I have been working on my “HR Guide” forever, or at least it seems like it. I have always had a Powerpoint version of it that I use for guest presentations, informal mentoring, etc., but it is only recently that I actually set it up to be on this website. Call that version say version 0.1 to 0.4, with 0.4 available now for download in PDF format (see sidebar).

Awhile ago, I started working on a full prose version. I did a bunch of sections, ran into some IT problems on my website, got away from the writing of it, and really to be honest, it wasn’t entirely gelling for me. Partly because I found myself writing something and then thinking, “Well, what about THAT issue, how can they know what to do HERE if they don’t understand THAT”. So I would start to explain it, and then the digression would overwhelm that section. I produced about a third of what I had hoped to write and then stopped. Call that version 0.5.

Finally, I started writing a proper long intro section. I expect a lot of people will skip it, but it addresses a bunch of stuff you need to know before you even GET to being in a competition. Things like why you want to work in government, where to find out about available jobs, understanding what the different types of jobs even DO, and to be honest, even what various departments actually do. I’m a lifer in government, and a public administration geek, but I often forget that not everyone knows the basic differences between a line Ministry, a central agency, or a special operating agency, or what the difference is between policy analysis and program delivery, or all the variations of each of those. Not in great detail, just the broad strokes.

And if you don’t know which jobs and departments would be of interest, isn’t it a bit premature to tell you how to apply?

That’s included in the set of posts that show up on the site now, and I called it version 0.6. My intent of course is to eventually edit it and put it a full downloadable book form, but for now, it’s just on the blog. And, yes, it’s a work in progress with an ever-changing self-imposed (or self-ignored) deadline.

After the last election, a bunch of things changed, and so I kind of went sideways on the blog for a bit. Now I’m back to it, and updating and tweaking. Call it version 0.7.

Which means if you want the near-full version, you want to download version 0.4 (the powerpoint version). If you want the latest and greatest but incomplete version, parts of it is available now as posts as version 0.7. The earlier versions of that, in different order, are available as archived version 0.5 and 0.6 posts.

The links are all available below…