Applicant Resources

We want our applicants to be as successful as possible with their application process with the City of Markham! Every organization does things differently- to give you a sense of what to expect, here is some information about the City of Markham's hiring process:

1. Submitting your application

• View all current job opportunities at markham.ca/careers
• Click on the job that interests you and matches your skills
• Click Apply and create a candidate profile (if you are a new visitor) or login (if you are a returning visitor)
• Complete the application process by entering your personal information, upload your resume/cover letter, answer the job application questions (in step 3), review your application and attestation and then submit your application.
• You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been successfully submitted
• All communication from the City of Markham will be made by email or phone. Please check your emails regularly for messages from the City, and don’t forget to check your junk/spam mail folder. Emails are generated through our applicant tracking system and would show as sender "TheCorporationoftheCityofMarkham.hr@adp.com".
• You can update your contact information at any time by logging into your candidate profile, however, the application you have already submitted will not automatically update your contact information.

2. Application Screening

• Your application will be reviewed by Human Resources and the Hiring Manager
• While all applications are welcome, only those applicants considered for an interview/test will be contacted by email or phone
• It is a good practice to check your email junk/spam mail folder regularly

3. Interview and/or Testing

• The interview panel will include the Hiring Manager and Human Resources and as needed, other relevant staff
• Interview(s), testing and references will be based on job-related criteria
• We invite applicants for interviews through email communication

4. Selection

• The Hiring Manger and Human Resources will discuss the results of the interview, testing and references against the requirements of the job to select the best candidate(s) for the job

5. Job Offer

• An offer of employment will be made to the successful candidate(s)
• Job offers may be conditional upon providing, at your expense, a Criminal Record Check/Vulnerable Screening Check (if required for the job) that is satisfactory to the City of Markham

The City of Markham is committed to inclusive, accessible and barrier-free employment practices and to creating a workplace that reflects and supports the diversity of the community we serve. The identification of your lived experience as a member of the Black, Indigenous, racialized, persons living with disabilities or equity deserving communities is welcomed and encouraged in your application. Should you require any accommodation through any stage of the recruitment process, please let the Human Resources Professional know when contacted and we will work with you to ensure a barrier-free recruitment process.

Below are some general tips/good practices to assist you in the application process.

Resources for Job Seekers

• Please visit the Markham Public Library site at https://markhampubliclibrary.ca/job-seekers/ for resources on resume writing, interviewing skills and other career related tips.

Resume Format and Style

• Keep your resume between two to three pages in length
• List your work experience in reverse chronological order – begin with your most recent job
• Showcase your strengths by explaining your accomplishments and achievements, rather than simply listing your duties
• Customize your resume for the job you are applying to and explain how your skills and abilities meet the key qualifications in the job posting
• Summarize your work experience of more than 10 years ago, unless it is directly relevant to the job that you’re applying for
• Do not copy and paste the exact wording from the job posting
• Use one simple font that is easily readable (e.g., Arial size 12)
• Use bolding sparingly and do not use shading
• Avoid using all capitalized letters, italics or underlining because they can be difficult to read
• Do not use acronyms, abbreviations, clichés or jargon

Resume Content

Summary of Qualifications

Immediately following your personal information (do not include confidential information, such as your date of birth, marital status, or your social insurance number on your resume), market your most important and relevant qualifications. Often, this includes a statement about your strengths (or what makes you unique) as they relate to your work experience that makes you a suitable candidate for the job.

Work Experience

The City of Markham welcomes applicants with experience outside of Canada. If you have relevant work experience outside of Canada, please include this information in your application.

• List your work experience in reverse chronological order listing the years worked in each job starting with the most recent job. If you have work experience outside of Canada, includes those experiences and accomplishments if it is relevant to the job you are applying for.
• Explain your experience as it relates to the key qualifications for the position you are applying to by using four to five one-liners to describe your significant accomplishments. Whenever possible, try to quantify your achievements
  • A one-liner describes an accomplishment, skill or responsibility in point form, preventing you from using unnecessarily wordy sentences.
  • Prioritize your one-liners putting the most significant ones first

How to write a one-liner

• Start each one-liner with an action verb
  • For your current job use present tense verbs (for example, ‘prepare’ or ‘develop’)
  • For previous jobs use past tense verbs (for example, ‘assisted’ or ‘monitored’)
• State what you did and what you accomplished – quantify and qualify your points to demonstrate your experience fully, as well as the depth and breadth of knowledge, skills and abilities you possess.
• Show the results of your actions and the benefits they had to the company. For example:
  • How and how much money you saved
  • How and how much you increased productivity
  • How you solved a problem
  • How you built a relationship

