Congratulations! You wrote a winning cover letter and resume, and performed well on your written exam. You have now made it to the final stage: the face-to-face interview. At this stage you have proven that you have the education, qualifications, and skill base for the job position. What is really being analyzed at this point [...]
It is a fact. Every year, thousands of individuals apply for coveted positions at the Government of Canada; however, few succeed. There is a very clear formula for talented individuals to get past the initial screening process. Here are the three tips that will place your resume in the “keep” pile. Read the instructions carefully [...]
With 15 days left until Election Day, all parties are recognizing the importance of obtaining the votes of the federal public servants. On October 1st, 2015, Stephen Harper released his “open letter” to public servants; this comes almost a week after Justin Trudeau’s “open letter”. In Harper’s letter he makes comments such as “Canadians are [...]
In many departments, it is the first exam score that is evaluated. Many candidates find the exam difficult and unfortunately, a decent percentage obtain poor to average results. The GRT consists of 55 multiple-choice questions of four subjects: 1) Arithmetic (including word problems) 2) Word Similarities 3) Figure Analogies 4) Number Sequences You will find that the [...]
May 2013 was a difficult month for the Public Service. Letters notifying employees of their "affected" status were given out in some departments with Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, National Defence, Transport Canada, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade taking the large majority of the hit. To accommodate for the positions that will be lost, various [...]
The Post Secondary Recruitment has started. With four recruitment campaigns as of September 21st, 2012, Budget 2012 has definitely had an effect on this year campaign. That being said, competition will be fiercer than it was in past years. This is due to the small number of coveted government positions available for the tens of thousands of students that [...]
Budget 2012 clearly expressed the Conservatives' desire to eliminate 19,200 positions within the Canadian Public Service. Although attrition (retirements) are expected to lower this number to 12,000, several temporary positions will most likely be renewed and many departments are still eliminating positions as they complete their strategic operational review. At the same time, many individuals [...]
An attractive benefit of the federal public service is the public service pension plan. The plan is a defined benefit plan meaning that employees are promised a specific predetermined benefit that is calculated by an employee’s salary, years of service, and age instead of depending directly on individual investment returns. There are a few basic [...]
As in any private company, job vacancies in the Government of Canada are filled based on need. This usually occurs in the following situations: 1) Change of political party or government's priorities 2) Departure of an individual in which a suitable replacement was not found through an internal competition 3) Decision to have a department-wide recruitment strategy That [...]
I receive many inquiries about the importance of being bilingual in the Government of Canada. But, the question is: Is it important to be bilingual to get a job in the Government of Canada? My answer: it depends. Canada has two official languages: English and French. The Official Languages Act of 1969 (click here to read the act) outlines the [...]