This article is written by Emilie Martin, Senior Project Officer, Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development.

  • The problem: No one knows what exactly a job in the public service entails.
  • Why it matters: There are more than policy people who work in public service!
  • The solution: Find people who do the work you want to do, and use their knowledge to help guide you in your career.

In 2021 I decided to make a career transition into a domain I had never worked in, but in which I was passionate about. Here are the tricks I used which led me to my dream job and propelled my career into a field I didn’t know existed, even 15 years into my government career.

Growing up, children become familiar with the type of jobs they encounter regularly: doctor, firefighter, teacher, engineer. Very rarely will someone grow up saying they want to be a public servant and know the type of job they will be doing as a public servant. In Canada, if you grew up outside of Ottawa (where the majority of government jobs are found), your knowledge of public service and your chances of knowing someone who could inform you about such a career is almost non-existent. Otherwise, most people think a career in the public service is only for people who want to work in policy. Sometimes, your current interests are not related to your post-secondary education.

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So if you still feel lost about how to grow and learn about career possibilities in this colossal and unknown organisation, here are a few tips (based on the Canadian experience but could be applied in other countries) that you can use, whether you want to work in policy, communication, HR, finance, science, events, IT, or whatever else. The public service has something for everyone.

Explore where you want to be, not where you’re at

What type of work do you like to do? Analyse, plan, manage, outreach, pore over data, etc. What field do you like to work in? Environment, HR, finance, security, health, etc. What audience would you like to work with, or for? Families, youth, immigrants, stakeholders, etc.

Next, research if there is a government directory in your country. The Government of Canada has the GCdirectory (available only in Canada) which is like a phone book of public servants. By entering different keywords into the search function, you will get a list of people whose job title matches your keyword! (But beware of keywords such as ‘policy’ or ‘programme’ which will result in thousands of results.) The results list will also show the department these employees work for, their particular team, as well as their email address. This allows you to see where your type of work exists. For example, most departments have some kind of international team, whereas most people think international roles exist only in departments like Global Affairs.

Career exploration is key when you don’t know your options, but self-reflection on where you want to be is equally important.

And just like that, you will identify people who do the type of work you want to do! The next step is to contact individuals to learn more about what they do; someone who works in educational events will do different work than someone who does departmental events, or someone who works in data in one department will work on different data than someone in another department.

Next, research government collaboration platforms which may exist in your country. The Government of Canada has GCconnex (available only in Canada), in which Canadian public servants can exchange information and find jobs. By using your keywords in this platform, you can find groups (like Facebook groups) on topics that interest you and become a collaborative member, enabling you to learn about interesting projects that people are working on. This research will also enable you to find people who work in job roles that you find interesting.

Reach out to people doing jobs which interest you

The next step is to reach out to these people. Create for yourself a table where you will put in the email addresses of people you found during your exploration. Send them an email asking for a brief chat about the type of work they do. This will give you amazing insights into the type of jobs that exist and help guide you in your future career decisions. For example, they could share their own career path and help you understand whether you need more education to pursue a role in their field of expertise. These people can become part of your network: make sure that you nurture these relationships past the initial meeting as you may eventually reach out to them when you are looking for a new job.

If you have access to employee networks, these are a great way to meet new people from different departments. Get involved: if a network is looking for volunteers, or a group is looking for temporary help for a side-of-desk project, put your hand up. You will discover different types of work and meet new people who will discover your skills, which could lead to job opportunities.

Many managers will take a chance on someone who has less experience and skills if they see that this person is passionate about a particular topic. Opening the door with an informal discussion and showing your interest in a subject is a great way to make someone interested in working with you and show that you have initiative.

Career exploration is key when you don’t know your options, but self-reflection on where you want to be is equally important to make sure that you understand what type of work and environment will enable you to thrive. Take an active role in your career path and keep life interesting!

Done reading? Make sure to share your own tips by leaving a comment below ⬇️

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