So I get invited to a summer job interview with Service Canada, scheduled smack in the middle of my heavy university exam schedule. I’m told to be ready to make a 5 minute presentation. I travel to Halifax between exams for the interview. The first question is “can you name the 6 main services provided by Service Canada?”
What? I can’t name them all so the interview is over! What is this – Candid Camera in Bizarro World? I’m told I should know this and the name of the Minister in charge. Like I should study government departments rather than for exams! Like knowing that information gives any kind of assessment of my abilities and people skills. Would anybody who doesn’t know somebody inside of Service Canada know to be ready for this question? Is this part of a scam to make sure only family and friends of Service Canada employees get hired? This stinks and Service Canada needs to be cleaned more than Halifax Harbour!
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2008.
A lot of employers will ask you what you know about their company, even if it has nothing to do with the actual job you’ll be doing, don’t see why SC would be any different.
When the employer asks why you want to work there you’d better have a better answer than, “I need a job”. Knowledge of (such a public) company history, structure, etc will back up any other answer you might have when asked the question.Do your research. Live and learn
In any government job you need to know who the minister is, what the key roles of the department are and what the vision/mission is of the department. It is standard. That, and you need to know how to answer behavioural questions. Obviously since you did not do any research whatsoever on this department, you rightfully do not deserve the job. And really, how did you expect have an interview for a job in a department that you don’t know anything about? It’s not a scam, it is common sense. Anyone outside of Service Canada can know to be ready for this. It is called checking their website. And the skill/ability they were assessing was not only your ability to have some common sense, but also to be able to do research…
Research a government department for a summer job interview? Seems silly to me. Not at all like applying to a business or for a permanent job. But kid it may be the best thing that happened to you as now you have a chance to work in the real world and avoid the tax-payer money wasting brain dead self-important bureaucracy that you had a brief but insightful exposure to.
Excuse me for laughing my fool ass off – are you serious? Why should any place hire you if you’re not even interested in what they’re all about? I wouldn’t hire you either. Here’s hoping you learned from this.
I have been asked all sorts of questions in interviews – Usually what the organization does is one of them in both public and private sector employers. Fundamental to evaluating someone’s suitability is to evaluate their preparation for the interview. This is actually quite sound, because you will expect that the potential hire will be at his best in the interview – so if they fail to prepare properly for the interview – the question that is left in the minds of the employer is “what will they fail to do once they are hired?”The answer to the question you were asked can be found right on the front page to Service Canada’s website http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/en/home.shtml. I would expect you would look at least that far.