Co-Op With Canada Revenue Agency

Working for Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is very different than working for any other federally administered public service organization. CRA’s mission is “ To administer tax, benefits, and related programs, and to ensure compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, thereby contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians”. Fairness and equality is what we can use to define CRA. A compliance organization making sure people pay their fair share of contribution for the economic well being of our country.

I got a chance to be part of this organization when I joined a year co-op term with Lethbridge tax office. I started my term this Fall 2009. CRA’s hiring process is very fair and competitive. They look for well grounded person and professional skills. Customer service, technical skills, organizational skills, analytical ability and working under pressure and deadlines are some of the qualities which are expected from every CRA team member.

The selection process for Co-Op position is different than selection for permanent position at CRA. This information is for people who are preparing for their interview with CRA for Co-Op position. I found their selection process to be different that interviewing with other organization. Atleast for me, we were given 6 different kind of questions, related with customer service skill, organization skills, analytical skills, and testing knowledge of computer. None of the questions were of technical in nature but they do grade you on the basis of response you give to them. Its more of kind of behavioral based interview such as how do deal with difficult team mates, how will you prioritize works etc. They also let you create some kind of pamphlet by using Microsoft Word. Overall, when I appeared for interview, I dressed conservatively and professionally.  Having confident and friendly attitude is important to relieve stress. This makes both interviewer and interviewee  comfortable in dealing with each other. Make good eye contact, don’t fiddle. Most of the time you will be having two or more interviewer and one of the interviewer will be asking all the questions. So you focus on replying that person but don’t ignore the second person. Keep proper eye contact with both person during answering questions. Since CRA ask most of the behavior based questions. So well prepare some of the examples in advance and insert those examples in answering questions. I know, I sound like bookish or information provided by other interview gurus but this is what I followed. I read their advice about presenting or tackling interview. So it works for me then I am sure it will work for you as well.

One very important thing which I learned for interview preparation is follow up letter. This is first time, I ever sent a follow up thank you letter and I am sure there is some credit for this thank you note to be able to make me different from other students.

I looked at some of the requirements for permanent positions at CRA. Its mainly based on written test and interview. I will post more info about this if someone ask for it.