planner

swim instructor

shift leader

manager

project manager

City of Calgary

The number of people employed by this first class run organization is astonishing 13,327 full and part time employees! Achieving success here can come down to ones own individual perspective towards ones own goals and where one may initially find oneself working within the City of Calgary. Some find the Union environment great others not so, some find the department they are in suitable, others would like to learn new skills in another departments. Some challenges are getting a permanent full time position due to the nature of seasonal work and navigating day in day out in some tough outdoor conditions. Punctuality is huge, creating a reliable track record while continuing to earn ones reputation as a contributor are on going challenges that require planing and determination. The City of Calgary does makes a worthy partner, taking responsibility, focusing on team and having a respectful sense of humor contribute to a successful work ethic, helping to secure ones own individual brand within let's say. Whatever ones perspectives, goals, life challenges or education one would pursue, knowing your responsibilities and rights are a great way to navigate the day to day operations, strengthening ones relationship with the City of Calgary and should come to benefit both employee and employer. Remember that at such a level municipalities operate with responsibilities to municipal, provincial, federal, environmental laws and to the tax paying public. Like with any organization we human beings don't always get it right and weathering through the disciplinary process is not unheard of, I'm no exception but you work out any issues within the reconciliation process. It behooves one to use the chain of command, shake it off, exercise some humility and consider other perspectives besides ones own. What's personally and professionally important, respectful, appropriate and what 'hill one wants to die on' sort of speaking matters.
Why?
It comes down to perspective. My advise is once you find yourself at The City of Calgary show your enthusiasm, ask around, be proactive, understand the union process both the challenges and privilege. Start right away with talking to HR about what resources are available, the right timing, the required education and experience to help keep your career going in the right direction and on track. The old saying is '...don't cry, apply!'
Good success!!!

This was an excellent job in the fact that I was being employed to do what I loved, and use my passion as an instrument to help others. A typical day for me would include, arriving at one of the many mobile skate parks we had assembled around various communities in the city, and unlocking and positioning obstacles for the days activities. From there, me and another co-worker would teach a couple of the lessons scheduled for the day, each with a group of 10-18 kids per instructor. We would assess the children s skill levels, and base instruction accordingly. From there we would allow the children to have spare time where they could practice their newly learned skills, and converse and engage with them, until the parks closing time.
I learned much from this job in regards to responsibility, care taking, and customer service. Speaking with the many children and parents I engaged with on a day to day basis helped me learn much about people, and was character developing for myself. It truly is amazing how much you can learn from people, especially children.
The people I worked with were excellent individuals, with as much passion and drive as i had for this sport, which was refreshing. It seems hard to find jobs where people show up each day excited to be there and grow. The management was equally as energetic, and well organised.
Sadly the pay was close to minimum wage, which with my debt to school, and living expenses, was sub-adequate.

For almost 25 years, the City of Calgary Fire Department provided myself with the opportunity to work a rewarding career and spend the time with my wfe and daughters. A change in career from the Offshore Drilling for eight years to make the committment to them to watch them grow and develop with a good education. 

The day was filled with team work of equipment checks and preparation, discussion of job expectations, roles and responsibilities and training. A major focus was on safety of my personnel and accountability of all at the  thousands of emergency incidents we attended over the years. 

There were always site/building inspections and pre-planning of communities and structures, hydrant testing, hose testing or involvement with our communities, day or night. 

We filled the interm with family discussion, cooking meals and playing sports.

The family or brothers/sisters that we called each other established a bond with all 1200 firefighters and we had amazing committment from our Chiefs and administration support staff. 

I went from the young lad kicking in doors and fighting fires to being a mentor and providing the leadership to ensure our crews went home safely after every shift. 

I have waited for many years to see my children graduate university and start their paths and myself returning to the work I embraced everyday to support and supply our drilling crews with the tools and training they needed to work efficiently, effectively and safely.

Typical day at work was professional, yet casual.  Safety and Diversity in the Workplace is strongly promoted.  There was no dress code and in a professional environment I was allowed to take breaks when desired.  There was no time keeper and as long as I was productive my work ethic was never questioned.  My team leader was very knowledgeable and did not micro manage our department.  Every one in my group was approachable and there was no requirement to follow a chain of command even though we have senior positions and coordinators.  When I had ideas or a desire to take on new tasks, I would usually be granted my request if I could provide a use case and it did not impact the department.  I was able to learn new skills by taking the initiative and approaching my team leader.  The hardest part of the job was to work with others that I would deem unproductive.  These type of workers are protected by the union and it is very difficult for management to take action.  Therefore, all you can do is maintain a positive attitude and think of your contributions and not the lack of others.  Thank goodness 99% of City of Calgary employees are respectful hard working individuals.  I enjoyed coffee breaks with co-workers, organized city events, the freedom of my position, the ability to work four days a week, the option to work two days from home, and lots more.

Everyone wants to work for the City but don't be fooled. They oversell the benefits but are not competitive at all. If they want to build a great City they should start with their own organization. There is very little diversity at non-elected senior levels. Policies are outdated and focus on controlling what can go wrong and giving the minimal required versus assuming the best in people. No paid sick days for the first 3 months, then only 90% pay if you are sick (even for exempt positions), low end of the scale for vacation and have to wait until the next calendar year to get your accrued vacation. Working from home is a non-starter because management doesn't trust that employees are working.

