Administrative Positions

Important messages

Please note that this process was re-posted under process #17-AGR-NCR-EA-CM-310A where new locations have been added. We kindly ask you to apply to the new process if you have not already submitted you application.

When you apply to this selection process, you are not applying for a specific job, but to an inventory for future vacancies. If you meet the qualifications listed below, you may be contacted for further assessment for specific jobs as they become available. We have a regular need for CR-04 positions across the organization so it may not take long after the inventory is established for your phone and e-mail to start buzzing.

In order to be considered to meet the criteria of belonging to one of the Employment Equity groups (Aboriginal persons or persons with disabilities), please complete the Employment Equity section of the application.

Work environment

At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), we take pride in what we do. We are an organization dedicated to serving the public. We are here to provide support to both our clients and colleagues. We are committed to delivering high quality service because we understand the importance of agriculture to our economy, communities, environment and human health. At AAFC, we are dedicated to making a continual effort to improve our services.

At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, we are...
Client-Focused - We take the time to understand the needs of our clients and colleagues.
Helpful - We provide assistance and reduce unnecessary burden placed on our clients.
Accountable - We are accountable to our clients, ourselves, our colleagues.
Respectful - We demonstrate respect to both our clients and colleagues.
Timely - We provide timely and courteous services to clients and colleagues alike.
Accurate - We provide information that is accurate, accessible and up-to-date.

We also have employment opportunities in a variety of offices across the country that goes from being located on a farm, in a lab, in a rural community, in an urban area… basically we have opportunities for all types!

Intent of the process

To establish a pool of qualified candidates.

This process is anticipatory and will be used to staff similar CR-04 positions (or equivalent) with various tenures as well as various bilingual linguistic profiles and security requirements.

Depending on the position being staffed, additional qualifications may be required by the hiring manager(s). Applicants will be provided the opportunity to submit information relevant to any additional qualifications that may be applied.

The intent is to finalize a pool of qualified candidates by September 30th so we will keep you busy all summer and most of fall.

Positions to be filled: Number to be determined

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

You must meet all essential qualifications in order to be appointed to the position. Other qualifications may be a deciding factor in choosing the person to be appointed. Some essential and other qualifications will be assessed through your application. It is your responsibility to provide appropriate examples that illustrate how you meet each qualification. Failing to do so could result in your application being rejected.

In order to be considered, your application must clearly explain how you meet the following (essential qualifications)

A secondary school diploma

Degree equivalency

Experience providing a range of administrative support services with at least three of the following:
• Formatting documents
• data entry
• managing agendas for senior managers
• scheduling and organizing meetings and teleconferences
• preparing and collating meeting information and background materials
• procuring office equipment and supplies
• maintaining a filing system
• drafting and editing correspondence

Experience in the use of Microsoft Office Word and of Microsoft Office Excel

If you possess any of the following, your application must also clearly explain how you meet it (other qualifications)

Degree/diploma from a recognized post-secondary institution in office support or a related field (example: secretarial, paralegal, office clerk)

Degree equivalency

Experience providing human resources support services
Experience using PeopleSoft outside of employee and/or manager self-service module
Experience providing financial support services
Experience in accounts payable or procurement
Experience using a financial management system (for example SAP)
Experience coordinating travel arrangements and travel claims

The following will be applied / assessed at a later date (essential for the job)

English or French

Information on language requirements

Client focus
Teamwork
Ability to prioritize
Written communication
Oral communication

Ability to perform essential clerical tasks quickly and accurately
Ability to use reasoning skills to solve problems

The following may be applied / assessed at a later date (may be needed for the job)

Selection may be limited to members of the following Employment Equity groups: Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, women

Information on employment equity

Ability and willingness to work overtime

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Secret security clearance

Other information

Please don’t submit your application by email as we will only accept online applications through the advertisement on the link below.

Persons with disabilities preventing them from applying on-line are asked to contact 1-800-645-5605.

Persons are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.

Communication for this process will be sent via email. It is the responsibility of the candidate to ensure accurate contact information is provided and updated as required. Candidates who apply to this selection process should include an email address that accepts email from unknown users (some email systems block these types of email).

All communication relating to this process, including email correspondence, may be used in the assessment of qualifications.

We are providing assessment timelines for your information so you can start preparing now as the assessment board will work quickly to complete this process. Note that timelines may need to be revised due to unforeseen circumstances. We will advise those impacted should timelines change. We also expect you to inform us as soon as possible if there are periods for which you are unavailable during the assessment phases (if you decide to head to the beach or Europe for example). We would prefer you invite us but we will try to accommodate your vacations when possible if you let us know in advance.

