need advice: bridging into fed govt after fswep

[ahujie]

Here's my situation:

I completed an fswep term this summer with the fed govt in Ottawa. I returned to school in Sept in Toronto. At the end of my term, I asked my manager about the possibility of coming back full time when I'm done my degree in April 2009. He said to keep in touch, but I didn't hear anything definitive. Had I been going to school in Ottawa, I could have stayed on part time during the school year. However, since I returned to Toronto for school, this was not an option.

Most students who stayed on part time in Ottawa after the summer and who are graduating next spring are pretty sure they will be bridged once they graduate. Even if they can't be bridged into their current sections, they are able to have their managers refer them to other managers and do things like email and meet other managers whose sections may be hiring.

I really loved where I worked this summer and would love have a career with them. Unfortunately, it looks like the whole bridging thing my be diffcult for me. I don't know if it's appropriate for me to just email managers out of the blue? I feel like the students who've stayed on part time during the school year will have more experience, face time and networking opportunities than me. Plus my manager, while he was a great supervisor, is clueless about HR processes. He didn't even know fsweps could be bridged until I sent him the link to the website.

what should I do? should I ask my former manager if he can ask around for me? or should I email other managers on my own, expressing my interest and set up a phone call with them?

any advice is welcome!

[Octavius]

Here's my situation:

I completed an fswep term this summer with the fed govt in Ottawa. I returned to school in Sept in Toronto. At the end of my term, I asked my manager about the possibility of coming back full time when I'm done my degree in April 2009. He said to keep in touch, but I didn't hear anything definitive. Had I been going to school in Ottawa, I could have stayed on part time during the school year. However, since I returned to Toronto for school, this was not an option.

Most students who stayed on part time in Ottawa after the summer and who are graduating next spring are pretty sure they will be bridged once they graduate. Even if they can't be bridged into their current sections, they are able to have their managers refer them to other managers and do things like email and meet other managers whose sections may be hiring.

I really loved where I worked this summer and would love have a career with them. Unfortunately, it looks like the whole bridging thing my be diffcult for me. I don't know if it's appropriate for me to just email managers out of the blue? I feel like the students who've stayed on part time during the school year will have more experience, face time and networking opportunities than me. Plus my manager, while he has a great supervisor, is clueless about HR processes. He didn't even know fsweps could be bridged until I sent him the link to the website.

what should I do? should I ask my former manager if he can ask around for me? or should I email other managers on my own, expressing my interest and set up a phone call with them?

any advice is welcome!

If you stayed on part time during the year, there's an EXTREMELY good chance you would have had an informal offer of employment by the time you finished school.

As for what you should do - get into contact with your former manager. I tried to find other places to get bridged into once I graduated, but many managers weren't keen on hiring someone who was previously under FSWEP if they hadn't worked for them before. They don't know what type of worker you are (even if you've got a reference from your boss...many take it with a grain of salt) or they don't have the space, or they don't have the funding...etc.

It's a pain to get bridged in if managers don't know who you are, or have little interest in going through the paperwork for it. Honestly, there's a MOUNTAIN of paperwork to do, not to mention the process takes about 3-4 months to complete from start to finish. All of this just to possibly end up with someone who is an idiot and who may later have to be fired since they were incompetent or unqualified for the position.

I'm not saying that will happen to you...but what I am saying is why would a manager hire you, someone who they have never met or worked with before, rather than hire a student part time for 4 months, let them graduate and then just hire them? They'll know how that person works, they'll know that person can do the job, and they won't have to spend time training them that they otherwise would have to spend on you.

Unless you've got friends in other government departments that can pass along your resume to their managers and try to put in a good word for you, getting bridged in anywhere other than where you were working before is going to be nearly impossible, even if your manager personally refers you and speaks very highly of you.

Good Luck.

[ahujie]

hey thanks for the reply Octavious

I completely understand your points about the uncertainty of hiring someone who hasn't worked for you before, as well as the effort and resourcs that go into it.

It's just frustrating since it seems like the only thing holding me back is the fact that I go to school outside Ottawa and therefore couldn't stay on during the school year to gain that extra leverage when it comes to bridging. Other than that, my education/work experience is similar to other fsweps I worked with.

Just curious then, how/where did you ultimately end up being bridged?

[Octavius]

hey thanks for the reply Octavious

I completely understand your points about the uncertainty of hiring someone who hasn't worked for you before, as well as the effort and resourcs that go into it.

It's just frustrating since it seems like the only thing holding me back is the fact that I go to school outside Ottawa and therefore couldn't stay on during the school year to gain that extra leverage when it comes to bridging. Other than that, my education/work experience is similar to other fsweps I worked with.

Just curious then, how/where did you ultimately end up being bridged?

I'd prefer not to say...but I ended up being bridged in the same governmental department that I worked with while I was employed via FSWEP.

By the way, I was in the FSWEP program for about a year and a half in the same department...so it's not like I was lacking in experience...what caused me problems were the reasons I had listed above.

I told my sector to wait on the paperwork while I looked around to find my options. After researching my options, it became clear that pretty much my only avenue for employment in the federal government was through the sector I had worked with over the past year and a half. After I told them I would like a job, they started on the paperwork.

[Azxster]

Recognizing the importance of student employment to public service renewal, the merit-based bridging mechanism exists to allow the appointment of students who have been hired into the public service under the FSWEP, RAP, or Co-op/Internship programs.

This sounds good right?

From my experience, the bridging mechanism does not work. Well, I can most likely be bridged to the department I have been employed with... however it is not congruent with my career goals.