Senior leaders think they are smarter than everyone else and give very little autonomy. You are told what to do--ideas, work, and policies flow from the top down. Managers and above think and say they are better than people below them doing the work. Leaders take no accountability. blame others, and look for mistakes to point out leading to low collaboration and fear.

Processes and technology are out dated and instead of focusing on a great employee experience leaders and HR want to micromanage, assume you will take advantage of the system, and track everything you do with constant reminders that IT is tracking activity on computers.

Lacked performance improvement plan and support. No matter how good of an employee you are, be careful if you make a mistake because they will not support or coach you. Loyalty and hard work means nothing in that sense. Depending on who your supervisor is, you may have no support and someone who is not approachable. Of course there are those that will be supportive and passionate on what they do and they will help you succeed. Whoever makes the limits of when it's too hot to work outdoors clearly doesn't spend any time outdoors. Leaders & programmers get hot in an 8 hour shift outside the whole day when it's 25+ Celsius. It's not an "on-call" position, it's a part time position, depending on what hours you're looking for. A lot of meetings that really could have been emails and time better spent planning or preparing for programs. Be ready to learn and have an acronym for Everything. Paid training was good and for certain things like summer training could have spent more time on to better be prepared and retain a lot of information. You make good friendships and there was a sense of community between co-workers. I think upper management could really learn and improve programs they offer by just listening to their workers who are out in the field doing the hard work and who SEE everything and how things run. They do provide a lot of learning and leadership opportunities. Ask questions on what specifically are your responsibilities and roles because that can get blurred and confusing and you will get in trouble if you do or don't do something. Prepare with star format for interviews. 

If you get into a good team, it's golden. If not, there can be very traumatizing, back-biting, dysfunctional behaviours to deal with from either bosses, coworkers or both. The policies for respectful workplace and the like, exist... the trouble is that in some groups, they are not enforced. There are sweetheart deals for some staff but not for others. It is stressful that some situations are not fair, makes you feel vulnerable and that is unproductive. Some mgmt should not be in their positions due to no education or life experience for the responsibility. They tend to hire leaders from within the ranks of staff and then don't require them to seek further education. If you get a leader who has integrity, cares and is true to his/her word, then you will thrive and enjoy your career. It's unfortunate, but the "good" leaders are few and far between. Just when you think you have the worst leader... and get a different job, you find out that this one is even worse. The benefits are ok, not super. I like that there's a pension. I have benefitted from working from home since the pandemic. The best thing is the ability to move around by applying for different positions. Hopefully, you can find something/someone to your liking. I am a technology worker, indoors, working 37.5 hours/wk. There are flexible work options and now Telework options. 

It is quite typical to struggle when completing the scheduled day's work within the assigned shift. This can be attributed to weather, truck problems, occasional absenteeism, etc... This makes each day somewhat different from the previous one. One is constantly tested on everything that you think you have learned and this continues to augment your problem solving ability on a daily basis. Previous experience gained while working on the trucks in various capacities and subsequent courses help substantially in performing the tasks associated with being a foreman at the City of Calgary. Peer support is excellent while management has been very accommodating with my progression within the "City" and the experience has been extremely positive. The hardest part of the job is ironically also one of the most enjoyable parts as well… that being, working with people. Although training for a specific task is rewarding in of itself, the greater reward is garnered when you respect and have the respect of your peers, superiors and associates. In many ways this is an ideal work environment and hypothetically a person could work here until they are 85. However I have reached a point where I am seeking different horizons with different challenges.

The job very steady, working a consistent shift. My co-workers are very friendly and helpful. The pace is a lot slower than I am used to, there is very much a union mentality, nothing gets done before start time. Hanging around waiting for direction and morning meetings really absorb most of the mornings time. If you are willing to put in 7 years< there maybe a possibility of advancement, but that is if you are not superseded by a worker from another department or plant that has more seniority than you.

The work is fairly typical and routine, very hard to think out side the box as other co-workers shut you down due to the union scope of work and what they feel that they should do for the pay that they receive. The hourly wage is very good for working in Calgary, although there is a lot of deductions which bring your take home to an exist able level. Unfortunately Overtime is very scarce, your basic wage is really what have to consider normal, any OT is a bonus.  

On the up side, your deductions go towards a very good health care program. A lot of you weekly money gets deducted for a pension which is match plus more by the city. Short and long term sick, standard 2 weeks holiday after a year.

Working at a landfill there really isn't a "typical" day of work. Our site is the only industrial landfill in the city and is very fast paced. Therefore everyday is different and i can be called to do many roles at any time. Just the tip of the ice berg I screen commercial loads and report any designated materials that need to be recycled/disposed of properly. Transfer drivers hauling clean-fill to the appropriate locations, landscaping, working on the chem-truck collection hazardous materials from the city's fire halls. I have learned so many different skills working with the City of Calgary a few include waste composition studies, recording weekly compost temperatures and how to handle hazardous materials. My co-workers are all great especially because i like to take it upon my self to be the site motivater and keep everyone working together. The hardest part was due to the Alberta 2013 flood it was hard to see citizens bringing in all there belongings to be disposed of. The best part of my job is i get to multi-task , try new and challenging tasks and of course work outdoors in all conditons. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Planner 3 salaries reported	$102,333 per year
Swim instructor 3 salaries reported	$35.00 per hour
Shift leader 5 salaries reported	$140,080 per year
Manager 4 salaries reported	$117,500 per year
Project manager 1 salary reported	$57.66 per hour

Working at City of Calgary: company overview and reviews

City of Calgary

City of Calgary ratings

Popular jobs at City of Calgary

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected