Time to get serious about 'One APS career ... thousands of opportunities'
Ahead of the Game, the blueprint for reforming Australian government administration, suggests that the APS Jobs website needs to be reinvigorated to support temporary placements and increased mobility. If there is a serious intent to encourage an APS-wide perspective on careers and to provide APS employees with career paths, then much more needs to be done. One of the most neglected career development opportunities the APS has is around its slogan ‘One APS career ... thousands of opportunities’. The APS has yet to grapple with presenting a comprehensive picture of what a public service career means. And State of the Service Reports show that staff are dissatisfied with information about career paths. When I conducted research in 2008 and 2009 on quality career websites, most agencies presented careers as job vacancies. A survey of government job sites across jurisdictions revealed that most focus on lists of job vacancies. Three websites of quality are those of Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory. APS Jobs does not come anywhere near the quality of these sites. Where career pathways are referred to on agency websites it tends to be in terms of the hierarchy of classifications. The assumption here is that a career means a series of promotions within the agency. This is reinforced by reference to capability frameworks which present ‘pathways’ across the classification levels. This is one, but not the only, type of career path.
This structure could form the basis of an extended coverage of what working in the public service is about. Career paths can be thought of from several perspectives. Thinking more broadly than classification levels helps with professional development, mobility, succession planning and leadership development. Other career perspectives are: Time frame: For an entry level person, what could they expect might happen during the next two to three years that would provide them with a solid foundation in the public service? Professional: If I’m an accountant, what might be the range of jobs where I could work as an accountant? Agency: What are the range of areas where I could gain experience – corporate, policy, program delivery, client service? Public-services: Given APS concerns about the number of senior staff with experience in only one agency, and the increasing need for whole-of-government approaches in all jurisdictions, encouraging staff to think in terms of lateral movement, whether short or long-term, will help to expand staff career planning and foster a public service-wide mindset. Other sectors: Given the increasing complexity of issues facing governments and the need for collaboration with external stakeholders, gaining experience in other sectors could also be encouraged. International: Working in another country is an attractive option for some employees. Where this is a possibility, the paths to this career option could be made clearer. What this composite of perspectives would encourage is a mindset that looks at diversity of experience and moves the focus off promotion as the only form of career path. Such a shift needs to be supported by flexible movement arrangements. At present, certainly for the APS, the complexity of temporary movements is an inhibiter to flexible mobility. The APS would do well to consider the model provided by Defence Jobs. Defence Jobs uses the slogan ‘Imagine what you could do in a whole career’ and backs this up with comprehensive career information, along with training, application requirements, search facilities and individual profiles. While APS jobs are not as photogenic, the breadth and depth of information is what is worth considering. If I’m an economist looking for a public service career, what are my options in terms of agencies, roles, opportunities? Currently there is no one-stop-shop that answers this question. Until there is, those thousands of opportunities are just so much empty rhetoric. Other useful articles: Dr Ann Villiers, learning guide, professional speaker and author, is Australia's only Mental Nutritionist® specialising in mind and language practices that help people build flexible thinking, confident speaking and quality connections with people. Visit www.mentalnutrition.com to learn more about Mental Nutrition. Visit www.selectioncriteria.com.au for free resources unlocking the mysteries of public service jobs. |
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