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Hi guys, I'm male, turning 27 this year, and a local uni grad with second upper honours. I'm currently employed in a niche role in a private company. Work exp around 1 year plus (I graduated in 2013).

I'm thinking of taking a year off work to study for a masters degree, out of personal interest, and also hopefully to open more job opportunities outside my niche field. I eventually hope to join a ministry/sb because I'm not very ambitious and I'm ok with a stable salary and work life balance.

But I'm afraid I will be seen as too overqualified to take on entry level roles after my masters as my current work exp is very niche and if I join a ministry/sb I will probably be seen as a junior exec or fresh grad.

I don't mind taking bachelor's degree payscale but will they see that I have a masters and immediately thrash my application when I apply for bachelor-level jobs?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi guys, I'm male, turning 27 this year, and a local uni grad with second upper honours. I'm currently employed in a niche role in a private company. Work exp around 1 year plus (I graduated in 2013).

I'm thinking of taking a year off work to study for a masters degree, out of personal interest, and also hopefully to open more job opportunities outside my niche field. I eventually hope to join a ministry/sb because I'm not very ambitious and I'm ok with a stable salary and work life balance.

But I'm afraid I will be seen as too overqualified to take on entry level roles after my masters as my current work exp is very niche and if I join a ministry/sb I will probably be seen as a junior exec or fresh grad.

I don't mind taking bachelor's degree payscale but will they see that I have a masters and immediately thrash my application when I apply for bachelor-level jobs?

nope. anything less that 2 years doesn't really count as work experience, even less so if it's not relevant. and don't worry about a masters - If i remember corrrectly ~ 40% of people in stat boards below the age of 35 have masters. If it's not relevant to your role applied for you will just be compensated based on the Division 1 (graduate) level salary scale. If you have done the masters part time it is usually not recognized. if you did it full time, the years spent on the masteers can be consisdered as working experience.

you won't be over qualified so rest assured!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

nope. anything less that 2 years doesn't really count as work experience, even less so if it's not relevant. and don't worry about a masters - If i remember corrrectly ~ 40% of people in stat boards below the age of 35 have masters. If it's not relevant to your role applied for you will just be compensated based on the Division 1 (graduate) level salary scale. If you have done the masters part time it is usually not recognized. if you did it full time, the years spent on the masteers can be consisdered as working experience.

you won't be over qualified so rest assured!

thanks for the reply but hmm the point about part-time masters not being recognised seems iffy.

so if i do my masters part-time while i'm working, which is a possible option, then the masters won't be recognised? even if it's from a reputable institution?

what if for example i have a degree in engineering but i did my masters in social science, and i apply for a job that requires a bachelors in social science?

Hi,

May I know if anyone is currently working or has friends doing policy-related work in MOF I.e. Fiscal, Tax and Economics programmes?

Are the hours usually very long for these policy makers, especially the period leading up to the budet announcement?

Do you feel that having exposure to these portfolios will enhance one's career prospects within or beyond the public sector?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

not impossible, in fact quite common for non scholars, especially for the grade 1 ministries in their respective clusters, especially if someone comes in from the quasi govt sector - eg GLCs, GIC, Temasek Subs, Govt AUs, etc..

Also, these salaries tend to be in the Policy Sections/Division. with AO's and PSLPs in these departments it would need to be equitable.

MOH (senior health policy analysts are a good example at the 29yo 7k range), MTI (economists) and MINDEF (rare but there have been) are such examples.


but to rise from within to hit 7k by 29 is almost impossible unless you make it into the PSLP and finished your first milestone programme. must be a lateral shift.

This post goes to show that there are those among us who are in the know, and others who are little froggies-in-wells that assume anything which did not happen to them is bullsh*t.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi,

May I know if anyone is currently working or has friends doing policy-related work in MOF I.e. Fiscal, Tax and Economics programmes?

Are the hours usually very long for these policy makers, especially the period leading up to the budet announcement?

Do you feel that having exposure to these portfolios will enhance one's career prospects within or beyond the public sector?

long, very long hours. The bosses don't sleep because their bosses don't sleep.

public yes, you can impress Head of Civil Service, think you will meet w him all the time.

private no, there're stat boards, then ministries in between; you dun work w them directly.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

long, very long hours. The bosses don't sleep because their bosses don't sleep.

public yes, you can impress Head of Civil Service, think you will meet w him all the time.

private no, there're stat boards, then ministries in between; you dun work w them directly.

How long are the hours? 70-80 hours work week?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

nope. anything less that 2 years doesn't really count as work experience, even less so if it's not relevant. and don't worry about a masters - If i remember corrrectly ~ 40% of people in stat boards below the age of 35 have masters. If it's not relevant to your role applied for you will just be compensated based on the Division 1 (graduate) level salary scale. If you have done the masters part time it is usually not recognized. if you did it full time, the years spent on the masteers can be consisdered as working experience.

you won't be over qualified so rest assured!

" If you have done the masters part time it is usually not recognized. "

Seriously? What's your source?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

" If you have done the masters part time it is usually not recognized. "

Seriously? What's your source?

I think what he/she meant was that part-time master degrees are not recognised in terms of you getting a salary increment for it. Actually even for full-time master degrees, they are usually not recognised for salary increments too, unless a master degree is part of the job specs. By and large, most of the Div 1 positions only require a bachelor degree so they look at your bachelor degree results plus work experience to determine the salary offered.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How long are the hours? 70-80 hours work week?

I was from somewhere similar to MOF. It's usual for workdays to be from 9am to 9pm / 10pm / 11pm / 12am.

Not much relevance to private sector. Perhaps to stat boards only. Imo, there's a higher chance of getting work-life balance in stat boards' policy departments compared to ministry policy departments.