RANT - Part 4: The Formal Rejection

*WARNING* The contents of this blog post may include profanity, anger and frustration. The opinions presented are solely mine and admittedly are somewhat biased. You are encouraged to come to your own conclusions.

And this is how the story ends:

An entry-level constable position finally opened with the Charlottetown Police Service. So my husband submitted his application in November 2013 and after two months of waiting, we received an official letter of rejection in the mail last week. The rejection letter was very surprising considering that he meets (or exceeds) all of the qualifications of the position as listed in the job advertisement yet he wasn't even considered for an interview.

As mentioned, I am pretty biased in my opinion that my husband is a qualified candidate for the position of entry-level police constable. He is after all, already a police constable. But I'm not the only person who thinks that he is a good candidate. First of all, he was hired by a police service in Ontario and since then has received two awards for policing excellence. So clearly, his current employers feel that he meets the standard. He graduated from police college near the top of his class, and has since continued his eduction by becoming a certified scenes of crime officer and breath technician. He is presently a member of the tactics and rescue unit and has five years of policing experience behind him. In addition, he has a university degree and second language training, as well as five years experience in the Canadian Forces (and was the recipient of a mention in dispatch for his actions while deployed to Afghanistan). I don't believe that it is a stretch to say that this is a solid candidate and a candidate who is worthy of an interview.

I'm not implying that Charlottetown Police should have hired my husband immediately without considering other candidates. In fact, I am sure that there are other strong candidates who also applied for the position. I also understand that the hiring committee may be suspicious of his intentions; they should ask questions like “Why is someone from an Ontario police service applying here?”, “What are his motivations for wanting to move to PEI?” and “Will the candidate stay for the long term?”.  I both understand and respect the need for this line of thinking and I think that these questions should be touched on in the interview to get a feel for the candidate's “personal suitability”. However, there was no interview, he was simply rejected and I still curious to learn the criteria by which this decision was made.

Even more frustrating is the fact that the service has an agreement with the union which states that a short list of up to 10 qualified candidates will be created from any open competition such as this. This short list will be valid for a period of 12 months following the competition and additional openings within that period will be filled with candidates from the list. We thought that such an agreement would work out to our advantage because although we weren't expecting to get an offer of employment for the first open position with the service, we did feel confident that if he was interviewed that he would make the short list. Considering there are a handful of current serving members who are scheduled to retire in 2014, we anticipated that he should qualify for at least one of the upcoming new-hires. However, because Charlottetown Police did not interview him for the current opening, he will not be making the short list for future employment opportunities. As such, any opportunities which may become available between now and March of 2015 will be closed to the public and candidate selection will come from the internal list. The result for us is that it may be another 24 months (or more) before a position opens to the public for which he would be eligible to apply. Considering we have already been living in different provinces for 13 months while waiting for this opportunity, the prospect of having to wait another 24 months before another opportunity presents itself is very daunting.

The official rejection letter which we received in the mail was on a CPS letter head and was signed by the chief and his deputies. In the letter it was noted that over 50 applicants applied for the position and that although my husband didn't make the cut for an interview, that they wished him the best of luck in his future endeavours (how nice). I had some difficulty accepting the rejection without even an interview, but I was really pissed off about the content of the letter itself. The secretary tasked with writing the rejection notice either did not know how to use Microsoft Office or simply didn't have enough interest to bother proofreading the document. The letter contained a number of spelling and grammatical errors. In my opinion, grammatical and spelling errors on an official document are unacceptable. 

In an attempt to ascertain the reasoning behind the decision to exclude a qualified candidate from the interview process, my husband has contacted CPS to follow up and request any feedback which they may be able to provide in the hopes of improving his application for future opportunities. He has yet to hear a response.

 

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With the inability to qualify for any future opportunities with CPS until March 2015 and the statement from SDP indicating that they only hire internally, it is now evident that our future will not be in Eastern Canada. We are simply unwilling to continue to be separated by 2000 km for another two (+) years. Our future will be in Ontario. Without the chance to live with my family, there is no reason for me to stay in PEI. I really believe that this entire situation is fucked. Yeah, I said it - this is fucked. I apparently live in a naive world where I believe people should be judged on their skills and qualifications. Since that would apparently does not exist, I will have to quit the job for which I have spent a decade in training. I will be quitting a job that I love, in a place that I love living. I will have to return to unemployment and fight the several hundreds of applicants who apply for a single open position in Southern Ontario. If I do manage to find employment in Ontario, I will likely have to commute long distances in horrifying traffic just to get there. Locally, Souris High School will lose a volunteer coach, Wrestling PEI will lose an officials development coordinator and my company will be burdened with trying to find a replacement. And sadly, I will be leaving behind a number of wonderful people who I have come to love spending time with during the past year. 

