Employment and Assistance Worker (EAW) Hiring – How it Works

Individual Postings

Individual postings will be posted on the Job Opportunity website for vacancies at specific locations throughout the province.  Vacancies for these types of postings are part of the standard competitive process used throughout the BC Public Service. 

You will need to apply for each individual posting that appears on the Job Opportunity website for any and all positions you wish to be considered for.

EAW Recruitment Practice Guidelines:

1. Your failure to respond to correspondence or show up for assessment and selection processes will indicate to the recruitment team you are no longer interested in EAW opportunities and you will be deemed to have withdrawn your application from any further consideration.
2. Applicants who re-apply within 6 months of an unsuccessful online pre-employment test will not be eligible to re-write the test.
3. Applicants who re-apply within 6 months of an unsuccessful final assessment (ie: interview and/or reference check) may not be eligible for further consideration. This is effective the date of your regret notification. 

For a detailed list of EAW offices by location, view this map.

Thank you for your interest in the Employment and Assistance Worker position with the Ministry of Social Development! 

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Where can I find more information about the role of an EAW?

You can find out more about the role of an Employment Assistant Worker by going to our website.

2. What is the salary range for the Employment and Assistance Worker position?

The EAW Position is a “Growth Position” which means the compensation levels are progressive through an eight level pay grid based on pre-determined criteria and levels of experience. The salary range is from $38,588.68 to $49,015.79 annually.

3. Is a Criminal Record Check required for an EAW position?

Yes. The requirement to complete a Criminal Record Check (CRC) is based on the requirements of the position. If you are offered an EAW position you will be asked to complete the appropriate CRC paperwork.

4. How do I submit my profile/resume?

Check out How to Apply on the Employment Opportunities Website or watch our video for a step by step guide. 

5. How do I update my profile and resume in the Recruitment System?

Check out How to Apply on the Employment Opportunities Website or visit our video for a step by step guide.

6. I have recently moved and my contact information has changed, whom should I notify?

Please access the Career Centre on our employment opportunities website and please update your resume and profile with your current information.  

7. Do I have to wait a certain period of time before I can re-apply?

No each posting is considered a new intake process. Please note if you failed the online pre-employment test you must wait 6 months before re-applying.

8. What is the online pre-employment test?

This is an online skills assessment candidates are given 2 hours to complete.  It measures analytical thinking abilities, applicants’ ability to solve problems and job-relevant personality traits related to the ministry’s core competencies.  

9. Are candidates provided information to study for the online pre-employment test?

No

10. Does the online pre-employment test also test for Word, Excel or other computer applications? 

No

11. If I fail the online pre-employment test, can I re-apply?

You must wait 6 months following your unsuccessful result before applying to a new posting.

12. I am having difficulty using the BC Public Service recruitment system, who should I contact?

Please click here to access our help resources.

Thank you for your interest in the Employment and Assistance Worker position with the Ministry of Social Development.

Contact Us for questions on this process, please leave us a message by clicking on the title of this blog. We will be happy to provide you with a response (note: your message will not be posted to this site).

Our Career Advisors are also available Monday-Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm PST.

Thank you and please continue to visit this site for further updates.

The EAW Recruitment Team
The Hiring Centre
BC Public Service Agency

In four easy steps you can create a personal profile on our Employment Opportunities website.  This will enable you to apply for posted positions at the BC Public Service.

 If you are not currently a BC Public Service employee start by selecting “Not a BC Public Service Employee” from our home page.

1. Select “Submit Resume” to begin.
2. Complete the next page with as much detail as possible.  Fields in red are required in order to submit your profile.
3. Upload your resume – there are two ways to do this:

a)      If you have a resume in electronic format such as PDF or MS Word, you can upload it to our Recruitment System by selecting “Upload your Resume”.

b)      Or, you can also copy text from an existing document and paste into the “Your Resume” field in your online profile.  You can also type a summary of your employment history, job skills, qualifications and education in the “Resume” field in your resume profile.

     4.    Before completing your online profile, tell us if you would like to be considered for other career opportunities which match your qualifications.  Also, please click “I Accept”      after reading the “Statement of Understanding”.

