What are /r/CanadaPublicServants' favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I personally can attest to using Grammaire Progressif (https://www.amazon.ca/dp/2090381035/ref=cm_sw_r_sm_apa_glt_i_ER8QEHAA7729NRWT45JR). Also buy the answer key as well. This book actually taught me French. And it drastically improved my French speaking skills in the office and allowed me to do very long conversations (3+ hours) when I was in Quebec.

BUT BE WARNED: the test isn't really testing you on if you speak 'french' it's more can you speak and write governmental french. Go find the tests on the GCCampus to give you a better idea. I thought I was set because everyone was good with how I was speaking and the test is like 50% edge cases of a tense no one fucking uses.

I never was given the opportunity to have training because I was a term at the time (and the position didn't need BBB but that is another story). Evidently the training is basically not so much teaching you French but more teaching you how to pass the test (ignore this section of French (the part that is used day to day) and focus on this part of French (the part french people told me "Yeah we never say that")).

That reminds me of a chapter title in one of Donald Savoie's books, Whatever Happened to the Music Teacher:

>CHAPTER 6

>Let the Manager Manage So Long as It Squares with RPPs, DPRs, MAF, OCG, PCO, TBS, OAG, OLA, IBP, PSC, ATIP, CIEC, OPSICC, DAGs, QFR and That It Does Not Create Problems for the Minister and Deputy Minister or Draw the Attention of the Prime Minister and His Advisers

Though this app was created by DND and the primary audience is DND employees, a number of the resources within the app's "toolbox" and "resources" sections are applicable to public servants in other departments.

In particular, the "Toolbox" section has a promotion estimator that does the calculations for deployment equivalencies and salary steps on promotion.

The app is available on the Apple and Google app stores at the following links:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/hr-go-rh/id1460154062

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.forces.hrciv.hrgo&hl=en_CA

I would highly recommend The Pubic Servant’s Guide to Government in Canada by Alex Marland. His other book “Whipped” is also really enlightening.

This isn't something that can be easily summarized in a Reddit comment. Entire books have been written on the subject.

> I cannot see anyone approaching since I'm forced to face a wall with the way the desks are arranged.

This situation was giving me chronic heartburn. Then I noticed a co-worker had a small convex mirror mounted on her monitor, like at an ATM. I got one too, and it massively improved my life. You can see everything going on behind you, but it's not too in your face.

If you are in tech or work on something that provides services to folks I recommend:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1735286508/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_i_AJFTADYP45J1W5BC2F2Z

If you are in tech also check out:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1718501188/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_i_HVCY7GNFDE4DVAP4SAEA

https://todoist.com/productivity-methods/time-blocking

A guide for blocking.

Probably best to get some buy-in from your supervisor.

Letting them know you're trying to get more done and keeping them in the loop as to how you plan to implement blocking will go a long ways.

Our department was recommended, and has since been using, Plantronics.

Everyone who has been issued them loves them (only complaint from one person is that it was tight, so we got a monaural replacement).

I would have silently gifted her this. Because, fun fact, squatting is actually the most efficient way to get shit done (pun intended). Maybe she just wanted to be as efficient as possible and get back to work as soon as she could?

In conclusion, to be efficient at work but also to avoid the whole unhygienic footprints-on-toilet-seat situation, the solution is the Squatty Potty!!!

Do your best, it will come eventually. French people (I am) are usually very tolerant, comprehensive and appreciative towards people like you who make efforts. You don’t have to be perfect. When possible, prepare meetings or whatever you have to say by getting it translated by this amazingly efficient translator you should bookmark : https://www.deepl.com/translator (sometimes it doesn’t work, so just log off the VPN 😉)

This list of words helped me prepare. Mostly culled from practice tests from what I can see. They're fairly common in policy and web documents which is where a lot of your test materials come from.

If you don't know what to do for the PA, honestly, with how much you're trying to learn, a keep it simple stupid approach is best this year. Make sure you put in the development section orientation stuff, and even make "learning government and orientation" or something like it in the actual work objectives too.

Then in your discussion be sure to explain you have zero government footing and need to make it more than a second thought. If you can invest time into it, even just a couple hours a week set aside for the CSPS stuff for example, and going to any internal little training seminars, you'll benefit very quickly.

