What is a pool in the Public Service?

When hiring is being done in the public service, the notification poster that is published includes information about what the intended purpose is of the poster. This information is helpful because it lets you know how many positions there are and what you can expect, but only if you understand what it is trying to tell you.

Here is an example of an intention statement.

Anticipatory means that the hiring manager believes there will be positions for this group and level in the foreseeable future. There is no current vacancy. Since hiring can take months or even years to complete it makes sense when there is a reasonable expectation that an employee may leave/retire, or that the demand for services may increase in a certain area requiring more staff. 

Next you need to understand pools. On any given day there will be between 200-500 positions advertised, equating to thousands of positions a year. However many of these are the same type of position, perhaps just with a different title or in a different location. Instead of posting individual jobs, pools of qualified candidates are grouped together so that a hiring manager from a different region or department can simply select from qualified individuals. This saves a lot of time for the manager but as an applicant you may not realize you should be applying to a position.

If you read the example posted, the job is in Calgary or Regina, but they may use this poster to staff similar positions at locations all across Canada!! So if you were thinking the job is out west (or east if you are in BC), I won't apply, there is a good chance this job won't be posted for Ontario or New Brunswick because they will simply use this poster to hire for those locations.

Always carefully read the Intent of Process. If the intent is to establish a pool you want to be included in that pool. 

How are pools managed?

You have to be found qualified to be in a pool. In order to do this you need to be assessed on your experience, education, knowledge, skills/abilities, and personal suitability. 

If your resume screens through the Public Service Resourcing system for education and experience, you will get a notification telling you that:

• Your application has been retained. You will be contacted directly if you are to be assessed further.

This does not mean you are in the pool. The only thing it means is that you have screened through the online application process. In order to be placed in the pool you will need to go through an interview and reference check.

You file can stay in this state for months, so don't panic if you haven't been contacted. See future posts on why hiring takes so long. 

Understanding Group, Classification and Level in the Public Service Hiring

When you become a priority one of the first things that needs to be sorted out is which jobs you will be referred to. This is done by determining what group and level or what classification and level would be appropriate for you. 

The Public Service of Canada uses "group" to organize jobs into job families. As an example, under the Aircraft Operations (AO) group are all the jobs that deal with the operation of aircraft including: inspectors (AO-CAI), test pilots (AO-ETP), and helicopter pilots (AO-HPS).

The codes that come after AO indicate the classification. On the government job search website only the classification and the level are listed. Knowing the group is important because it helps you to understand the broad family of jobs that the position you are looking at falls under, but also different groups have different unions and collective agreements. Here is a reference guide to the different groups that are found within the public service.

Since there are no limits to the occupational groups and levels to which a person with a priority entitlement is allowed to be appointed to,* it is important to familiarize yourself with the various groups, classifications and levels found within the public service.  

Using this link you will find a chart that looks like this:

The column called definition, has a link where you can review each of the classifications that you believe you may be able to apply your priority status to. 

You should notice that there are over 200 classifications of jobs. If you don't know which ones are the best fit for you, a representative from HR will make that decision for you. You are much better to go into a discussion about your priority status well researched and prepared to justify why you should be included in a classification and level.

Level indicates a numeric range, generally from 1-8, although most classifications will rarely have levels that high. As an example CR02 or a CR05. These two jobs are in the same classification but the higher the level, the more complex the job. A CR02 may be responsible solely for data entry, where the CR05 would provide a wide range of clerical duties. 

It isn't just enough to know the classification system. You also need to know how many of those types of jobs are available in your area. Since a priority entitlement is anywhere from one to five years, you do not want to be waiting for a job that will never come. Use the search archives tab (next to the help tab) to search the classification and level you are interested in. 

As an example you may believe that the Financial Management classification (FI) is a good fit, but when you do your research you discover that in the last 5 years 90% of all jobs in that classification were found in Ontario and you are in Vancouver. All of a sudden being an FI02 priority is not very attractive! You may discover that there are many more opportunities at the AS03 level in your region or city. 

Another important aspect to become familiar with is the educational standards for the various groups and classifications. You will have to meet the minimum standard always, and a manager may choose to set a higher standard than the minimum. As an example if the position is entry level, but the person who fills it can only move up to the next level with a degree, graduation with a degree may be required. 

Again using the search archives feature you can determine if manager typically set the standard to the minimum or if in some groups the standard is raised. 

This research is a critical part of being successful as a priority hire in the public service. 

Feel free to ask questions.

*the only exception is a reinstatement priority who cannot be promoted