After working in the Government of Canada for several years, I have seen many people build and others destroy their careers. Others stay stagnant for a long time and do not see much movement in their careers. So what is the secret to success? Interpersonal skills. It is important to know how to use these [...]
After being a public servant for several years I have witnessed different communication and interpersonal skills. This is normal and expected in an environment where professionals have varied educational backgrounds and work positions. Unfortunately, one thing that I have seen repeated with various levels of damage is an employee’s inability to use tact. This is [...]
The Government of Canada’s Post Secondary Recruitment campaign (PSR) is run annually by the Public Service Commission. The PSR provides post secondary students with the opportunity to secure a full-time indeterminate position in the Government of Canada. Every year, tens of thousands of post-secondary students who have graduated or are near graduating, write the exams [...]
A big misconception about a position in the Government of Canada is that all job opportunities only exist in other Government of Canada departments or Crown Corporations. This could not be further from the truth. While the majority of public servants do not venture outside of federal departments and Crown Corporations during their careers, several [...]
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 [...]
The Government of Canada is a large bureaucracy where things move slowly. There are numerous rules and regulations governing its everyday functioning. Unfortunately, this also includes the hiring of personnel. Will a government official actually meet with me? Despite what people may think, government officials love to talk about their jobs. So much, that it's not [...]
For many job applicants, a position with DFATD is a dream. Being stationed in prestigious cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, New York, and the Bahamas is what typically come to mind. Others dream about rubbing shoulders with powerful decision makers and attending several networking and cocktail events on a regular basis. There are [...]
Can you explain how you were recruited for your position in the Government of Canada? A: Like I mentioned, I applied to 10 positions through the Post Secondary Recruitment process within Government of Canada . I must have spent 3 weeks reading every book that I can get my hands on about how to prepare resumes [...]
What are some of the challenges of working with the Government of Canada? A: Working with the Government of Canada can definitely have its challenges. Most shops have been hit by DRAP, or otherwise known as: the Deficit Reduction Action Plan . We now have less people in most shops doing equivalent or more work than [...]
I receive many inquiries about what is it like to be a Policy Analyst at the Government of Canada. I asked Jenny who is a Policy Analyst in the Economist (EC) category to answer some of your questions. What is something that you would like to highlight about working with the Government of Canada? A: I [...]