Executive Assistant

Important messages

We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the hiring process. If you need to be accommodated during any phase of the evaluation process, please use the Contact information below to request special accommodation. All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

Information on accommodation for persons with disabilities

All information must be provided through the “apply online” application process. Do not fax, mail, email or drop-off a hard copy application as these will not be accepted. To apply in an alternate format due to disability, you must contact the email address indicated in the "Contact information" section below PRIOR to the Closing Date.

Please note when submitting an application to this selection process, you will be prompted to answer screening questions concerning the essential education and experience qualifications and, if applicable, other (nonessential) qualifications.

It is NOT sufficient to only state that the qualifications are met or to provide a listing of current or past responsibilities. Rather you must clearly demonstrate HOW, WHEN, and WHERE the qualification was met through substantiation by examples. Information on your described skills, experience, etc. provided in the screening questions should be supported by your resume. Failure to provide the above information in the format required may result in your application being rejected from the process.

Candidates may not be solicited for incomplete or possible missing information.

Resumes will be used as a secondary source to validate the experience and education described in the screening questions.

INSTRUCTIONS
When recording your examples, be sure you:
• Provide concrete, specific examples of actions that speak directly to the experience sought.
• Choose examples with sufficient complexity, impact and degree of difficulty that will allow you to illustrate to what extent and depth you have shown the behaviours expected for each qualification.
• Focus on what you did. In referring to an experience achieved in the context of a team, set your role apart from the role(s) of others.
• Please describe the achievements in the past tense. This will help to ensure that you are providing concrete examples, rather than making general statements (e.g.instead of saying “I work well within a team….” you can say “I worked well with a team when….”).
• Use action verbs when describing your experience i.e. lead, managed, organized, planned, prepared, informed, determined, etc.
• Provide all examples in sentence format.
• Each example must include when the example took place, background of each situation, what you did, how you did it, what your role was in the situation, and what was the outcome.

Intent of the process

Anticipatory staffing: This process will serve to create a group of qualified candidates which may be used to staff similar positions with various language requirements and tenures at Veterans Affairs Canada.

The intent of this process is to establish a pool of qualified candidates which could be used to staff similar or identical positions with various tenures, various language requirements, and/or various security clearance levels.

Positions to be filled: 1

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

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

Education
Secondary school diploma or employer-approved alternatives (a satisfactory score on the PSC test approved as an alternative to a secondary school diploma; or an acceptable combination of education, training and/or experience).

Degree equivalency

Experience
• Significant* experience with Microsoft Office.
• Significant* experience in providing general office administrative support (including but not limited to: drafting and preparing correspondence, tracking and monitoring email, mail, answering phones, filing, faxing, scheduling, etc.)
• Experience in the analysis, data entry and tracking of correspondence or other documents.

*Significant is defined as the depth and breadth of experience normally associated with having performed a broad range of complex activities related to this task, which are acquired over a period of at least one (1) year. Clear and specific examples should be provided by the candidates in their application.

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

Various language requirements
English Essential, Bilingual Imperative BBB/BBB, Bilingual Imperative CBC/CBC, Bilingual Imperative CCC/CCC

Information on language requirements

Second Language Writing Skills Self-Assessment
In order to help you decide if you should apply to a bilingual position, an optional self-assessment of your writing skills in your second official language is available for you to take before completing your application.

For more information, please consult:
Unsupervised Internet Test of Second Language Writing Skills

Abilities:
• Ability to organize work, establish priorities and work effectively under pressure and with conflicting demands.
• Ability to communicate orally.
• Ability to communicate in writing.
• Ability to conduct research and extract relevant information.

Personal Suitabilities:
• Effective interpersonal relationships
• Dependability
• Judgment
• Initiative

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

ASSET QUALIFICATIONS
• Experience as a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Experience providing information to internal or external clients in person, in writing and/or by telephone.
• Experience using spreadsheet software such as Excel.
• Experience in dealing with senior officials.

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

Information on employment equity

Operational Requirement
• May require the ability to work overtime, and/or the ability to work a pre-determined work schedule.

Conditions of employment

Condition of Employment: Reliability and Secret Security Clearance

Other information

The Public Service of Canada is committed to building a skilled and diverse workforce that reflects the Canadians we serve. We promote employment equity and encourage you to indicate if you belong to one of the targeted groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

It is your responsibility to ensure that your email and contact information are maintained with the hiring board. All communication for this process will be sent by email and it is your responsibility to verify your messages regularly.

Education and/or Experience factors in the asset qualifications may be used for screening. Applicants should clearly demonstrate on their application if they meet any of the education and/or experience asset qualifications. Failure to do so may result in the rejection of your application.

One or more asset qualifications may be used during the screening to manage the volume of applications.

Candidates will be asked to provide proof of their education credentials, and proof of citizenship at a later date.

An interview and/or written exam may be administered.

Reference checks will be sought. The Assessment Committee reserves the right to contact references other than those provided by the candidates (within the Public Service only) in order to adequately assess the candidates.

Indeterminate employees at the same group and level or equivalent may be considered for assignment, deployment or secondment opportunities before other candidates.
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.

*************************** ASSESSMENT ***************************
A written exam may be administered.
An interview may be administered.
Reference checks may be sought.
All communication relating to this process, including email correspondence, may be used in the assessment of qualifications.
You must provide proof of your education credentials. If you were educated outside of Canada, you must have your certificates and/or diplomas assessed against Canadian education standards. For more information please click on “Degree Equivalency” in the Education section above.

LEAVE/ABSENCES DURING THIS SELECTION PROCESS:
It is the responsibility of the candidate to notify the Departmental contact of any pre-approved leave throughout the duration of the process in order to facilitate scheduling of evaluations. One (1) alternate date will be possible only if requested for the following reasons: 1) Medical reasons with doctor’s certificate 2) Death in your immediate family 3) Confirmation of pre-approved travel plans or training plans (made before the advertisement posting date) 4) Religious reasons or another reason that is considered reasonable by the assessment committee.

*************************** OFFICIAL LANGUAGE***************************
Persons are entitled to participate in the selection process in the official language of their choice. Applicants are asked to indicate their preferred official language in their application.
Official language proficiency: due to its unique character, this essential qualification could be assessed and required solely upon appointment. It is therefore the candidate’s responsibility to inform the person in charge of the selection process if he/she obtains the linguistic requirements after the pool has been established. Also, a person who initially failed linguistic testing could be introduced into the pool of qualified candidates during the pool’s validity period if he/she is assessed again through another selection process or following linguistic training.

*************************** COMMUNICATION ***************************
It is the candidate’s responsibility to inform the Departmental contact involved in this selection process of any change of contact information during the selection process and during the validity period of the pool.
Candidates must provide a valid email address as communication for this process will be conducted by 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).

*************************** OTHER INFORMATION ***************************
Candidates must meet all the essential qualifications to be appointed to a position.
Management may choose to invoke an asset(s) at any point of the process.
Please note that achieving the pass mark on any of the assessments used does not mean you will move forward in the selection process. Management may decide to use a score that is higher than the pass mark on any of the evaluations used throughout the selection process. Management may also decide to use top-down selection at any stage of the process.

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.