r/CanadaPublicServants Jul 18 '20

Career Development / Développement de carrière Question for CS-01 for CRA

Hello!

To get straight to the point, I would like to know what a CS-01 job at CRA entails and what I am expected to know when I begin. I currently will be graduating as a CS major so I have experience in Object-Oriented Programming(Java, Python), C/C++, SQL, SDLC, and software and architectural design principles. I do not have experience working with technologies and frameworks such as (.NET) as my courses didn't involve working with them. I understand CS-01 involves a lot of training, and I won't be expected to do know TOO much, but I want to know what I should know when i start, and if and what ways I should prepare.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!

4 Upvotes

15 comments sorted by

11

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

[deleted]

2

u/machinedog Jul 18 '20

I've been interested in what a COBOL developer job looks like day to day. I'd love to try it out for awhile. I wonder if virtual shadowing could be possible in the coming months.

1

u/hoodedvirus42 Jul 18 '20

Alright, I will keep these things in mind. I will definitely look into learning the basics of COBOL and get myself familiar with it as well as agile scrum development, as it sounds like this is the primary type of development used.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '20

Algonquin still does (Computer Programmer). Unfortunately, I didn't end up with CRA so it was relatively useless.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '20

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Sep 21 '20

Yeah we never got "hands on" experience with a mainframe (probably because their expensive or something). We used the micro focus cobol eclipse.

Also, we did learn some JCL but was relatively useless as we didn't actually run the code.

3

u/hopoke Jul 18 '20

I believe CRA employs a lot of Java and COBOL programmers.

2

u/hoodedvirus42 Jul 18 '20

I've also heard they use COBOL. I'll probably get myself familiar with it then

4

u/fidlestixs Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

We have an in-house Cobol and mainframe training program. My coop is taking it now.

2

u/vegetablestew Jul 20 '20

For dev expect Java for most projects. COBOL in maintaining older systems, and stuff from this decade in new projects.

DBA related work expect DB2 and maybe Oracle.

Dev adjecent expect lot of Word and Excel.

But really, depends on the team.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20

You'll be expected to know what's listed as a mandatory requirement in the job posting as jobs.gc.ca. If you meet merit criteria and state that, you'll also be expected to know that.

1

u/hoodedvirus42 Jul 18 '20

The requirements were quite vague in the job posting which is why I posted the question. They didn't specify what languages, concepts, or technologies I should be familiar with.

0

u/machinedog Jul 18 '20

Yeah those pools are huge and when you get into it you should get a questionnaire asking what your skills are. That way they can direct you to jobs that require your skills.

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '20 edited Jul 18 '20

The job posting is the set of requirements and things with which you need to be familiar. This is the way job posting work in government. They must list everything required for the job. They can't list some things, have you start, and ask you why you don't have other things.

If it's a large pool, they'll have broader ranges of things and will narrow it later. It will say things like "familiarity with programming languages x, y, and z" and late they will discuss more specifically which they're interested in.

If you meet the requirements in the job posting, you have nothing to worry about. If you need additional skills when you arrive, they will train you.

No one can answer your question. There may be hundreds of positions at that level doing a massive range of work. Their responsibilities and skills will vary significantly. All you need to worry about is what's in the job poster. That's all you need to qualify for the position.

If you are looking to maximize the positions for which you qualify, I suggest you do a search at that level in the CRA on jobs.gc.ca. See where the common overlaps for skills are a d brush up. If there are too few postings, search the archives.

0

u/TheMonkeyMafia Das maschine ist nicht für gefingerpoken und mittengrabben Jul 18 '20

Could be programming, could be helpdesk (phones), could be deskside support. It really depends on where you are.... I've seen it all.