Examples of One-Liners

• Handled all in-bound telephone calls, re-directed them to appropriate staff or took messages as needed.
• Followed-up on requests and ensured client service standards were maintained in a high volume client focused environment
• Rearranged the office filing system based on a personally devised plan, which led to more efficient file retrieval by the staff
• Developed an extensive equipment maintenance program resulting in reduced downtime, lower repair costs and improved service

Education

• List your education at the end of your resume unless you have very little work experience
• Only list your degree, diploma or highest grade achieved and the educational institution
• Do not list courses unless they are directly related to the position
• Put your highest education level or most recently attained degree/diploma first. Do not include high school information if you have post-secondary education
• Academic awards and/or scholarships can be mentioned

Other Resume Sections

Include additional resume sections if they are relevant to the job you are applying for. Additional sections may include:

• Languages (list verbal and written skills)
• Awards
• Publications (list published work)
• Professional affiliations memberships
• Volunteer experience/community involvement (also consider including if you have minimal paid work experience)

Note: Always tell the truth! Do not misrepresent or falsify any information on your resume.

Cover Letter

Use your cover letter as an opportunity to introduce yourself to the reader, demonstrate why you are a suitable candidate, express your interest in the position and create a positive first impression. It also provides an opportunity to share anything special that you think will set you apart from other applicants.

Tip: If you identify a skill or accomplishment in your cover letter, make sure that it is also in your resume.

What you can highlight in a cover letter:

• How you meet the job requirements
• Written communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Social skills
• Personal style
• Management approach
• Focus and priorities

A well written cover letter will:

• Be one to two pages in length
• Express interest in the position
• Catch the interest of the reader
• Highlight how your skills meet the employer’s needs
• Direct the reader’s attention to your strong points
• Set you apart from the competition
• Illustrate why you are a good fit for the position
• Indicate how your strengths meet the key qualifications of the job posting
• Show that you have done your research and familiarized yourself with the important issues in the unit and the division
• Show how your skills and experience can make a contribution to the organization
• Thank the reader for considering your application
• Have been spell-checked and edited for grammar
• Be well organized and concise

Resources for Job Seekers

• Please visit the Markham Public Library site at https://markhampubliclibrary.ca/job-seekers/ for resources on resume writing, interviewing skills and other career related tips.  

Before the interview:

• Research the position and the organization (mission, vision, values, strategic plan, City of Markham social media feeds including LinkedIn etc.)
• Ask for the Human Resources contact name and phone number in case of an emergency
• Develop examples of your work or volunteer experience that support the requirements of the job
• Advise the Human Resources contact person if you have a disability and need any special accommodations to participate in the interview
• Consider the questions you would like to ask during the interview

Arriving for the interview

• Arrive five to ten minutes early for your scheduled interview/test

During the interview

• Interviews are usually conducted by more than one person (a panel)
• Each panel member takes turns asking very specific job related and behavioural based interview questions. The behavioural question involves you giving an actual example to demonstrate your answer to the question. These questions usually start with “Tell us about a time when you…”. To prepare for this type of question, draw upon relevant experiences you have had in the work place, as a volunteer, at school or in any other relevant situation that demonstrate your skills for the competencies required for the job to which you are applying. Provide a specific example of how you handled a situation as opposed to saying what you would do. This helps the panel judge how you react in work related problems. Be prepared to say what you learned from the experience or what you would do differently.
• A widely used method for responding to behavioural interview questions is the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method. The STAR method is focused around using real-world examples to highlight your skills, abilities, and character traits. Rather than a simple yes or no question, behavioural questions are more open-ended and draw from your personal experiences.
• Your answers should be specific, detailed, thoughtful, succinct and well delivered
• Panel members will be taking notes during the interview
• You can ask for a question to be repeated or to provide an answer to a question later
• At the end of the interview, ask questions, make additional comments or ask when you will be notified of the interview results
• Thank the panel members for the interview opportunity

Some examples of behavioural questions may be:

• Describe a time you dealt with a conflict between coworkers and how you dealt with it.
• Share an example of a time you had to make a hard decision. What did you do?
• Tell me a time when you failed. What did you learn from this experience?
• Share an example of a time you used logic or data to recommend something.

The STAR method is a way to practice responding to these types of questions. It provides a clear-cut and easy to follow method to create a story with a conflict and resolution.

Situation

Start by providing the details and context surrounding the difficult situation you faced.

Clearly describe the problem, who was involved, what the consequences were, and any other relevant details.

For instance, “In my last job as a senior engineer, we were short-staffed and facing a large backlog of projects. Our clients were setting unrealistic deadlines that were causing my design team a lot of stress and decreasing morale.”

