a few comments:

1) not all public service jobs are the same. There are some interesting ones which have market value after working there for a couple of years. MAS comes to mind. maybe some statutory boards where it allows you to interact with various business sectors etc. Police and Army, however, counts as nothing in terms of relevant experience in the real world.

2) you cannot compare hours and starting pay for private versus public sector. Public sector will always offer better starting pay and offer better hours in the first few years. However, you trade initial lower pay for better opportunities in the future in terms of work experience and increasing your market value. There will be people who prefer stability, in that case, stick to public sector. If you take the bell curve distribution, your pay will always fall under the mean or median. It will never be possible to move up the curve if you don't take any risks at all.

3) think longer term and also think outside of singapore as well. Singapore is not the only place in the world with great jobs. Start thinking where you will like to be in a few years time and use your first job as a base to launch you forward.

The experience in the police force does count for something after you leave. You can join security-related firms such as Certis Cisco, or start your own security consulting company or be a private investigator.

Dude... ure pay is really good man. My annual pay with aws is only 44.5K. Give me some hint where you working at leh? or at least which industry?

PI?
 

haha private investigator?

why do you laugh? PIs can make a lot of money too.

wo6
 

Apart from those that you mentioned, there is a market for security/investigation related positions as well in the financial industry e.g fraud investigator, security manager (Regional or local), emergency preparedness, anti-money laundering, counter terrorist fundings, so on and so forth. These positions are highly sought after in financial institutions and most of them are highly paid...

MBS hired a lot of ex-police. When you said "highly paid", it's at most 5k right?

Hi Liquid,

Either (1) take the MNC job or (2) scout around for more options.

In NO case do you take up the SPF job. Not without a scholarship. You will be at the lowest end of the food chain and at every turn you will be reminded that you are lesser than the lowest scholar. At each posting and pay adjustment, more and more scholars younger than you will overtake you and become your seniors, or become your supervisor and eventually become your commander.

If you have not dreamt of becoming a policeman all your life, then just forget it. The good starting pay is a trap. You get stuck in lots and lots of paper work and bureaucratic reporting. In any case, policing is no longer what it used to be. Do not be fooled by TV roles and Hollywood. You do not fight for justice and the well being of victims. Even if you do, you do not get the credit. But you do see a lot of ugly things and how the system fails people in need of help. You will be disillusioned and disappointed.

<Unregistered> who replied to your first is right. There is very little upside even if you persevere and try your very best for 10 to 15 years. So my personal advice is: DON'T.

Yup.. this guy knows what he's talking about..... I have struggled for 10 years... And there's no hope of ever becoming a somebody in the public service... They only look at your academic status to chart your prospect with the organisation... Better to join private.. becos even if you're not a scholar.. at least you still have a fighting chance...

Males should clarify about their NS obligations (reservist) before signing on the saf or some of the home team divisions. Don't blur blur sign on.