Job Hunting During the Pandemic
#policystudents
In this week’s class, some Master of Public Policy alumni came to visit, virtually, of course. These alumni are currently working for the municipality of Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
We are all master’s students in our final year. The main topic of conversation on our minds was job search during the pandemic. Alumni honestly told us the realities of the job market. One alumnus stated that some municipalities have vacant policy positions, but they are not hiring. Due to the rising pressures and debt caused by the pandemic, many municipalities are only hiring essential positions. A senior policy analyst advised us to apply to positions regardless of our confidence in meeting all the requirements. She added that the interviewer(s) may not be assessing all the soft skills evenly. We never know which weighs more. One crucial piece of advice given was to ensure that our cover letter and resume are highlighting the position’s key qualifications and our interviews highlight key requirements vis-à-vis key qualifications. To ensure a successful interview, we must know the municipality, mayor, and public servants’ roles.
This advice emphasizes the importance of the mayoral and councilors’ powers. The Canadian mayors are known as “weak” mayors, while the American mayors are considered “strong” mayors. These qualifications have nothing to do with their intentions, agendas, public relations, and skills; but have to do with the mayor’s office authorities and governance extensions. For example, in the USA, the mayors can prepare budgets, promote public servants, actively participate in meetings to push their opinions/agendas, take managerial tasks, and more. However, in Canada, the mayor is equal to the councilors. The mayor does not have more significant decision-making powers. For example, the mayor will chair meetings, respond to media questions, and have a less formal role as the face of the municipality when meeting visiting dignitaries.
In contrast, the Chief Administrative Officer is the intermediary between the mayor, councilors, and public servants. In Canada, the Chief Administrative Officer takes some of the roles that strong mayors do. A Canadian mayor is responsible for political leadership but does not have managerial responsibilities beyond good governance. The Chief Administrative Officer may have some managerial roles. The councilors are elected or selected differently in each municipality. Both the council and mayor set the agenda. Civil servants work for the council as a whole, not specifically the mayor or any individuals. This system of government is called the weak-mayor system because the mayor has little formal legislative authority.
Being clear on such differences and roles can put a candidate in a more favorable position during the interviews. Hence the crucialness of being extra prepared for the interviews, mainly due to the high unemployment rate. Our last group of alumni encouraged us to cast a wide net and be more flexible than usual, but not to the point where we are unhappy. If we do not feel right, challenged, and satisfied after putting in much work and given the role a chance, there is no shame in leaving. We do not have to stay for a minimum of 2 years, as traditionally encouraged. We should also not be afraid of contract positions. Many alumni moved from contract positions to full-time positions.
Networking and creating connections are never a waste of time. Tapping into the Munk School or your school’s alumni database to send coffee (or tea) chat requests to create warm (or bring contacts from warm to hot)contacts can go a very long way, especially since we cannot physically meet.