Task

Give information regarding your responsibility and role in the situation. What duties were you required to perform and how were they relevant to your situation?

For instance, “As the senior engineer on the project, it was my responsibility to manage my team’s time to meet deadlines, keep my team’s morale high, and communicate our progress to our clients.”

Action

With explicit detail, describe what steps you took towards managing the conflict. What actions did you take? How did you handle the task at hand? How did you coordinate with others?

For instance, “I instituted a formal process for creative requests that included timeline expectations to better coordinate our efforts. I also scheduled one-on-one meetings with my team members and clients to discuss project progress and maintain productivity.”

Result

What happened in the situation? What outcomes resulted from your actions? Try to quantify the results of your experience to demonstrate the effectiveness of your efforts.

As an example, “By providing a better channel for team cooperation, we were able to shift our priority list to complete all our projects. Further, our productivity increase allowed us to cut our average project time-length by 3 days.”

Core behaviours identify the skills, behaviours and knowledge needed by staff for effective performance and success at different levels of the organization.

There are seven core behaviours at the City – six for all levels/roles, and an additional one (“strategic thinking and planning”) for Managers and above. Staff of all levels are encouraged to learn, practice and demonstrate behaviours supporting the strategic thinking and planning core behaviour.

Core Behaviour Definitions

1. Service Excellence
   Meets or exceeds the department and organization’s service standards for customers effectively, efficiently and responsively. Recognizes and responds to the diverse and evolving needs of customers in the community and the organization.
    
2. Change and Innovation
   Demonstrates flexibility and a willingness to embrace change and to support others during change. Challenges existing practices and looks for innovative and new solutions to achieve the goals of the organization.
    
3. Team Work and Relationship Building
   Works effectively with, and is inclusive of, others. Builds and maintains professional relationships, networks and partnerships across the organization and externally to remove barriers, build trust and to achieve the goals of the organization.
    
4. Communication
   Communicates ideas and thoughts in an effective way and ensures that messages are clear, understood, and appropriate. Customizes communication to the needs of the audience. Listens effectively.
    
5. Accountable and Results Oriented
   Aligns efforts and behaviours towards achieving defined goals and the delivery of high quality work in an efficient, effective and fiscally responsible way. Complies with City policies and relevant legislation and behaves ethically and with integrity. Aligns with City values, direction, department business plan and the Excellence Markham framework. Takes responsibility for problem solving.
    
6. Management and Leadership
   Leads by example, keeps skills up to date and contributes to a positive, healthy and safe work environment. Manages and develops staff for today and the future using clear direction, learning strategies, coaching and mentoring, feedback and succession planning.
    
7. Strategic Thinking and Planning (Managers and above)
   Takes a long-term perspective, thinks strategically and participates in the development and the planning of the City’s strategic direction. Ensures appropriate governance frameworks, risk management measures and policy frameworks are in place.

1. When and where are the City of Markham jobs posted?
   City of Markham job postings may be posted Monday through Friday. To view postings please visit markham.ca/careers and Search All Jobs.
    
2. Are there any resources for job seekers in resume writing or interviewing skills?
   Markham Public Library offers a wide range of resources to help job seekers develop their job skills. Please visit  Job Seekers | Markham Public Library for more information.
    
3. How do I know if my online application was received?
   Once you have submitted your application you will receive a confirmation email that your application has been successfully received. You can also log into your account and click on Job Applications to see all the jobs you have applied to.
    
4. What are the next steps in the process after submitting my application?
   We thank all applicants for their interest in the City of Markham, however only applicants selected to move to the next stage of the recruitment process will be contacted.
    
5. When do I need to submit my application for a posted job?
   Every City of Markham job posting has a closing date indicated in the posting. Your application must be received by the closing date for that particular competition. Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
    
6. Can I update my resume after I submit a job application?
   Once you submit your application, you will receive a system notification that your application has been received. You cannot go back to change or replace your documents once they have been submitted, nor can you re-apply to the same job.
    
7. Can two people use the same email address to apply?
   The email address is used as a unique identifier, so two people cannot use the same email address to apply. We suggest one person obtains a new email address from a free service like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail.
    
8. If I do not have a computer to apply online, are there places that give the public access to computers?
   You can visit any Markham Public Library locations\ to get access to a public computer with internet access.
    
9. What can I do to improve my chances of finding employment with the City of Markham?
   Every competition is considered separately. The number of positions you apply for does not increase your opportunity for being hired. We encourage all interested applicants to apply for positions for which they qualify. Every application will be given equal consideration in the hiring process.
    
10. How do I submit a general profile if there are no current opportunities that interest me?
    You can join the Talent Community through the markham.ca/careers page. The “Join our talent community” icon is located on the top right hand corner of the Career Centre.
     
