies etc etc .. and how it fits into existing govt policies....

That doesn't require any PhD training at all. This is all very business and practical, why need 4 years worth of theoretical training? Corporate honchos without PhDs can master those details.

There are some Dir positions which justify a PhD. Statistical services, economics research, those more technical divisions. If other than those, you just need to be generally smart.