if I had to rank the groups in terms of indicators like: power, social recognition, money making, promotion chances etc I would go in the order of:

1. PAS ( head and shoulders above the rest)


2. Customs
3. Police



4. IRS
5. PAAS

6-12: don't care.

Trust me, no group comes close to PAS especially, when it comes to postings of grade 20 and above. Currently, ALL of the federal secretaries are from PAS.

Honestly, Foreign service is terribly overrated, if you are male and have no references you will sent to a 3rd world country for most of your career. Most of the good posts are taken by females, army personnel, journalists (why?) and politicians.

And I agree with the user who said PAS is risky and requires a cool temperament and other qualities like boot polishing, corruption and signing any file that's put in front of you, regardless of consequences.

Take the example of Sajjad Bhutta, who was the blue eyed boy of PPP, as soon as they came to power in'08 he was appointed DCO Lahore, and ruled the city like a king. He fell out of favour when he refused to stop the long march in 2010 and was made an OSD. He was superceded for promotion and has been stuck in grade 19 while seeing his juniors get promoted and enjoy good postings.