Glassdoor is your free inside look at Government of Canada interview questions and advice. All 23 interview reviews posted anonymously by Government of Canada employees and interview candidates.
Government of Canada Interview Questions & Reviews
Getting the Interview 23 Interviews
Interview Experience 20 Ratings
Disability Adjudicator at Government of Canada
No Offer – Interviewed in Dec 2012 – Reviewed Feb 6, 2013
Interview Details – Initial communication via email, inviting for a pre-screening test. Test consisted of two case studies. Next, interview invitation after a 1.5 weeks. Interview panel consisted of the unit and department managers, mostly competency based questions, with some behavioural.
Interview Question – How does someone who is using cocaine for 10 years present? Answer Question
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Policy Analyst at Government of Canada
No Offer – Interviewed in Ottawa, ON (Canada) – Reviewed Feb 4, 2013
Interview Details – usually written exam, then interview, then reference check, then another interview to see if fit the position. Usually really long process.
Interview Question – qualities Answer Question
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Policy Analyst at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Reviewed Jan 19, 2013
Interview Details – Crazy convoluted hiring process that takes over a year. Managed to get though the test (although I failed many in other competitions first). Interview was 5 questions.
Interview Question – Tell us about a time when you had two conflicting choices and had to use your judgement to move forward? Answer Question
Negotiation Details – There wasn't one, you accepted whatever was offered
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Policy Analyst at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Ottawa, ON (Canada) May 2009 – Reviewed Jan 16, 2013
Interview Details – Panel interview against 15 people. Two of us were hired for 4 months to compete against each other. one of us was hired on a full time basis. There was a phone interview, followed by two months of wiating for a one on one interview. They also performed background checks which prevented me from working there for a month.
Interview Question – What are your opinions on the duty to democracy and parliament under a minority government. I thought it was an odd question, and have no idea if I answered it right. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – I negotiated to get into an accelerated promotion program, but there was no room to negoiate starting salary.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Analyst at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Gatineau, QC (Canada) Sep 2009 – Reviewed Nov 24, 2012
Interview Details – I applied online through jobs.gc.ca for the position. It took over 1.5 years before I received a request to write an exam. I was screened into the competition after the exam. Once the pool was formed nothing happened for a few months, though I eventually started to get calls from hiring managers, and did 3 interviews. The process seemed somewhat disorganized, and the managers were competing for their top hire picks out of the pool without knowing whether the candidate was receiving multiple job offers or not. I wound up taking one of the jobs that I was offered, but in hindsight, would have liked to try and determine the best fit, rather than just jumping on the most sure choice! ...the interview process took 32 months from the initial online application to the day I started the job. that was the downer in the process, but I'm very happy I stuck it out! (I can't say that below, it's blocked by the ap!)
Interview Question – The only thing I remember was walking away thinking how utterly important it was to do my homework. Luckily I knew the subject matter inside and out, but that wasn't always the case for me when applying to other jobs I would have been qualified to do. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – For me it was a big promotion so I didn't have a lot of negotiation power. I knew I needed to prove myself when I landed, and kept that in mind.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Business Development Assistant at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Boston, MA – Reviewed Aug 24, 2012
Interview Details – The interview process includes a test and in person interview. The test looks for how you handle projects and your writing skills. The in person interview is with a pannel and looks to see your people skills. The questions are both personal and knowledge based. The process is one interview.
Interview Question – Make sure you do speak any language you claim to. They will ask you a question in that language to gauge your ability. Most of the questions are how to handle people and situations, make sure you consider your personal approach. Answer Question
Negotiation Details – There is no negotiation phase with a government position. The salaries are publicly posted and they will not and cannot budge on salary.
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Data Analyst at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Saskatoon, SK (Canada) Apr 2012 – Reviewed Jul 30, 2012
Interview Details –
Don't hire to fill positions. Instead, frame the specific business need, identify the results the new employee has to deliver and determine the knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to deliver those results.
If you are going to effectively accomplish this, a number of pieces need to be in place. First you need a comprehensive hiring process. This is critical to hiring success. You can read all about an effective hiring process by clicking the link below.
Interview Question – Why don't we have to use Arc Server? View Answer
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Casual Support Agent at Government of Canada
No Offer – Interviewed in Feb 2012 – Reviewed Apr 12, 2012
Interview Details – They asked me 4 general questions regarding customer service.
Interview Question – How do you deal with stress. Answer Question
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Maintenance at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Leamington, ON (Canada) Apr 2010 – Reviewed Jan 30, 2012
Interview Details – Pretty basic phone interview, simple questions relating to the job.
Interview Question – A visitor brings a problem to your attention, what do you do? View Answer
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Research Analyst at Government of Canada
Accepted Offer – Interviewed in Aug 2009 – Reviewed Oct 5, 2011
Interview Details – Behavioural interview and some technical questions. One written skills test and one intelligence test
Interview Questions
- They provide a situational judgment scenario that you need to respond to Answer Question
- What type of statistical methodology would you apply based on certain criteria Answer Question
Negotiation Details – Cannot negotiate
Helpful Interview?
Yes |
No
Problem with this interview?
Worked for Government of Canada? Contribute to the Community!
Add Review Add Salary Add Interview Review Add PhotosWork in HR or Recruiting?
Interviews by Company
Salaries by Company
Flag this {0} as inappropriate
Would you like us to review something? Please describe the problem with this {0} and we will look into it.
Oops!
We're sorry but your feedback didn't make it to the team. Your input is valuable to us – would you mind trying again?
The difficulty rating is the average interview difficulty rating across all interview candidates.
The interview experience is the percentage of all interview candidates that said their interview experience was positive, neutral, or negative.
Your response will be removed from the review – this cannot be undone.