You will receive an email notification to confirm your profile creation detailing your username and password.

 If you are a BC Public Service employee, your base profile has been created on the Employment Opportunities site, and will require you to complete the required fields (in red) and upload your resume if you would like to apply for posted position.

1. Through the “Employee Portal” click on “Employee Access”.
2. Click on “Edit my Internal Profile”.
3. Fill in the red fields and add your resume to the “Your Resume” field
4. Be sure to tell us if you would like to be considered for other career opportunities (bottom of page) and also to click “I Accept” after reading the “Statement of Understanding”.  Click on the “Save” button.

You will receive a message in red at the top of the next page that says “Success!  Your internal profile has been updated”.

 If you have any questions regarding this process, please call one of the Career Advisors at 1-888-944-3327, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or email us at TM.Mailbox.Talk.to.us@gov.bc.ca.

It’s getting near that time of year when we begin to post opportunities for co-op positions within the BC Public Service. The most popular questions I receive are: “When and where are the jobs posted?” and “How many will there be?”

The first question is easy: Starting now and continuing into February, co-op jobs will be posted on our Employment Opportunities Website along with all the other government jobs. You can find them by searching under the “Student” job category in the Quick Job Search page. The posting will list all the pertinent application and qualification details and state which faculty(ies), if any, you must be registered in to apply for the job.

There will likely be a fair amount of response to these postings so be sure to take the time necessary to ensure your application looks its best. As to the “How many?” question, there is no way of knowing. Each ministry oversees its own co-op opportunities based on its present staffing and budgetary needs, so quite literally, what you see is what we have.

Co-op jobs are an outstanding way for students to gain exposure to a professional government work environment, make great contacts and populate your resume with some valuable experience. If you have further questions give me a call, or post a question right here on the blog by clicking on the title above.

Many of you have called with concerns over populating the resume portion of your online profile. Your online profile is the only means by which you can apply to a BC Public Service job, so you will want to keep a couple of points in mind:

1. The profile you have when you apply to a job is the profile we receive for that job. In other words, once you’ve applied you cannot revise your resume for that specific job. Trying to remove yourself from consideration because you submitted the wrong resume won’t work either because once you’ve retracted your application you cannot reapply for it. This is why it is so important to craft your resume first, make sure it is targeted for the position you are applying for, and then hit the “apply” button. After that you are welcome to revise your resume for another position as many times as you wish.
2. On the subject of crafting that resume profile, a lot of callers have had this experience: They write their resume up in Microsoft Word, then cut and paste into the field in their online profile. However, instead of a nice formatted resume they get a bunch of HTML formatting code that looks like the dog chased the cat across your keyboard. Understandably the caller gets concerned that their resume will look awful and it will cost them the job they’re applying for. Rest easy, this isn’t the case. Despite what you may see, from our end things normally look just fine, and if a few stray lines of code appear it will not influence how we evaluate your resume. A tip to avoid the HTML code appearing however would be to cut your resume out of Microsoft Word, then paste it into a simple text application like Notepad on the PC or TextEdit on your Mac to strip out the HTML coding. Copying the text from that simpletext application into the online profile should remove all that unsightly code.

Hope that answers some of your questions, and please keep those calls and letters coming.

Cheers,

Pat

“When a posting lists its closing date, when is the last possible time that I can submit my resume?”

The short answer is at 11:59pm the day the posting is due to be closed. However, some postings do require that you apply by a certain time. It is important to read the posting in its entirety and see if there is a different deadline. If a different deadline is requested, it is essential to follow it exactly as indicated.

Some postings may ask that you email your resume and/or cover letter directly to the hiring manager. Again, this will be stated in the posting along with the contact information and it is important to read the entire posting in order to follow the specified directions.

It’s best to apply 24-48 hours earlier than the deadline as some of the postings may require you to fill out a short questionnaire. At times, these questionnaires may need to be emailed to you separately, or they may pop up in a separate window to be filled out on the spot once you submit your resume and/or cover letter.

For more tips and information on our hiring process, visit our website at www.employment.gov.bc.ca.