I'm in the army now, and they just had the whole "career talk" with us. I'm considering signing on, and they are offering a lump sum as well. Is there anything else I should consider?

I would if I could.

Not everyone can fit into the system.
Not everyone can tuck their ego in and listen to crap from an outdated doctrine.

But there's more to in then just the uniform. If you enjoy it, you enjoy it.

Are you truly passionate about serving the nation? No doubt that both the career progression and pay package is there, but if you have no passion, you'll suffer eventually especially in the long run as you'll be bound to the contract term.

I find it pretty ironic when they give their career talk as they'll say "Don't sign on just for the money", but the content that they're sharing is mostly on the pay package and bonuses.

i signed on as a pilot cadet back in my NS days through the career talk. Best experience I ever had although i didn’t make it through the course, and contract was terminated after 6months. on the plus side, we do not need to pay back the regular allowance.

Depends on what your goals are, and whether you'd be willing to sacrifice the few years of your life if you're going to pursue something else after the bond ends. Do you see yourself in this career, or is it just a stepping stone to get some higher than average moolah ?

I did consider signing on as a pilot once, but the bond was long and if I didn't like it I would be stuck in a profession for 10 whole years without any chance of leaving early (I mean you could but the penalty really is out of this world).

When signing on there's no such thing as "I wanna just try it out and see how" because you're stuck for that few years. Bear that in mind and if your heart is still telling you the pros are so much better than the cons I guess you'll have your answer then.