11. How do I request an accommodation?
    City of Markham offers accommodation for applicants with disabilities in its recruitment processes. If you are contacted by the City regarding a job interview or testing, please advise the Human Resources professional if you require accommodation.
     
12. How do I prepare for a virtual interview? Do you have any tips for job seekers?
    Here are a few considerations to set yourself up for success in a virtual interview:
    
    Test your technology beforehand
    
    A virtual interview requires tools like a camera and microphone on your computer, a software program (such as Google Hangouts, or Zoom), and a reliable internet connection. At least a day before your virtual interview, check all of your technology to ensure it works effectively and can be used to communicate effectively. That means having a functional computer that meets technical specifications, downloading any necessary software, and ensuring the connection is strong enough to sustain streaming video.
    
    In the 15 to 30 minutes before your interview, check your internet connection and sign in to the video or phone meeting provided by the HR representative or hiring manager. Turn on the sound and video to ensure everything is in working order in time for your conversation.
    
    Wear professional attire
    
    In a virtual interview, you should dress the same as you would in a face-to-face interview. Doing so not only makes you appear professional and excited about the opportunity, but will also make you feel more prepared and confident. When an interview takes place from a remote location like your home, you should expect it to be just as formal as one that takes place in an office—if you’re unsure, business casual is a good standard to follow.
    
    Prepare in advance
    
    As with any interview, you’ll get the best results if you take the time to prepare in advance. Just because you're in front of your computer doesn’t mean you should rely on the ability to quickly look up answers or rely on pre-written answers you can refer to. You should prepare so you're able to have a natural conversation without clicking around or reading directly from a script, which can seem rehearsed and unnatural.
    
    Limit distractions
    
    The best place to have an interview in your home is in a quiet location with few distractions. Choose a room that is clean and professional-looking so the interviewer can focus their attention on you and not what's around you. If you don’t have a dedicated office space, you can also use a bedroom or guest bedroom, your kitchen table, or even cleared-out closet space. Try to place your computer on a table or desk instead of your lap or a couch.
    
    Tell people who you're sharing space with about the area you’ll be using for your interview, the time of your interview, and that you and your quiet space will be off-limits during that time. Respectfully explain that during this time, it's best that the house stays quiet with limited distractions. If possible, you might also place pets in a designated room during critical working hours.
    
    Use professional body language
    
    Because interviewing via video or phone limits the ability to communicate with body language, it's important to use body language in a clear, professional way. For example, if you get asked an unexpected question, make sure to remain poised and take a moment to collect your thoughts.
    
    Sit up straight and ensure your camera is placed so your face is in the middle of your screen (not too much blank space above or below your head). In most interviews, you shake hands with your potential employer at the beginning and the end of the discussion. It's an important body language cue that helps you establish the relationship. Instead, find other ways to greet them and exude enthusiasm, like smiling and giving a confident wave with eye contact.
    
    Build rapport
    
    Establishing rapport is important in any business relationship because it allows you to separate yourself from other candidates by building a personal connection with the interviewer. When you interview in person, your enthusiasm, body language, handshake, and early small talk all help you build that connection with your potential employer.
    
    When communicating virtually, it's still necessary to find ways to establish rapport. You can do this by being prepared to talk about a common interest, asking how your interviewer’s experience has been with virtual interviews, or by finding some other neutral topic with which to learn more about your interviewer.
    
    Be authentic
    
    When interviewing virtually, you have the rare opportunity to speak in a relaxing, familiar environment and show the interviewer who you are and why you’re the best person for the job. Recruiters will look for how you express yourself to understand whether you're a good fit for the company. Use tools like your body language, facial expressions, and interview preparations to convey your confidence and personality as it relates to the position.
     
13. Do you have any tips on references?
    As a job seeker, you should have a list of current and relevant references on hand to support you in your job search. Choose references who:
     
    • you have worked with closely within the last five years.
    • know your strengths and will speak highly of you.
    • can verify and discuss your skills, experience, and abilities in detail.
      
      Such people could be current or past managers, managers from other departments with whom you’ve worked closely with, external clients, suppliers, or colleagues. You must always secure their permission before listing them as references and double-check that their titles and contact details are correct.
      
      If you are asked to provide references, the City requires three employment references. References must be work related, of which two must be someone to whom you have reported into (i.e. supervisors or managers). If you do not have recent work experience, volunteer coordinators and teachers may be used.
       
14. I am new to Canada. Do you have any tips on job search for foreign trained professionals?
    You can find helpful information to assist you in your job search on the following sites:
    • Settlement.Org
    • Job Skills