Seeking Junior Intake Counsellors – Join the Employee Assistance Services Team!

Important messages

***AMENDMENT to the closing date. Due to receiving a significant number of applications, the closing date of December 31, 2020 will be advanced to October 1, 2020.***

The Employee Assistance Services has recently launched the Chat option. Employees and their family members will now be able to access the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) via Chat, an easy way to arrange for counselling with a mental health professional in their area. We are looking for Junior Counsellors, mostly bilingual and some unilingual, to take on this new role within the National Capital Region.

• Are you interested in joining one of the largest national EAP provider in Canada?
• Would you like to work with a diverse clientele comprised of more than 80 federal organizations?
• Are you looking for meaningful work where you can make an impact?

If this sounds like you, read on! You may be the candidate we are looking for!

Duties

What will you be doing?

• Responding to telephone calls and/or chats, and analyse the nature of calls/chat, assess the degree of urgency, eligibility and respond to the immediate concern of the caller or transfer to the next level Counsellor.
• If warranted, offering immediate psychological support until a next level Counsellor is available.
• Evaluating client needs and conducting risk assessment in order to provide a referral to a network of mental health professionals.
• Providing information and expert advice on programs to assist client in making informed decisions and choices.
• Providing effective case management.

Who’s right for the job?

You have strong empathy, listening skills and respect for diversity. As a key player of our multi-disciplinary team, you strive in working independently and in a team environment. You are dependable and thorough in your day-to-day work. As you will be the first point of contact with our diverse clientele, you have strong communication skills both written and verbal as well as able to handle stress while providing advice/guidance within short timelines. Since you will be managing intake in a variety of situations, you have strong risk assessment skills and are able to identify when a situation needs to be escalated to the next level and to employ crisis assessment and crisis intervention techniques in defusing volatile situations.

If you are interested in finding more about this opportunity, or maybe you know someone who could fulfill this role, share and/or click on apply online!

Work environment

Who are we?

Health Canada is the federal department responsible for helping Canadians maintain and improve their health. Our goal is for Canada to be among the countries with the healthiest people in the world. For more information, please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html

Health Canada’s Employee Assistance Services (EAS) is the largest national Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider to Canada's federal public service. EAS has over 25 years of experience as an EAP provider offering the highest standards of excellence in the industry. We provide a voluntary and confidential service to assist employees and their family members with personal and work related problems that can affect their physical and emotional wellbeing as well as their work performance.

Welcome to Ottawa!

The positions are located in Ottawa, Ontario in the National Capital Region. The City has various recreational pathways for walking and bicycling, in addition to the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ottawa hosts multiple annual and seasonal activities and festivals. The national museums and the National Arts Centre are also great attractions. The City houses a culinary community that’s earning wide acclaim, as well as, unique boutiques and shopping districts. For more information, please visit: ottawatourism.ca

Intent of the process

The intent of this inventory is to have a pool of interested candidates and/or qualified candidates to draw from when vacancies arise and for current and future needs within Health Canada.

Positions to be filled: 10

Information you must provide

Your résumé.

A covering letter in 2,000 words (maximum) "Please provide a cover letter that explains how you meet the required (must-have) education and experience. If you have the nice-to-have experience/training, do not forget to tell us."

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

You are ready to join us? Here is what you must have:

• A bachelor’s degree from a recognized university in counselling, social work, psychology, sociology or another discipline relevant to work of the position.
• Experience in psycho-social assessment
• Experience establishing rapport with a diverse clientele.
• Experience in building and maintaining effective relationships with health professionals.

Degree equivalency

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

Operational Requirement:
• Willingness and ability to work overtime occasionally.

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

Various language requirements
• There are English only positions and Bilingual positions (intermediate BBB and advanced CBC & CCC levels -- for more information, please visit: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/services/second-language-testing-public-service.html)

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

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

Nice-to-have:
• Training in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

• Experience in working within an Employee Assistance Program model.
• Experience in client case management.
• Experience in crisis counselling.
• Experience in telephone and chat counselling.

Conditions of employment

Reliability Status security clearance

Willingness and ability to work any of the rotational day shifts eastern time: 7:30-15:30, 8:00-16:00, 8:30-16:30, 9:00-17:00, 10:00-18:00, 11:00-19:00, 12:00-20:00.

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 designated groups when you apply.

Information on employment equity

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:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-service-commission/jobs/services/gcjobs/information-candidates/accommodations.html

You are entitled to participate in the appointment process in the official language of your choice (English or French). You are asked to indicate your preferred official language in your application.


Please consult our Initial Appointees Relocation Program:
https://www.canada.ca/fr/secretariat-conseil-tresor/services/deplacements-reinstallation/addendum-programme-reinstallation-nouveaux-employes-fonction-publique.html#num101

Preference

Preference will be given to veterans and to Canadian citizens, in that order, with the exception of a job located in Nunavut, where Nunavut Inuit will be appointed first.

Information on the preference to veterans

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