OK place to work for 1st government job, but I wouldn't stay long!
I can't comment working on Statistics Canada for other jobs but I can on when it comes to the job we're doing for Contact Tracing.
A typical day starts with either reaching out for the first time, at the mid-way point, or on their final day of exposure to contacts that have likely already spoken to their local public health unit first so we are just doing the actual follow up. Management clearly hasn't thought through the process of the script we are reading at all. There are simply too many parts that don't make sense.
For example, none of the scripts are modified when we are speaking to someone else on behalf of the contact in question. On our final day call, when they are on their last day of isolation we have to read them all the same verbiage about getting tested and ask them if they know the same thing as on Day 1 if they know where their nearest assessment centre is to get tested, etc.? This leads to so many people asking if they need to get another test, or makes them go for another test when they will likely be turned away, I think since they're on their final day. And we still call them even if the self-isolation period is over and of course, the script doesn't change -- it still keeps talking about getting tested "while you're under self-isolation" and "monitoring for symptoms while you're under your self-isolation" when it's over.
I really feel like this was put together way too quickly and wasn't thought through well. I get sometimes things aren't perfect in
ProsGetting schedule 1 month in advance, helping the public, friendly managers
ConsNo direct manager, unstable hours, no solid information to work with, no benefits
An archaic institution that does not trust employees
I have worked as a telephone interviewer and team leader for Statistics Canada. During these experiences, I have realized that Statistics Canada has no respect for employees who collect data for them. They also do not care about respondents or even data quality. Whoever gets the most surveys completed is the winner regardless of how many policies and privacy laws they break obtaining the data.
As a telephone interviewer, most of my shifts were during evenings and weekends. The work was very repetitive, and we were mostly leaving voicemails or dealing with angry respondents. There were not many learning or growth opportunities.
Management was very inflexible and did not trust employees. They constantly monitored interviewers, and senior interviewers ignored the hard work you put into persuading respondents and understanding survey methodology. They would pick on minor points, such as skipping a word on a question or not introducing yourself to a senior interviewer when you could clearly see their name on the call display.
They did not take your skills, experience or interest into account at all when assigning you surveys. They would randomly assign you to surveys, never ask you what you'd prefer and completely ignore you if you mentioned any preferences.
They expected you to provide a change in availability 1.25 months in advance and only receive your monthly schedule a few days before the start of the month. They don't allow exchanging shifts. It was not easy to sched
Remote (me) or on-site multiple roles in call center intake and data entry/processing, days ranged from very busy and almost overwhelming, to some of the easiest days you'll ever have, depending on volume and nature of daily/weekly/monthly work.
The workplace was very supportive while with the overhanging understanding that you'll be gone soon anyway, as this is a temp contract position only every 5 years. The job will not lead to advancement with StatsCan or the gov by itself, but it can inform or help you towards some other roles.
You'll learn skills in call center interactions and case processing, data entry, editing, etc. Do not take the calls personally, which will range from (many) very brief (less than 5 mins) and pleasant, to (very few) very extended (1+ hour) and difficult, but it is not about you, and you may have support from coworkers and supervisors.
Data entry was the expected boring grind. Be the best you can be at it, find something to listen to, and move on. No one expects a perfect robot, just be useful.
The best part of the job was the mostly relaxed at-home experience after the initial census rush (eventually you're more 'on call' than 'constantly on'). The worst part was particularly difficult calls that have shaken myself and done worse with others who were not used to pushing through difficult clients/customers in service work. But these are again few, and you're able to disconnect the call after a scripted attempt to help.
You would not want to do thi
Prosfull time summer work for decent entry pay, relaxing after a while (great for students to have mental space for Sep school/pt work prep!)
Constemporary work unless advanced to perm, difficult callers, hurry up and wait
Being part of the BSMD team had been one of the best and most important experiences in my life. My supervisor had involved me in every meeting or seminar she could, which I have always appreciated as they were one of the more educational experiences I had. I feel that my hard work and interest in this position had not gone unrecognized, and has allowed me to develop a greater insight in my abilities. This gave me the opportunity to experience a higher degree of responsibility in the position as I was able to communicate with my supervisor along with the team directly when resolving issues with my project.
From this I have strengthened my communication and problem solving skills that I will utilize throughout my career. The benefit of being part of a small team was the fact that my supervisor always gave an answer to any questions or concerns that I had, as well as being extremely open-minded to my ideas and suggestions. My supervisor supported me each step of the way and provided me with great career coaching by sharing many of the different skills and experiences she has acquired throughout her extensive career here at Statistics Canada.
My work term at Statistics Canada has been an extremely successful experience for me and has provided me with many of the necessary skills and abilities I need in order to be considered for many career opportunities. In the future I hope to have the opportunity to work for Statistics Canada again, as I found the environment to be extremel
No job security and extremely limited opportunities for promotion
While I liked the flexibility in my work hours, I absolutely couldn't put up with the fact that there was minimal job security, if not at all.
First of all, you're hired on short-term contracts. On top of that, you're, more often than not, hired on a part-time basis. The pay is approximately $15 per hour, which is peanuts depending on the stress you get in the line of your work. (To be fair, there are additional benefits, but they do not do justice to the efforts you put in and risks associated with the job, including assaults, hazards, etc.)
Second, opportunities to get hired on a permanent basis or at least on a full-time contract basis are limited. Even if you perform well on the job, there's no guarantee that you'll be recommended to become a core interviewer.
Third, efficiency is often not rewarded. You can reach your performance target in, say, 10 hours; your colleague works 25 hours to achieve the target. In reviewing your performance -- which is not even discussed with you in detail -- you will be given an extension contract on worse terms, by which I mean the absence of certain benefits.
Fourth, I didn't know how I was performing and where I could improve. In my six months with Statistics Canada, not once did I have a formal performance review with my line manager.
Fifth, interviewers often don't see their role in the big picture. Many interviewers just think about their job, which is data collection. Knowing how important our input is to the
ProsFlexible work hours
ConsNo job security and limited opportunities for growth
As a telephone interviewer it is my job to contact private households as well as businesses to conduct statistical surveys. In a typical day, I can speak to anywhere from 60 to 100+ individuals on issues regarding health, labour relations, time management, business expenditures or any number of other topics. It is my responsibility to solicit their participation and to maintain a respectful dialogue at all times. Although this work is strictly regulated, it is very self-motivating. I am responsible for managing my own time and appointments and am expected to meet general production rates.
Although the management team is very respectful and well trained, the fact that there are such a large number of them leads to discrepancies in the instruction from one supervisor to the next. This furthers the self-motivating aspect of the work in that the interviewers are often left to use their own judgement when dealing with uncertainties or difficult situations.
The most challenging part of my job also happens to be what makes it so simple; it is very repetitive. It can be challenging to maintain the same level of enthusiasm throughout the day when you're simply repeating the same action over for hours at a time. The most enjoyable aspect of my job is, by far, my co-workers. The office supervisors do an excellent job of maintaining a respectful and enjoyable work environment which makes it easier for the employees to develop relationships and work as a team.
ProsUnionized, benifits, fair management
ConsPart-time, high turnover, little room for advancement
Wouldn't recommend working here, run and look elsewhere!
If I could I would rate 0 stars. There is a lot to say, that is negative about working here. But all I can say is run and don't work here! At least not as a telephone interviewer.
Management is horrible, and the practices of trying to convince respondents to answer surveys needs a complete revamp and overhaul.
Sometimes you would deal with people who weren't very nice and would yell and curse at you. There were also some really nice people you would speak with, that were genuinely wanting to help with completing surveys, but they were few and far between.
Some pros:
The evening and weekend shift premiums aren't amazing, but better than nothing, and having awesome co-workers. I did meet some amazing people in my time there.
Some cons:
The stress from the job, being made to do things you aren't comfortable with (some surveys have sensitive topics that you may feel uncomfortable with, but have to work on them anyways), and no work life balance as the operational requirements were too rigid and you had to jump through hoops to get any type of accommodation that could make your life easier for working there. Also job security is not great there, as it's all contract based, and promotions don't happen often so it's not an easy place to climb the ladder at.
ProsGetting paid a little extra for evening shifts and weekends, awesome co-workers.
ConsThe stress from the job, being made to do things you aren't comfortable with, no work life balance, no job security, not easy to get promotions.
Pros
The pros of this job are:
-You are capable of setting your own schedule and resolving cases at your or the respondents' conveniences. Therefore, there's a good degree of flexibility in that regard.
-It's a very simple and easy-to-learn job; that is, the tasks associated with Enumeration are quite basic.
Cons
The cons of this job are:
-You don't get paid for the amount of non-response cases that you resolve unless you have the respondent's completed questionnaire with you to hand over to the supervisor (an hour of paid work = 3 short form questionnaires or 1 long form questionnaire). It doesn't count if you still managed to resolve the case, but don't have the physical questionnaire with you.
-It's advertised as …
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Advice to Management
Please be a bit more fair in how Enumerators are paid. It isn't always possible to get a physical copy of someone's questionnaire because they don't always want the involvement of an Enumerator in the completion and sending of their completed census questionnaires. This in turn makes it extremely difficult to earn one's hours and in fact requires for one to do far more than part-time hours in order to get the desired results to get paid for a comparatively smaller amount of time.
Moreover, please take reports of difficult respondents and buildings more seriously. Don't simply take the case away for a little bit and then assign it back to the Enumerator as if nothing had happened.
Great seasonal work especially if you want to get your steps in!
Typical day at work involved checking your list of households for your daily enumeration & then going door-to-door trying to complete as many Census forms as you can.
Great opportunity to improve your speaking & people skills as your job success is dependent on your ability to articulate & convince people to complete the Census. Other great learning opportunities include time management & your ability to navigate the city efficiently.
Management & company culture was very positive, encouraging & casual but this may be dependent on style & effectiveness of the supervisor/manager.
The hardest part of the job was definitely dealing with very uncooperative & combative respondents. Ability to handle confrontation & have confidence in your work is crucial to staying sane after these encounters. However, the most enjoyable part of the job was how relaxed working was. You can just go walk the enumeration area for few hours & really take your time if you want. If you love speaking to people, you will really enjoy this job too. The Census occurs during the summer too so the weather is incredible. You can spend almost all day just walking around & getting to know the people in your area.
ProsFlexible hours, Active but not strenuous work, Work at your own pace
ConsEncounters with people who REALLY do not want to do the Census
Absolutely *hated* working for this gov dept. I was interviewed for a particular job title (Covid Contact Tracer. eg. people expecting my call. Daytime) and *signed a contract* for that job. Then got told at the end of the first day of virtual training that they had "hired too many people for that title" and our training team was split in half. I was switched to a different department which ran a telemarketing-style interview division and work hours went until 9:15 pm. When I explained to a manager that I had applied to the original job *because* it was daytime-- there was a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.
Also-- there were 18 rotating managers for the new department I was moved to-- so getting straight answers and proper training was a constant problem. I tried to tough it through for 5 months but my kids just suffered from my erratic hours ranging from 8am to 10pm. (You read that right -- 10pm as we were not allowed to stop a call if the hour-long interview was accepted at 9pm.) Others from my training team had to quit or voluntarily take less hours in order to handle the stress of working there, (which I
did too) until I just had to leave permanently.
ProsManagers would at least answer their phone and were polite, even if they didn't always know the answer.
ConsBrutal, Brutal experience.
Questions and answers about Statistics Canada
What is the work environment and culture like at Statistics Canada?
Asked Apr 20, 2017
Horrendous environment. Sturgeon falls office scored the lowest in employee satisfaction survey in 2018, thanks to the miss managed management, horrible attitudes, horrible place to work horrible mangers to work for
Answered Feb 27, 2019
Horrendous, awful, toxic
Answered Feb 23, 2019
On average, how many hours do you work a day at Statistics Canada?
Asked Jun 30, 2021
On average, I work eight hours per day. Overtime seldom required in my role.
Answered May 14, 2022
Huit heures en moyenne
Answered Feb 24, 2022
What are the perks offered by Statistics Canada?
Asked Mar 9, 2017
Health and dental benefits
Pension
And a toxic work environment
Answered Feb 27, 2019
Benefits that’s it. Everything else is horrible
Answered Feb 14, 2019
How are the working hours at Statistics Canada?
Asked Mar 9, 2017
Not flexible, does not work around schedule, they don’t care
Answered Feb 27, 2019
Hours vary but typically you choose daytime (6.5 hr paid shifts usually) or evening hours and are expected to work weekends at times. They are open very late on weekdays and Sundays which surprises a lot of people..
Answered Dec 31, 2017
What benefits does Statistics Canada offer?
Asked Aug 18, 2021
Medical, dental, EAP, paid leave
Answered Mar 6, 2023
I didn’t receive benefits because I was only there for 4 months. However, if you are an indeterminate employee, you receive benefits (e.g., sick days, medication, etc.)
