I attended a job fair in NTU. At that time, I was working in NTU and was already 35 years old.
I actually wanted to join IRAS as a fresh graduate but chances eluded me and now, I am already too old to join public service.
Interestingly, I asked the IRAS HR lady and she told me that there's no age discrimination and I can feel free to join anytime. I did submit application after that but was not called up for an interview. She did disclose to me that she has seen aunties and uncles in their 50s join IRAS as MSO (Management Support Officer - O levels and Diploma) but to join IRAS as an Executive (Degree and above), it will be tougher.
Many of my friends also say that if you are a degree holder, you should aim for public service asap. Once you hit 30 and have 4 years of experience, joining public service would be tougher.
However, once you hit 30 and have 4 years of experience, joining private sector would be easier. This is because the MNCs in private sector value your working experience and not forgetting the business ties and contacts you amassed over the years.
Why the disparity? All along, I had the impression that public sector wouldn't discriminate.
In actual fact, one of my friend said that for degree holders, public sector has a HR framework to groom their degree holders for leadership positions. They have this 'Potential Grading" system so that when they train you for leadership positions, you have to start from young and preferably as a fresh graduate. Therefore, you need to be young to enter fresh graduate. When you reach 30, HR in public service will have difficulty benchmarking your experience to their HR framework and not forgetting they have difficulty matching your experience to their salary scale and grade.
There are very few director level jobs being advertised in public sector because they prefer to promote their own staff instead of advertising them to outsiders. Therefore, for those PMETs who lose their jobs in their 30s and have degrees, bank hard on your chances with private sector and not public sector.
However, things will be better if you are just a O level holder or Diploma holder and have lost your job in your 30s.
Apparently, public sector doesn't really care much about Management Support Officer jobs and I have seen some aunties and uncles who can go into MSO positions after working as a temp for a few months.
The rationale is that MSO positions are non-leadership positions and there is no rigid HR framework in place for them. HR don't have to worry about your working experience and leadership potential and can just give you entry level salary for you to work.
And if you are a repeat student who failed his exams or retook exams, being a MSO is no barrier as well. I have met quit a lot who retook exams but yet still managed to get a job as MSO.
CJ
TRS Contributor