Interested Department, Agency, Board or Commission

What this is:

The Nova Scotia Public Service Commission strives to create a workforce that is reflective of the diverse community it serves and to provide a respectful and inclusive workplace. The Diversity Talent Pool (DTP) consists of resumes of pre-screened, qualified candidates within the designated groups (women in under-represented or non-traditional roles, Aboriginals, African Nova Scotians and other Racially Visible Persons and Persons with Disabilities) who are seeking casual positions with the Government of Nova Scotia. In turn, these short-term placements provide members of the DTP with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience and upgrade their skills. The Diversity Talent Pool also employs international students and immigrants looking for short term work and all of whom hold a valid work permit issued by Citizenship & Immigration Canada. The Fair Hiring and Employment Equity policies ask departments to seek applicants from the DTP casual positions. The Fair Hiring Policy was created to ensure that we hit our employment equity goals for equal representation. One very important directive of the policy states:

"Departments are required to obtain names and applications of qualified employment equity candidates for casual and temporary employment opportunities from the Diversity Talent Pool at the Public Service Commission, by contacting the Diversity Management Unit. The Talent Pool has resumes of pre-screened applicants with a wide range of skills and competencies that are immediately available to fill casual positions. A fair hiring process, as outlined in this policy, should be followed when filling these positions – exceptions must be approved by the Human Resources representative."

Hiring activities in the Government of Nova Scotia are based on the principles of merit, and guided by public service values that include respect, integrity, diversity, accountability and the public good. When hiring for any positions including casual positions, it must be done in accordance with the Fair Hiring Policy. The Diversity Talent Pool makes hiring for casual positions very easy as it provides you with access to pre-screened, qualified applicants from the designated groups who are seeking employment with the provincial government.

"The Diversity Talent Pool folks I have dealt with recently were responsive, knowledgeable and an absolute pleasure to work with. I've been extremely pleased with both the quality of the service and the caliber of the candidates. I would highly recommend them and look forward to working with them again in the future."

- Sandra C. Little, Director Human Resources & Civic Education

"In my experience, hires from the Diversity Talent Pool have worked well. We've received good quality employees. The big selling feature for managers is the quick turnaround and the quality candidates."

- Shelley Singer, HR Consultant

The Program goals are:

to assist in increasing representation of designated groups in the Nova Scotia public service through casual placements.
to assist departments in their recruitment process to fill casual positions quickly.
to assist members of the four designated groups who face barriers to employment gain employment experience through casual placements.

Kinds of positions:

Bargaining Unit Casual: these are unionized positions that last 10 weeks or less. Casual employees are paid hourly wages and are not entitled to pension, benefits or vacation.

Excluded Casual positions are non-unionized positions and could range from 2 weeks to a maximum of a year.

Principles:

The DTP roster will be filled through postings.
Postings will reflect the business needs of the Government.
Appropriate screening, interviewing, testing and reference checking process will be conducted.
Interview panels will be appropriately formed to include diverse members and HR expertise.
The DTP roster will be maintained to ensure that individuals on it are available to work.
Individuals on the roster will be legally able to work in Canada.

Process:

A casual roster will be posted occasionally, and interested applicants will have to apply or applicants can also fill an application form.
Applicants will have to self identify as being either an Aboriginal Person, African Nova Scotian or other Racially Visible Minority, a Person with a Disability or a Woman in an occupation considered underrepresented.
Qualified applicants will then be screened based on the specific requirements of the posted job. All applicants selected, will be interviewed, tested where applicable and references checked before registering them in the Diversity Talent Pool database.
Resumes and profiles of applicants will then be forwarded to departments upon request for casual positions. Feedback on employee performance will be gathered to help ensure that job performance meets employer expectation.
Departments may then conduct interviews to ensure that the candidates are an appropriate fit for the position.

How it works for government departments:

Hiring Managers can request resumes by asking their HR consultant to submit a requisition form Requisition Form.

Departments benefits from:

easy access to pre-screened(tested, interviewed, references checked) qualified applicants
a quicker and cheaper means to filling their casual human resources needs
a great opportunity to enjoy the rich experience of a diverse workforce
an opportunity to contribute to our Corporate Human Resource goal to become a diverse workforce

Diversity Talent Pool vs. Temporary Agency

	Diversity Talent Pool ( by far a better option)	Temporary Agency
Cost	Cheaper as you pay only the normal wages	Temporary agencies may charge a higher fee than you would for normal employees
Qualifications of Applicants	Will align to departments job descriptions as specified by the union and the PSC	May align to departments job descriptions
Testing	Yes - applicants will be tested on computer and other technical skills	Yes
Interviews	Yes Structured behavioral interviews are conducted for all applicants with an established government wide benchmark pass rate	Yes may be structured or unstructured
References	Yes - three references checked	No
Diversity	Absolutely guaranteed	Maybe
Turnaround period	Within 24 hours (very quick)	Same

For more information please contact:
Recruitment Services Division, Nova Scotia Public Service Commission
Halifax, NS B3J 3J8
Tel: 902 424-2302
Fax: 902 424-0695
E-mail: Diversitytalentpool@gov.ns.ca

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