How to answer Canadian government interview questions
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video, I will be telling you about the 3 most common types of interview questions you can expect when interviewing for the federal government of Canada. You will also learn how I approach preparing for and answering these questions.
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Check out: www.fedjobs.ca
This is super helpful and insightful! I love the idea of searching for vocabulary for certain requirements.
Very glad you've found it helpful!
This is really helpful. Thank you so much for sharing these tips
Great advice, thanks!
Thanks a lot for making this video!
Amazing video! 🙌🙌🙌
Thanks a lot for this informative video. Would you mind sharing the binder you have as it will help me build one for me?
Great information! I have a interview coming up for CR-03 passport clerk. Can you please guide me what type of questions to expect during this interview.Also do they give/send questions beforehand or on the spot? Thanks
Super helpful!
Thanks for the video and sharing
your knowledge! I have a question if you get qualified in a pool for one department but they are not hiring from it can another department pull you from that qualified poil at level and how do you connect with those departments if you are not currently in the government? Thanks
Working for the region of Durham before and applying for jobs within the government of Ontario I know that they use the STAR approach to interview questions.
S= The situation
T= the task assigned
A= approach you took
R= the result
This works for the “how have you dealt with a scenario at work where things didn’t go as planned” type questions. They’re looking to give you marks per question. STAR works well for these type of questions.
What type of computer software are you farmiliar with?
Google, Microsoft word, excel, office, TH-cam. That’s 5/5 for that question lol
Guess I was taught STAR second hand but hey it’s still the same!
Worked for Exxon for years and we used the STAR method too.
Can a scenario based question, for example, be about Ability and/or Personal suitability (not just about the "experience" section as you indicated as an example in the video ?
Great video!!! Just wondering if anyone has experience with parks Canada interviews.
please, how do you prepare for a government teaching position?
Thank you :)
These are good tips but how do interview questions really assess a person's ability to do the job? I mean if you're just googling answers prior to your interview (which you've stated in the video), and making sure you mention key words, how does this assess anything?. This is why I hate interviews so much. The job is awarded to the person who literally plays the game the best. And good luck even getting an interview if you don't happen to know what key words will get your application seen by an actual human being.
Yes, I agree - it is a flawed system, which can be super frustrating! That’s why I make the videos, to help people navigate a process that hasn’t necessarily been designed to set up to allow people to naturally succeed. Ultimately if you don’t have the needed experience, you probably wont get the job - but the trick is describing your experience/skills in a way that fits into the narrow scoring system. I think the government probably misses out on A LOT of amazing candidates that just don’t say things in the way that the person evaluating your interview needs you to say them. I get why the hiring process was set up in this way - it tries to maximizes fairness and impartiality, but it results in a lot of downsides!
Hi Dear,
I have an interview coming up and it is for oral communication but for only 30 minutes. What questions do you think they would ask? It’s for registry office position. Thank-you.
Hi, thanks for these insightful videos! I have a question. I have an in person interview coming up, that will be testing competencies that were listed on the job description (the competencies being tested have been outlined in the email regarding the interview). It has a 30 minute prep time. I'm just wondering what you think the odds are that the questions will be listed with the competency that is being tested. For example, (and I'm just making this up) -'Adaptability: What do you do when faced with an unexpected obstacle in a project?' I'm asking because I find some interview questions can be a bit ambiguous in terms of which competency they are testing for so I worry about giving them an answer that isn't covering what they are looking for.
how was your interview
Hi! This was great info! I have a verbal interview coming up. I already had the written assessment where they asked escenario and past experience/behavioural questions. Should I expect more of the same in the verbal interview?
Hi, Vanessa. I had one in January and they did one more new question with a 2-minute preparation before answering. Good luck.
Hello - Congrats!! It's a big accomplishment to get to the interview stage. Yes, you should expect similar types of questions, especially behavioural ones. They will ask you questions related to the qualifications listed in the job description - so definitely have a look to see what you haven't been assessed on yet, that will likely be covered in the interview.
Hi, Thank you for your videos. I had an interview in person with a Canadian federal government agency and I have not receive any response from them. They told me that I was supposed to take an oral English test remotely when I passed the writing English test and have not receive any invitation nor instructions in this regard. It has been almost 2 months since I start the job application process with them. Does anybody know? Thank you so much in advance.
Congrats! It is not unusual for there to be big gaps between steps, but it might be worth you checking in with the HR contact that has been sending emails. Just send them a friendly email asking when you can expect the next test :)
If they ask if I have any questions after they've asked the questions they gave me beforehand, it would be bad not to have any questions for them as it would be in an interview for a private company? At the point they asked if I had any questions, it felt like the interview was over, they even told me I could "relax now, the worst part is over". That got me thinking if asking questions is that much important in government job interviews too. What do you think? And what kind of questions should I ask in this case?