How will you be assessed?

You will be happy to know that a cover letter is NOT required for this process. But you are not completely off the hook… we need to learn a little about you. We need you to complete the screening questionnaire and provide us your CV before we have you run through some standardized tests and an interview.

STEP 1 - TELL US ABOUT YOU (end of July 2017)

Tell us about you! We want to know why you would be a great candidate for AAFC’s CR-04 positions! We will review your application and determine whether you meet the education and experience requirements, with a vision of notifying all applicants of results by end of July.

In order to be considered, you must clearly demonstrate, with concrete examples, IN THE SCREENING QUESTIONS, how you meet the essential qualifications. Please note that candidates can be eliminated by the system based on the screening questions in this application process. Make it easy for us to screen you into this process! We don’t want to eliminate you on technicalities!

Please describe the examples in specific terms, providing sufficient details so that the Assessment Board can clearly understand the circumstances, including WHEN, WHERE and HOW you obtained this experience. Describe the situation/task, the action you took, what you accomplished and/or what you learned. DO NOT SIMPLY INDICATE IN YOUR RESPONSE "PLEASE REFER TO CV/RÉSUMÉ" or “I MEET”. Lack of EXAMPLES and DETAILS may result in your application being rejected as the Assessment Board will have insufficient information to determine whether or not you meet the qualifications.

Please don't forget to attach your CV.

STEP 2 – GET TESTED (end of July to late August 2017)

Phase 1: General Competency Test: Level 1 (GCT1-207) and Office Skills Test (OST-200)

The GCT1 – 207 will evaluate your ability to use reasoning skills to solve problems and the OST-200 will evaluate your Ability to perform essential clerical tasks quickly and accurately. If you have previously taken these standardized tests and wish to use previous results, please note the following minimal pass mark have been established:
• GCT1-207: 30/50
• OST-200: 45/75
A higher cut-off score may be used for volume management.

For more information, please visit the following links:
General Competency Test: Level 1 (GCT1-207): https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/staffing-assessment-tools-resources/human-resources-specialists-hiring-managers/human-resources-toolbox/personnel-psychology-centre/consultation-test-services/public-service-commission-tests/general-competency-test-level-1-1-207.html
Office Skills Test (OST-200): https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/staffing-assessment-tools-resources/human-resources-specialists-hiring-managers/human-resources-toolbox/personnel-psychology-centre/consultation-test-services/public-service-commission-tests/office-skills-test-ost-200.html

Phase 2: Take-home Exam

A take-home exam assessing written communication and the ability to prioritize will be sent to you by e-mail to be returned to us within 24 hours of receipt.

At this phase, we will also send you an e-mail where we would like you to provide proof of your Canadian education credentials, in the form of a diploma or official transcript. Please see the note on degree equivalency if you went to school outside of Canada.

STEP 3 – LET’S CHAT (September 2017)

Finally, if you make it to this step, we will contact you to meet with us so we can chat about your client focus; teamwork; and see how you do with oral communication. This will be done through a combination of behavioural and situational questions over the phone.

If you fail to submit the exam on time OR fail to attend assessments without a valid reason and reasonable notice, you will be eliminated from the selection process. The following reasons will be regarded as valid:
-Medical reasons with doctor’s certificate;
-Death in the immediate family;
-Confirmation of pre-approved travel plans;
-Religious reasons.

Appointment decisions may be based on one or more of the following criteria:
- Matching of the individual's experience or qualifications to the strengths and weaknesses of the work team.
- Matching of the individual's experience or qualifications to the specific duties of the position being staffed.
- Depth, breadth, type of work-specific experience.
- Level/degree of one or more competencies/qualifications.

Please note that this process was re-posted under process #17-AGR-NCR-EA-CM-310A where new locations have been added. We kindly ask you to apply to the new process if you have not already submitted you application.

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce reflective of Canadian society. As a result, it promotes employment equity and encourages candidates to indicate voluntarily on their application if they are a woman, an Aboriginal person, a person with a disability or a member of a visible minority group.

The Public Service of Canada is also committed to developing inclusive, barrier-free selection processes and work environments. If contacted in relation to a job opportunity or testing, you should advise the Public Service Commission or the departmental official in a timely fashion of the accommodation measures which must be taken to enable you to be assessed in a fair and equitable manner. Information received relating to accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order.

Information on the preference to veterans

We thank all those who apply. Only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.