Alberta Public Service student opportunities

Overview

The Alberta Public Service provides opportunities for students to help them develop valuable workplace skills and build a career through employment with the Alberta Public Service.

Summer student opportunities

All applicants must create a candidate profile through the Government of Alberta job board and then apply to the government Summer Student Employment job advertisement. Students will be asked to answer several questions prior to submitting their resumes to the job ad. The answers create a candidate profile which will help hiring managers search for matches for the summer opportunities available in their ministries.

The Applying and Interviewing on Alberta Government Jobs: Tips and Resources (PDF, 1.5 MB) document can help with writing a cover letter and resume for student employment opportunities.

Student opportunities

Ministries and departments offer employment opportunities that provide current students with the opportunity to:

• learn about the Alberta Public Service
• develop workplace skills
• gain career-related experience

The Alberta Public Service also partners with academic institutions that have work experience and co-operative education programs to host placements for students. These placements provide students with the opportunity to gain career related experience.

Some examples of student employment opportunities include:

• student summer employment
  • Student summer employment opportunities typically begin in May and end in August.
  • Summer students are typically hired for a period of 2 to 4 months and provide assistance or support to various types of work.
  • To be eligible for student summer employment, individuals must be:
    • legally entitled to work in Canada
    • enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary institution
    • returning to academic studies in September
• Alberta Student Ministerial Internship Program, Executive Council
• Student-at-Law Program, Justice

Students can gain experience in areas such as:

• administrative support
• finance
• grounds/site operations
• human services
• maintenance services
• natural resources
• program services
• systems analysis
• and more

Administrative support

Administrative support involves administrative, program, office and/or information/automation support functions associated with the administrative delivery of government services and programs.

Typical work includes office support and/or providing one or more core administrative support services such as:

• records management
• finance (accounting)
• purchasing
• human resources
• program support
• data/information processing
• desktop publishing
• word processing
• collection
• compilation of data

Finance

Financial support involves professional accounting and financial work focused on the financial systems of government.

Typical work includes:

• tracking
• analysing
• compiling
• collecting
• reporting
• and more, often in support of further analysis conducted by others

This could also include work performed in specialized financial programs mandated by government legislation and the role of the financial professional actively carrying out a government program.

Grounds and site operations

Typical work includes:

• grounds maintenance, or
• skilled horticultural work, which may include:
  • propagation and care of plants, shrubbery and vegetable crops
  • greenhouse responsibilities

Human services

Human services involves assisting individuals involved in the social services system within Alberta. Acting within legislative parameters, typical work includes:

• ensuring appropriate documentation is in place to support decision making
• ensuring services provided by external agencies are appropriate for the community
• developing policy and procedures for implementing related regulations and legislation
• determining eligibility for program assistance or for elements within a specific program

Maintenance services

Maintenance services duties may involve:

• moving and repairing furnishings
• sorting and packing of materials
• assisting trades people in performing renovation, maintenance and manual tasks
• organizing time, equipment and materials for specific projects or ongoing programs

Natural resources

Natural resources duties may involve:

• planning, developing, and/or delivering natural resource programs in the areas of:
  • forests
  • provincial parks and protected areas
  • public lands
  • fisheries
  • wildlife
  • water
• policy and program development
• research and analysis
• compliance assurance
• consultation with stakeholders
• field support activities

Work may be professional, technical, or operational.

Program services

Program services involves applying theoretical knowledge and program experience to deliver or develop provincial programs and/or policies within a social science framework. This typically includes:

• anthropology
• communication
• cultural studies
• economics
• geography
• history
• international relations
• governance
• political science
• psychology
• social policy
• sociology
• information and library science

This could include providing:

• advice
• leadership
• facilitation
• stakeholder consultation
• evaluation
• planning
• research
• analysis and interpretation of policies and programs

Research work involves:

• adapting and using appropriate research methodologies
• analyzing data and statistics
• using economic or other modelling
• managing social or economic databases
• leading research projects

Positions may be involved in:

• professional technical writing
• strategic dissemination of information
• providing education and problem resolution
• recommending additional sources of information to support government staff, communities, individuals or programs

Systems analysis

Systems analysis involves installation, maintenance, support and planning of information technology infrastructure (software/hardware).

Systems analyst positions exercise their skills in the areas of:

• information systems
• application development and support
• business analysis
• enterprise architecture
• technology maintenance

Typical work includes:

• development and/or maintenance of small to medium applications
• development and/or maintenance of segments of larger or more complex applications
• evaluation, installation and support of moderately complex system hardware/software

Contact

You can contact us for technical assistance and questions about jobs with the Alberta Public Service. We will make every effort to respond promptly.

If you have already applied on a job posting and have questions about your application, you can contact the Human Resources contact referenced in the job posting or Talent Acquisition Services at [email protected].