An internal audit suggests a government program to employ college and university graduates is not a “positive experience.” . Empty officeEmpty office .The Public Service Commission, which has overseen the program since 1973, said it's not keeping up with today's competitive job market, according to Blacklock’s Reporter..“We frequently heard that while recruitment is rapidly evolving and the labour market is highly competitive, the program has not kept up with current trends and best practices,” said a Commission report. .“Many program administrators felt the program is not responsive to recruitment needs.”.Managers were “not having success with the program,” said the report Evaluation of the Postsecondary Recruitment Program. .Departments complained graduates “move onto higher paying jobs” or found the application process irritating..“Candidates do not have a positive experience,” wrote the Commission. .“Candidates value having a central location to apply for all federal public service jobs. However, they see the process of applying to the program as lengthy and inflexible.”.“The program is relevant, but its delivery is not meeting hiring needs,” said the report. .“Hiring managers and functional communities feel the program does not meet their needs as it does not identify candidates with position-specific skills. The program is underused by federal departments and agencies.”.According to the latest Demographic Snapshot of Canada’s Public Service, the Chief Human Resources Officer stated 319,600 people were working for the federal government. The average government employee was a woman, around 44 years old, and English was her primary language..“The objectives of the post secondary recruitment program are to attract new and recent graduates interested in pursuing a federal public service career and to enable federal departments and agencies to meet recruitment challenges by accessing and hiring post secondary graduates,” wrote the commission..In a 2019 submission to the Commons Government Operations committee, the same agency acknowledged federal managers were slow to hire outside talent. Hiring typically took almost seven months, by official estimate..“There are no internal rules,” testified then-commission president Patrick Borbey. .“It’s up to the manager to decide whether a position will be filled through an externally advertised process.”.Outside applicants waited an average of 197 days for a decision, said Borbey. .“We can agree 197 days is unacceptably long,” said Borbey..“What is your goal?” asked Conservative MP Kelly McCauley (Edmonton West, AB). .“I think we can easily talk about half that amount of time,” replied Borbey..Managers, on average, spent six days posting a vacancy, another 49 days completing the security screening and 56 days assessing whether candidates were bilingual, said Borbey.
