Ontario Internship Program (OIP)

[s2icecream]

For those who applied to policy development and got a test invite, I am curious as to what your education and work backgrounds are? I got an invite with a degree in Poli sci and two work experiences for municipal government and work experience in a retail management role.

I applied for policy development with B.Comm degree, no public sector experience, only retail banking and investment banking experience.

[AdamWT01]

I applied for policy development with B.Comm degree, no public sector experience, only retail banking and investment banking experience.

Ok, ok thanks for the feedback. Good luck on your test!

[mkc363]

Hey,
I received an invite too. MKC363 could you please give your educational background?
Good Luck everyone.
We'll hope for the best

Hey!

I have a Hon. HRM diploma from George Brown College and a Hon. B.A in Industrial Relations from U of T. I am currently working in the OPS on contract. Its really tough in here to get a full time perm. position. My current contract is up in a few weeks. Then its back to the drawing board to finding a job. I hope the job market starts to get better in the coming years. Good Luck to everyone writing the test on Monday!

[Pho6]

Hey!

I have a Hon. HRM diploma from George Brown College and a Hon. B.A in Industrial Relations from U of T. I am currently working in the OPS on contract. Its really tough in here to get a full time perm. position. My current contract is up in a few weeks. Then its back to the drawing board to finding a job. I hope the job market starts to get better in the coming years. Good Luck to everyone writing the test on Monday!

Current OPS employees on contract are allowed to apply for OIP? I never knew that... Wouldn't that be taking a pay cut?

How did you get your current contract position?

I agree, full time position with the government is extremely difficult... I've seen people who have been on contract for over 10 years.

[mkc363]

Current OPS employees on contract are allowed to apply for OIP? I never knew that... Wouldn't that be taking a pay cut?

How did you get your current contract position?

I agree, full time position with the government is extremely difficult... I've seen people who have been on contract for over 10 years.

Of course, it’s open to everyone. Actually it will be a bit of a raise (if you can believe that!). I applied on the OPS website. Your cover letter and resume need to be perfectly suited to the job ad. I mean, use key words, specific examples of how you demonstrate certain skills, etc. I've heard some other people also got in through some job agency that deal with public sector openings.

I started at the ministry of community social services then got another contract working in the ministry of gov services. Entry level jobs, mainly client service focused.

I am just trying to get into my career (public or private sector) and until then I am gaining as much experience that comes my way.

[titushenricuscanem]

They must have some pretty exacting standards. I have co-op experience doing communications in the OPS and nearly a year of communications-related volunteer work, and I don't even get an e-mail for the test.

People who got the e-mail - what did you do your degree in/what's your experience? I'm just curious, and I think the information would help guide applicants next year.

[Pho6]

I think competition must be pretty tough this year, none of my friends who I helped edit their application got through this year... I'm very very surprised.

[shecool]

They must have some pretty exacting standards. I have co-op experience doing communications in the OPS and nearly a year of communications-related volunteer work, and I don't even get an e-mail for the test.

People who got the e-mail - what did you do your degree in/what's your experience? I'm just curious, and I think the information would help guide applicants next year.

I applied for the I&IT stream. (Are there any others in I&IT?)

I'll be graduating this year with a degree in computing and network communications, and a diploma in telecommunications technology. (5yr joint program between college/university)

I've had several co-op work terms:

• 16 months public sector work exp - 8 months as a web developer, 8 months in a telecom provisioning role
• 4 months in a network operations center (mainly network monitoring)

There is a thread on RFD that had example answers to some of the questions. I don't have the link bookmarked but it really helped!

I'm not the best when it comes to HR related things, such as cover letters and interviews. I took a really long time figuring out what I'd write on my application (esp for the Ontario Initiatives question). I must have slowly completed on/off in the span of 1.5 weeks. Lots of thinking and editing. Not sure how I'll do on the written test now, haha.

[cl9189]

I think competition must be pretty tough this year, none of my friends who I helped edit their application got through this year... I'm very very surprised.

