Free online event
Public service 101: Starting your career with confidence
Exclusively for public servants and policymakers
Wednesday, Mar 13, 2024
Time is displayed in your local time zone
Speakers
Continue learning and networking with peers around the world in the New Public Servants Community of Practice
Resources
- New to the public service? Here's how you can make an impact
- How to find the job that's right for you in the public service
- How to Build Your Career in the UK Civil Service free course
- Career Development for Canadian Public Servants free course
- FYN Learning Hub - Carrefour d'apprentissage du RJFF
- Mentorship Resources from GCWiki
- Federal Youth Network/List of GC Facebook Groups - Liste des groupes Facebook du GC
- Values and Ethics Foundations for Employees, Government of Canada
- Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, Government of Canada
When starting a new role, it’s natural to have many pressing, important questions swirling in your mind. You’re eager to understand what success looks like. You want to rapidly acquire essential information to hit the ground running and start making a difference. But becoming a public servant is a little bit different. You have the unique opportunity to serve the public and make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. You’re part of the largest workforce in your country, and there’s a whole new terminology you need to learn. The stakes are higher, but it’s also exciting and rewarding work. All this does mean that there are a lot of seasoned, passionate public servants out there excited to share what they’ve learned and the skills required to start a successful career in government.
Join us for this free online event tailored to those beginning their career in the public service. It doesn’t matter if you’re freshly graduated and starting your first job or shifting careers from the private to the public sector — this event is for you. In this interactive session, you’ll be introduced to life as a public servant. It will cover the skills you need to develop, the diversity of roles available and provide you with tips on how to navigate the public sector landscape.
This event features a series of talks by seasoned public servants who have entered the public sector and thrived. They'll share personal insights, practical advice and inspiring stories to help you start your public service career with confidence. A Q&A session will follow, offering you the unique opportunity to interact with our speakers and ask your burning questions.
This event will be recorded and the recording will be sent to all registrants. It may also be made available on Apolitical's platform for other members of our community to enjoy.
Interested in how Apolitical can support you and your organisation? Learn about collaborating with us.
Picture credit: Pexels
Speakers
Nathan White
Senior Policy Advisor in the Department for Education
United Kingdom
Sydney Burns
Policy Analyst
Canada
Derek Alton
Community Insights Lead
Canada/United Kingdom
Nathan White, Senior Policy Advisor in the Department for Education, co-author of ‘An Unofficial Guide to Civil Service Applications’ which aims to demystify the process for those who do not have a network that can support them. Since publishing the guide, he has delivered applications workshops to over 500 people across four departments, eight universities and several other organisations. Prior to working in government, he completed the Unlocked Graduates programme where he supported and safeguarded some of our society’s most vulnerable and challenging young people in HMYOI Feltham.
Sydney Burns, (she/her) is a Policy Analyst within the Strategic Policy Directorate of the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch at Health Canada. As part of the External Relations team, Sydney is primarily responsible for developing national cannabis public education campaigns, such as Pursue Your Passion and Cannabis Resource Series, to ensure people in Canada have the information they need to make informed decisions about cannabis use. She is also the new Co-chair of the National Capital Region Young Professionals Network, previously serving on Health Canada’s departmental Young Professionals Network as a Project Coordinator (April 2019-2023) and inaugural Vice-Chair of MegaConnEX (April 2023-24). Through these roles, she has cultivated a variety of relationships within and across departments as well as accumulated a breadth of knowledge regarding professional development, career progression and the functioning of government. In her substantive position, she holds an Honours Bachelor of International Relations and Modern Languages from uOttawa and a Master of Arts in International Relations from Carleton University. When not at work, Sydney loves to bake and scrapbook, and when she has a bit more time off, travel so that she can practice her French, Spanish or Italian. Interested in learning more about what she does or where she works? Connect with her on LinkedIn! http://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-burns-401022160
Derek Alton, as Community Insights Lead at Apolitical, is a connector of dots. He works to help connect public servants to each other and to best practices around the world. Before his current role, Derek spent six years in the Government of Canada working on community engagement and digital transformation across multiple departments and governments. Through this experience, Derek had the chance to work with some of the leading practitioners in the Government of Canada in this space who have continued to inspire his work to this day. Derek's work is characterised by his commitment to transparent, innovative governance.
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