Human Resources Administrative Assistant
September 2018 – December 2018, with extension until April 2019
Reflective Analysis of Learning in my First Co-op Work Term at Transport Canada
My role as a Human Resources Administrative Assistant at Transport Canada (TC), a federal government department, is to provide administrative support in Staffing and Labour Relations to advisors and managers for all branches within TC in the Pacific Region. The main branches I assisted in staffing were with Aviation Services, Civil Aviation, Communications, Corporate Services, Oceans Protection Plan, Marine, Programs, Surface, and Transportation Security.
I learned throughout my work term at TC that the Staffing process is challenging, with various deadlines to keep track of, constantly changing workload, and that each hiring case differs from one another, therefore always having to think on my feet and drawing from all the information I learned within the 4 months in Human Resources.
Challenges I’ve overcome in Human Resource are the work lingo designed specifically for the Government. There were numerous new terms and abbreviations that were required to learn and memorize so that I could do my work to my best ability. Learning the work lingo was as challenging as learning a new language, but to overcome the obstacle, I would write down in my notes new terms and their definitions to familiarize myself with the terminology, along with new abbreviations and what they stood for.
Once I became comfortable with the terminology, the next step was to learn the systems used for Staffing and Labour Relations in TC. I was challenged to learn and pick up over 7 different programs to post job postings, go for departmental and priority clearance, create and enter letters of offers, and close off files. I learned to communicate with other Human Resources staff contacts at varying levels – such as managers, other departments, central agencies, candidates, and employees – to solicit or provide information on HR processes and procedures.
I learned to maintain data and generated reports in an electronic and technological environment using software, such as TIPS and MS Excel, to maintain files, records, correspondence, case tracking or logs, and BF systems.Other electronic systems, such as the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS) and the Priority Information Management System (PIMS), are used to complete staffing tasks, such as posting job advertisements and obtaining priority clearance numbers (PCNs). I learned to use multiple systems simultaneously when completing tasks to finish work more efficiently.
Staying organized and constantly checking and updating my calendar and to do list was essential in staying on top of my workload. With many staffing processes running at the same time, it can be easy to confuse files. I learned it’s important to stay on top of emails in my Outlook, to organize them via each staffing process, and to keep a to do list on my desk.
I have been assigned a variety of special projects from managers and the regional director of Human Resources. These projects include thinking outside the box to utilize Excel to summarize data for a TC employee survey to create Radar graphs, and to create calendars with absentees’ dates. I learned to quickly pull together graphs to summarize the data, working alongside the Regional Director of Human Resources for feedback and input. I have also used other programs, such as Canva, to create information graphics to be placed on regional presentations. Additional work I have completed are organizing and providing office supply orders to Branch Administration.
I most importantly learned to ask questions, because the systems and language of the office can be complex and challenging to learn, so asking and double checking will minimize mistakes and provide more efficiency in the work place.
Projects
Douglas College Speed Staffing
I participated on behalf of Transport Canada Human Resources at a student career fair located at Douglas College, connecting with students to advertise an upcoming event for Transport Canada called Speed Staffing. The concept of Speed Staffing was piloted at Douglas College in March 2019, and I assisted my colleagues by working overtime to assist in coordinating and organizing parts of the event, as well as ushering students to interviewing rooms during the event.
I designed and created the two advertisements below and printed them on stock paper to hand out to students to advertise the upcoming Speed Staffing event.
Student Presentation – Human Resources Info Session
I volunteered to create a Welcome to Transport Canada Student Guide presentation for new and current co-op students. I created the PowerPoint and had it peered reviewed by my colleague and manager. Along with my colleague, in June 2019 we presented a 20 minute presentation with the PowerPoint to the new co-op students.
All Staff Human Resources – Video
I was asked to create a video for our annual Transport Canada (TC) HR All Staff Meeting, in which we had 10 minutes to showcase our Pacific Region to the rest of the HR teams across Canada. Each location shown is where we have a TC site in British Columbia, and the video concludes with photos of our HR team in Vancouver.