I applied to BFP with a honours bachelor degree, banking background and am a level 1 CFA candidate and didn't get the email either. I spent nearly 2 weeks on my application and made sure I use the key words accordinly on my application. Also, I have international working experience as well. I have no idea what their criteria is. I'm sort of disappointed.

[Pho6]

I applied to BFP with a honours bachelor degree, banking background and am a level 1 CFA candidate and didn't get the email either. I spent nearly 2 weeks on my application and made sure I use the key words accordinly on my application. Also, I have international working experience as well. I have no idea what their criteria is. I'm sort of disappointed.

You have quite a solid background... I really don't know whatsup with the applications this year... I'm just thinking it must be super competitive (perhaps a lot of masters students applying).

When I applied, I was in my 4th year of a BBA program. I had 2 summers of OPS summer experience, 1 summer with ministry of health at their controllership office, 1 summer with the ministry of finance in internal audit. Other than that, I have really no other experience other than that I was president of a sports club in university.

Other BFP interns that were hired in my year had either MBAs, Masters in economics, and/or years of working experience... Only a handful of us (maybe like 5 or 6 max) were fresh undergrads. A total of 17 BFP interns were hired last year (number varies every year).

Program and Service delivery and Labour relations seems the most competitive ... only 5 in P&SD were hired last year, and 6 for Labour relations (but again, numbers for all focus areas could change... it all depends on demand for the year)

[Ravana]

Hey Pho,
How long was the written test?
How much time was given to the essay question?
Thanks in advance

[Pho6]

Hey Pho,
How long was the written test?
How much time was given to the essay question?
Thanks in advance

You get 60 minutes to write the test I believe...

There isn't exact time allocated to the questions, you just have to pace yourself.

There are around 15 MC, and 1 essay question... I think I spent no more than 15 minutes doing the MC, and spent the rest of the time on the essay questions. So in 45 minutes I had to think of the answer, write my answers, and give myself enough time to proof-read and edit what I wrote.

[Buffy2012]

They must have some pretty exacting standards. I have co-op experience doing communications in the OPS and nearly a year of communications-related volunteer work, and I don't even get an e-mail for the test.

People who got the e-mail - what did you do your degree in/what's your experience? I'm just curious, and I think the information would help guide applicants next year.

I don't think that work experience related to the field is absolutely necessary because I have no related experience. What I tried to do was use words that I found in the description for Policy Development and throw them in when possible. In a way, I geared my application toward that. In all honesty, I tried to apply for the OIP when I was a student and it got me nowhere because my application was crap - it was put together at the last minute. This time I spent a lot of time on it, coming back to my answers, editing, chopping things, rearranging stuff.

In terms of my background, I recently obtained a Master of Public Administration, however, when I was a student in that program, I didn't get to the test level. I don't think that people should get discouraged for not having a related degree or for applying with an undergrad degree. Like Pho6 stated, it could simply be that there were a bazillion applications. My guess is they sort through them with computers first and then real people look at them.

[Buffy2012]

You get 60 minutes to write the test I believe...

There isn't exact time allocated to the questions, you just have to pace yourself.

There are around 15 MC, and 1 essay question... I think I spent no more than 15 minutes doing the MC, and spent the rest of the time on the essay questions. So in 45 minutes I had to think of the answer, write my answers, and give myself enough time to proof-read and edit what I wrote.

Wow...sounds like a lot to do in 60 minutes! I'm just glad the whole thing isn't just one long essay question. I just hope that I can do well! Best of luck to everyone taking the test next week!

[Ravana]

You get 60 minutes to write the test I believe...

There isn't exact time allocated to the questions, you just have to pace yourself.

There are around 15 MC, and 1 essay question... I think I spent no more than 15 minutes doing the MC, and spent the rest of the time on the essay questions. So in 45 minutes I had to think of the answer, write my answers, and give myself enough time to proof-read and edit what I wrote.

Thanks so much. It really helps to know the duration.
Good luck to everyone who will be writing the test