Amazing Civil Service

Joining the Amazing Civil Service Race

The comments made by friend and co-blogger Uchukeling about joining the Civil Service strikes a similiar chord with other comments made by my other acquaintance. The Resident Office is regularly used by the Public Service Commission for their interviews. Potential candidates do drop by my office, send me emails and SMS for any tips that may assist them in the interview. Its always good to be called for the interview as it shows that you have actually made the grade on paper. I have to apologise to my readers if my blog reflects that everything in the Civil Service is rosy and dandy. Its not as easy as it looks and if only I could explain to them but words would fail me. Let's wait till the end of this posting.


Uchukeling ~ author of the Life After Forty blog and founder of rumahdayakdotcom.

Attending the District Officers' workshop in Kuching last week 'I managed to get a better insight of the Service at District level. After a solid 14 years in top flight level of the Civil Service (headquarters), my three months stint in Sri Aman partially completes my Civil Service tour of duty. The 3 days workshop compacted the statutory functions of the District Officers into my brain on a fast forward mode.

Felicia Tan - the former District Officer for Betong Division shares her experience as being a lady District Officer. Now she is the Deputy Resident for Sarikei. If she was a blogger she would have many memorable encouters to share especially on how the community slowly lady DO in the day to day administration of the District

A mix of administrators - the young and the veterans. They absorbed the experiences of the senior District Officer's (DO) on the importance of the DOs statutory functions with interest. The DOs manage the whole aspect of the living, marriage, customs and the dead in the District - I hope to cover these subjects in my future postings


To be in the Civil Service one really has to appreciate its history - how it evolved into the Service it is today. Its important to absorb what the Service has gone through during the Brooke era and British Colonial era. The Sarawak Civil Service has its own proud moments and it is indeed unique in character


The State Civil Service also has its own ceremonial uniform and award - for those loyal to the Service they will be awarded the Pingat Setia and other medals

In the administration of a Division - the State Administrators have to work together with the Civil Servants from the Federal Administration too. Some people are still confused over this as they can't differentiate the two. I do not blame them as the small Division of Sri Aman has so many Government agencies. The two young officers on the right corner are heading the KEMAS (Mohd Tahir with specs) and the Perpaduan Office (Encik Yusli who hails from Sabah) for the whole of Sri Aman Division

The State leaders - their vision guides the State Civil Service

My first interview with the State Civil Service 14 years ago was chaired by YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Amar Hamdan Sirat who was the State Public Service Commission Chairman at that time. After all those years my dad and daughter managed to meet him while he was relaxing at the Damai Beach Resort, Kuching. That was a few months back and he has a lot to share if he was to put those stories he shared with us into a book

The Federal Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam website is in this blog for a certain reason. Going through the website I believe it is quite comprehensive in terms of offering career opportunities to those who seek to serve the country. After all the Federal Service does have plans to include more local Sarawakians to join the Federal Service.

So again the question for the aspiring candidates - what can one expect in joining the Civil Service? My answer is simple for someone who is halfway of retirement - be prepared for the many challenges and fun amidst the frustrations and pain. Its like reality TV. New discoveries will always be around the corner be it in terms of personal experience on the job. At times I feel that I am not prepared for the assignments but the collective experience of your officers is the formula that can pull you through complicated situations. Its all about teamwork.

Teamwork with your fellow officers is important to complete your objectives that comes down from headquarters. The frustration of the Civil Service mainly revolves around the competetive nature of promotional advancement as there are fewer positions up the heirachy. Missing out is like being eliminated - and the pain and emotions are like those you see in the reality TV shows. For those who gets 'eliminated' there's a lot of reflections on why you can't advance to the next level.

Just for the fun of it - if you are still thinking of joining the Civil Service be prepared for the Amazing Civil Service Race and the possibility of 'elimination'. The catch is that most of the races are 'non elimination' races but do not be complacent - because one of them will be.

Many of my colleagues (those retired and present) in the Civil Service have experienced this 'elimination' in their career.- that includes myself. However, like those retired officers, I did advice them to strive on in the race. Most important if other better opportunities should come by, go for it. Well, If I know the odds of staying on are against me, I certainly would move on if I am told I am not needed. One has to be positive in one's outlook - you can't certainly sit down and hope the human resources people will look after your welfare. It is beyond them as they have other important things to do - one can't risk of being too hopeful for something that will never come. Plainly speaking, the one who decides your destiny is you yourself. I am sure Trump will tell you to never give up. I have met colleagues who worked their way up the Civil Service, from being a clerk to an officer now (From Form 5, he went for his off campus Diploma and finally Degree just over 10 years). That's an inspiration for all. Which is why I put it to myself to never to think I am better than the other person. If I do that then the learning process will have stopped. As for Uchukeling, he has joined the business line and he has his own success story which many of his friends (including myself) are proud of.

Comments

Pemancha said…
Hi DJ,

Some IT Guys from govt dept does not even know how to install printer driver, does not know how to use basic DOS command, does not even know how to clear cookies and temp files in IE. I wonder how do they manage to get employed or pass the interview????

I have applied for more than 10 times to work for the governtment BUT all failed. I feel very dissappointed and will not apply anymore. masau duit stamp, photocopy and jam aja. AND the most sad case is >>>> Most IT guys from the govt dept are inept, not all of course. I wonder how they will perform if they are working in Private IT firm/company, engka enda tan kaban hahahaha chali ehhh
Pemancha ~ Bisi maya aku ke ngajar sida ia :) hehehe. Well some are ok as they keep updating and train themselves through the web. But some are - as you say :)
Tia said…
I was a govt staff with a federal dept for almost 11 years before. Did my Dip n Degree part time during that period. I resigned thereafter and join a State GLC. Yup, there's the pros and cons. If u like the working culture, u'll stay.

So, u were in Pustaka that day. I was there for a meeting. Hope to meet u next time around.
Pn Hamidah said…
Another way of being positive in one's outlook despite the missing out issues and frustrations, the passion and job satisfaction is another self-reward that deserves to be acknowledged.
gkvaener said…
Civil Service- a calling to serve the society, not the other way round...
Some find loopholes to survive and manage to thrive...
At the end of the day, asal terima gaji kan?
Mana2 la...
aku orang biasa said…
meri gambar aku ba amazing raceeee,....
thanks
cyrildason said…
Civil Service is hard to get in...

Sadly, despite the saying goig around which says there is no double standards... some of us still feel it

*SIGH*
Coffee Girl said…
I met Felicia Tan and converse with her a few times. An admirable lady, with really good potentials. :-)

I'm linking you up! :-)