Interestingly, we are not the only couple facing employment challenges on the East coast. I just received a message from one of my friend who along with her husband, left Eastern Canada 8 years ago for job opportunities in Northern Alberta (as there were few opportunities in Eastern Canada at the time). Now that they have work experience under their belts and a young family, they are trying to relocate to Eastern Canada to be closer to their extended family. Less than 24 hours ago, her husband interviewed for a position in Nova Scotia. During the interview, the hiring committee told him that although the competition was advertised as "open" to applications from the public, that they only hire managers from within the organization. He was advised that they were obligated by labour laws to at least interview him as he met all of the minimum and asset qualification, but that they like to keep these managerial jobs for "in-house" applicants. As such, it was suggested to him that although his qualifications and experience were that of a manager, that if he was really interested in living in NS, that he should reapply as an entry level engineer (for significantly less salary). So apparently, we are not the only ones who are facing these challenges.

RANT - Part 3: Xenophobia & the PEI Political Landscape

*WARNING* The contents of this blog post may include profanity, anger and frustration. The opinions presented are solely mine and admittedly are somewhat biased. You are encouraged to come to your own conclusions.

As we waited for a position to open up with Charlottetown Police, I began to notice what I can only describe as bizarre behaviour going on all around me.

I began to try to get involved in the community. I started to attend public meetings about local issues. On a number of occasions, I found that no one wanted to hear what I had to say when I tried to offer my opinion. Each time I would get up to speak, I was shut down by the others in the room who only wanted to know where I was from. It should be noted that these people wanted to know where I was from ORIGINALLY, because it was obvious to those in attendance that I was not a "local" as my opinions and views did not parallel theirs. On one such occasion, when I admitted that I was from Moncton, the response was: "Leave our Island, we don't want your kind here"! I wondered what "my kind" was? As far as I could tell, "my kind" was a born and raised Maritimer of Acadian descent, who can trace back family lineages to what is now Eastern Canada for over 400 years. Blew my mind.

Even when not expressing my somewhat progressive opinions about local issues, I still seemed to encounter some resistance among others who I met. On one occasion, I met a paramedic to whom I explained that I had previously worked as a dispatcher for ambulance in Ontario. Before I even had to opportunity to explain that it had been a part-time position to earn some income while I finished my PhD, this individual cut me off and very confrontationally said, "Don't ask me for information about how to get a dispatch job in PEI. We're not hiring outsiders. Good jobs like that are reserved for locals". This type of conversation also arose when discussing how my husband planned to apply for the next open position at Charlottetown Police. Again, I was very confrontationally advised that outsiders shouldn't be "coming in and taking all the good jobs away from locals".

Some of the contacts I have made in PEI's biotechnology sector have also noted that they have witnessed evidence of local bias. In fact, one person told me a tale about participating in an employment survey where they were chastised by a provincial government representative for recruiting the majority of their scientific staff from "off Island". I would argue that a provincial population base of only 140,000 doesn't have a whole lot of depth from which to draw candidates with highly specialized training.

Emigration in large numbers is the reality faced by many Eastern Canadian communities. But seemingly, no other province is being hit quite as hard as PEI. If the articles written for the Charlottetown Guardian or posted on CBC.ca are any indication, the province of Prince Edward Island is apparently haemorrhaging young residents. This past summer for example, local farmers were faced with a lack of labour force available to harvest crops because many general labourers are leaving for better paying jobs in Alberta. The Guardian reported that as the Island workforce continues to diminish, the province has no choice but to immediately turn towards immigration to compensate for a skilled worker shortage. By attracting young professionals to the province, the economy will benefit as these people will need housing, they will be contributing to the taxation-base and they will likely have children, adding to population growth. In my opinion, candidates being considered for jobs should be judged on their qualifications, skills and suitability for the job, and NOT based on the geographic region from which they originate. I think that hiring from "off Island" can both benefit the companies in need of skilled labour and benefit PEI natives by contributing to the local economy. But that's just my two cents.

RANT - Part 2: The 1st indication that there was something fishy about PEI

*WARNING* The contents of this blog post may include profanity, anger and frustration. The opinions presented are solely mine and admittedly are somewhat biased. You are encouraged to come to your own conclusions.

Unexpectedly, the spring of 2013 came and went without an open position being posted with the Charlottetown Police Service. So we called our CPS contact and were reassured once again that positions would open up, but we would have to wait until the fall of 2013. We were living in different provinces at the time and were not excited for this process to be extended any longer, but we were still optimistic that the pay off would be worth the wait.

In the meantime, an open position was posted with the Summerside Police Department. Minimum qualifications listed were: (1) Graduation from Atlantic Police College or equivalent, (2) Valid drivers licence and (3) No prior criminal record. The asset qualifications for the position were: (4) University graduate, (5) Second language training, (6) Prior policing experience and additional police training. In terms of meeting those requirements, Check, check and double CHECK! So although this position would mean a significantly greater commute, we thought that it would be worth applying for considering that a long commute would be better than living in two different provinces. Additionally, we thought it was good experience to interview with a PEI police service, to get accustomed to the types of question which would be asked in preparation of the desired job with CPS.