Can you discuss cultural competency questions (assuming the federal government uses these in interviews now)? These are fairly new to all levels of government and thus far have been difficult to interpret.
I recently received interview feedback from the BC Provincial Government on the question "Tell me about a time when you adapted your approach working with someone with a different background or culture from yours. What did you learn and how will you bring this learning to this position?"
My answer centred on a specific meeting with an Indigenous stakeholder group and I described things like doing prior research on the group's cultural perspective and background, ensuring that attendee numbers were not overwhelmingly represented by government, reflecting on my own positionality, etc. The feedback I got was that they want to hear about a time that I made a mistake due a cultural difference between myself and another person/group, how I reflected on that, and what I did to address it. This is absolutely not clear from the question at hand, and is also a difficult situation to come up with for an interview, especially if one does not have a professional background in cultural relationship building. I would like more information on fielding cultural agility/competency questions.
Hello! Great question and great topic - I can certainly make a video on how I approach these types of questions! I'm surprised to hear that your answer was not what they were looking for - it sounds very thoughtful. It seems to me that they did not word the question properly (for the desired response), rather than your answer being wrong. Working with someone from a different background does not automatically mean there is a conflict, so if that's the situation they were looking for they should have been more explicit.
With that being said - most interview questions (and especially those for government), tend to look for an answer that involves some sort of "challenge" or situation where things do not go as planned because it adds a layer of complexity to your actions. So I will default to using those types of examples.
Hope this is helpful - good luck!
Do you think these tips translate well to internal interviews, or is there anything you would add for internal candidates?
Hello! Yes, definitely. Everyone is assessed in the same way with the same criteria. For internal candidates, the only thing I would add is to try to use examples that speak to specific government processes that are relevant to the role - for example, completing a FOIP request or writing a memorandum to Cabinet.
Great information! Would you know how long it normally takes to hear back after an interview?
Hello, thank you! It is super variable, depending on how many people they are interviewing. If they are creating a big pool it can take a while. I've been contacted for references anywhere between a few hours after the interview to a month after the interview lol. I would say that a week or two is pretty typical. It's definitely something you can ask in the interview, or in a follow-up thank you email.
@@fedjobscanada9909 Thank you
Answer each question with STAR methodology:
situation, tasks, actions and results
did get that part of the website of the mandate program....what website??
Every department has its own website - just google the department's name + mandate. It should come up!
Does HR sends you the questionnaires in advance to prepare?
In my present job, The selection committee sent the questions 24hrs in advance, which is really nice, it gives time for the candidates to mentally prepare
Hello! Yes, HR always sends out the interview questions in advance in my experience. But the time you have with them varies a lot - sometimes it is just 15-30 minutes up to 24hrs.
Hi there
I have my interview on 15th August . And I will be given interview questions 24 hours in advance.. Can you pls help me with the preparation of interview ??
Do you think a 59-year old woman, with tons of experience in patents and management of patent portfolios, has a chance of getting a job at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office?
Hello! Absolutely - if you have the skills and experience listed in the job description, don't hesitate to apply. Those types of smaller agencies often require specialized knowledge and expertise that can be hard to gain, so you would be in a great position. The only issue is that they don't tend to hire very often, make sure you set up a job email alert so you don't miss any opportunities!
Hi, i have just finished my written exam, how long would they contact you before the interview?
I would expect to wait for than a month haha, they told me two weeks and didn’t contact me until about a month and a half
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I have a interview for a dream job in two days 🥴
Is it true you should show up 30 minutes early?
What happened? did you get the job?
How to create my Canada visa and ropes
So when they ask for abilities - scenario question, we don't have to answer it in STAR method but we have to refer to the personal suitability section to answer it?
Also, I've had icebreaker questions, how do you answer those? like what's your greatest weakness. Where do I base my answers from?
Hello! You could certainly use the STAR method to answer a scenario question, it would give your response a good structure. Just make sure you demonstrate the use of skills/qualifications in the job description.
For icebreakers, these vary greatly and aren't always graded so there's no one way to answer them. But I find these are a good opportunity to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the job and that you've done research to prepare. So if they ask you about yourself, at the end link it back to something you are interested/passionate about in the job or department you are interviewing for. For "what is your greatest weakness" - be honest (without putting up any major red flags :D ) and finish with how you are working on or managing that weakness in your work.
Hello