Definitions of words and terms used in job posters

Tip     Bookmark this page and check it often. An average of thirty new positions are posted every month. Positions are usually listed for two weeks.

Internal/External Competition :

A competition that is posted inside and outside of NRC at the same time. Internal candidates are given priority consideration over the external candidates.

Internal Competition :

Competition open to NRC's Continuing and Term employees.

Assignments :

Employees can be assigned to another position, within their own Institute/Branch/Program or in another Institute/Branch/Program, for a limited period of time. During that time, they keep their "home" position but are doing the duties of another position. In some instances, employees on assignment receive acting pay while in that second position.

Secondments :

Employees can be deployed to another organization for a limited period of time. During that time, they keep their "home" position but are doing the duties of another position in another organization.

Egibility list :

A list of candidates that were evaluated and found qualified at the end of a competition. A list is created only when there is more than 1 qualified candidate at the end of the competition. In those instances, the candidate that is ranked first wins the position while the ones ranked second and lower are placed on an eligibility list. Managers can appoint candidates from that list for another competition as long as the requirements are similar to the first position.

Underfill :

An underfill appointment happens when no candidates meet all the requirements but one has the potential to do so with a reasonable amount of training. The manager can decide to appoint this candidate at a lower level for a fixed period of time, provide him/her with the training the candidate needs and then appoint him/her at the full level. This is done only in instances where management has agreed to this option and therefore has posted it on the job poster as a possibility.

Linguistic Profiles:

The letters following "Bilingual Imperative" or "Bilingual Non-Imperative" on a notice represent the level of language skills required in each official language, as a second language. The first three letters represent the level of English language qualifications while the second three represent those for French. The first letter in each group refers to Reading, the second to Writing, and the third to Oral Interaction.

Letters C, B, A indicate a skill level as follows:
C - Superior
B - Intermediate
A - Minimum(-) No requirement

The code P could also appear in the linguistic profile. It indicates a requirement for language - related skills normally acquired through specialized training (e.g., shorthand, text editing) or for specialized expert proficiency in one or both official languages (e.g., translation, teaching the language). The code P in a linguistic profile denotes the language or languages in which these skills or proficiencies are to be assessed. Language of Assessment - All examinations, test or interviews will be conducted in the official language(s) chosen by the applicant, except for specialized second language skills (such as text editing) and language-related skills (such as shorthand) which are assessed in the language required for the position.

Bilingual Imperative :

This refers to the language requirements of the position. It means that in order to be appointed to this position, a candidate needs to have the indicated levels (for example, CBC) at the time of appointment. Otherwise the candidate will be screened out of the competition.

Bilingual Non-Imperative:

This refers to the language requirements of the position. It means that in order to be appointed to this position, a candidate must do two things: demonstrate prior to appointment that the candidate has the potential to attain this level; and then meet the indicated levels (for example BBB) within 2 years of appointment.