Considering all of the minimum and asset qualifications were met, we never expected what came next. Weeks came and went, there was no contact from Summerside PD. We were concerned that the application had not been received - this was because the job notice explicitly stated that applications would only be considered if sent electronically to the HR department at a particular E-mail address. But the E-mail address provided on the job notice was not a valid address! We ended up searching out the appropriate E-mail address for the HR department on the City of Summerside web page instead. When we hadn't heard back about an interview, we assumed the application had not been received because it just didn't make any sense that an experienced candidate would not be offered the chance to interview. So we tried calling the HR department to no avail. No one ever answered the phone or returned calls to the messages left. In an act of frustration, an E-mail was sent to a rather high up member of the SPD inquiring about the open position. What was received was a jaw-dropping response: "Only those who qualified for an interview were contacted and we usually let local boys have the first go at these types of jobs". There it was in print, the first evidence of employment bias.  

Spring turned to summer and the RCMP announced that they were reviving the "Lateral Transfer Program for Experienced Constables". Thinking this was an ideal opportunity, an application to the program was submitted. It didn't take long to be contacted and great news! The RCMP wanted to accept the lateral transfer. There was only one little detail of concern - they wanted to post us to Northern Alberta. When we explained that the reason for applying was to try and get a posting in Eastern Canada, close to my job, our concerns were met with laughter. Eastern Canada, eh? The only posting the RCMP send officers to in that part of the country is Labrador. We were told that if we signed on for a 5 year posting to an isolated Northern Labrador community, that there was a chance we could be posted to PEI sometime in the future. Armed with that comforting information, it didn't take long to decide that the RCMP would not be a viable option.

Effectively, we were putting all our hopes into Charlottetown Police. And why wouldn't we? We had been advised by high up that people were scheduled to retire, that positions would be opening and that experienced candidates were desired. As we waited for a position to be posted, summer turned to fall and then to winter.

RANT - Part 1: The Beginning of a Futile Journey

*WARNING* The contents of this blog post includes profanity, anger and frustration. The opinions presented are solely mine and admittedly are somewhat biased. You are encouraged to come to your own conclusions.

The various governments of the Maritime region are often quoted as saying that the one of the largest roadblocks encountered in terms of economic prosperity of the region is the number of people who leave these provinces looking for work elsewhere.  The result is often an ageing population putting great stress on few resources, and a reduction in the number of young professionals contributing to the taxation base, starting families and contributing to population growth. This is our story.

I am a Maritimer, originally from New Brunswick. I grew up in Moncton and spent 8 years in Fredericton both working and pursuing two degrees at UNB. When I could not find work in the area, I left as many Maritimers do, heading west to Ontario to pursue a PhD (in the hopes of making myself more employable). My husband, although originally from Ontario, spent a number of years living in New Brunswick while working with the Canadian Forces. We both love the Maritime region and have wanted to find an opportunity to move back to the area.

We were optimistic that opportunity would come when I completed my PhD. Considering that a PhD is a great deal more specific, and that a choice of employment location may not be within our control, we assumed that I would find a job in my field. And as an experienced police officer, my husband would be able to find employment in the same geographic region because most communities have police services (whether it be National, Provincial, Regional, or Municipal police services). In reality however, we were not prepared for what the next 12 months would bring.

Before completing my PhD, I was lucky enough to find employment with a great company. A company which was expanding, the job was in my specific field of study, and best of all - the company was located in Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island to be specific. My husband and I do not take risks without first investigating the opportunity and weighing the pros and cons. As such, we travelled to PEI in the fall of 2012 to meet with the company of interest and also to investigate the potential for employment in the policing field. Because of the size of PEI, we realized that we would be limited in terms of policing opportunities. Namely, there are municipal services in both Charlottetown and Summerside in addition to RCMP detachments throughout the Island. We were not worried however, because once an opportunity presented itself, it seemed illogical that a police service would not at least interview an experienced candidate. Reality, is in fact a bitch.      

Without mentioning names, I will state that in the fall of 2012 we met with someone very high up in the chain of command at the Charlottetown Police Service. At that time, this individual lead us to believe that experienced constables were encouraged to apply to the service and that these candidates were often successful because of the added experience and training they brought with them. It was also indicated that there were a number of retirements scheduled for 2013-2014 and that they were planning to hire as early as the spring of 2013. Following this positive experience and with this knowledge in mind, we decided that I should accept the position and that moving to PEI was an acceptable risk. So I quit my part-time job in Guelph, packed up my car, said good bye to my husband and began my journey eastward in February of 2013. At this time, I figured that it would be only a matter of months before a job would open up and my husband would soon be joining me in PEI.