​

For general "public administration" crash course I always recommend this book to people since seeing it recommended by others and rifling through it myself

https://www.amazon.ca/Public-Servants-Guide-Government-Canada/dp/1487594763/ref=asc_df_1487594763/?tag=googleshopc0c-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=335203048502&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2265304080684559035&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000687&hvtargid=pla-574899918910&psc=1

It's short, easy to read, and gives a good decent broad overview of stuff to learn.

It's weird cause you can pretty much do anything (including channels) that you can do with Slack. It is Rocket Chat, after all. I think there's something about the interface that doesn't work for people?

One suspicion is some people may be thinking of the messaging features built into gccollab/gcconnex, which are indeed lacking.

You're welcome. Honestly, if you are worrying alot and feeling anxious, I highly recommend this workbook . I'm in a program through the Royal Ottawa (I'm assuming you're in the NCR) that is FREE. It took a few months to get into but I've had 18 sessions with a therapist online who has guided me through the book and all it took was a referral from my doctor. No money from me to the therapist. Just weekly calls to work through shit like why I worry about the kids picking out their own clothes to wear and people judging me because their choices are...unique.

I did some digging for you and found out that you can buy displayport hubs which let you connect multiple monitors through one monitor port. No USB involved and shouldn't use any special drivers that your graphics driver doesn't already have. Here's one on Amazon for less than half the price of a dock: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00XXPYOJW/

Edit to add: the usb cable on that adapter is just to power it, you can connect it to any usb power source.

Bought this one from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07P2PD88S/ref=twister_B0BLNC9ZGT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It's got multiple pockets for a laptop, full keyboard and other stuff. VERY comfortable. The only thing it's missing is a waste strap/buckle. If you're carrying expensive stuff, I'd like to have that one extra layer of protection should someone try and pull the bag off you. I wouldn't put too much faith in the combo lock to stop anyone from getting to the contents. Still a REALLY comfortable bag.

But the USB/Audio ports are a nice touch.

Just posting another plug for 3Ms 9205 Aura N95 mask - if you're concerned about catching Covid or any other sickness, these masks will come in handy at the office.
https://www.amazon.ca/Med-Lab-Supply-Aura-9205/dp/B09JVYKV7B

When people say "Our laptops are encrypted" or "VPN protects us", they have no idea that using LoA 1-2 implementations with Assurance Levels 1-2 do zero against Td5/6 attackers. Probably watched too many NordVPN commercials. lol

There are a lot of resources to brush up on your French.. I'd recommend really focusing on vocabulary. I was an exchange student in a French speaking country, then didn't use the language for close to 20 years. Could refresh myself on grammar etc but my vocab/intonation was still that of a teen, not someone trying to hold a govt job.

I included some of the resources I used to refresh here: https://www.notion.so/Relearning-French-09bb715dc625470d9a6a1839c35a4534

They have changed the roadmap for the French course quite a bit over the years. In it's current form, I would say level 6-7 is good coverage with emphasis on the verb/tense lessons.

I would also recommend this book: https://www.amazon.ca/McGraw-Hills-500-French-Questions-Mathematics/dp/0071792368

The test will have a lot of these questions verbatim. I dare say you could probably get BB- just going through this book alone and blindly memorizing.

>Did that. Got super burnt out, would like to try it in the private sector.

I fully understand your burnout comment. From my side, I tried to keep control by giving Buffered estimates. Often times, the project management office and other teams disagree with my estimates but if they don't like it, take your project somewhere else. I'm not going to burn out my team just to meet your inaccurate artificial deadline that is impossible to achieve.

I also worked in private for over a decade. I find that in private they are a lot more accurate with their estimates. Plus understaffing is not a big of an issue as it is in the government. Of course it all depends on the company.

They make mechanical devices, too.

https://www.amazon.ca/VAYDEER-Simulator-Driver-Free-Simulation-Awakening/dp/B08DTXPS51/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1DTS9FQAGIMQE&keywords=mouse+jiggler&qid=1646865578&s=electronics&sprefix=mouse+jiggler%2Celectronics%2C82&sr=1-4

Note that jigglers are uniformly "dumb": none of them are capable of simulating actual user behaviour. If you get "caught" using one (by management reviewing logs of your behaviour or whatever), it will be extremely obvious, and it is unlikely to be addressed favourably in a formal report on the topic, nor in the pages of the Globe & Mail.

That being said, if it's a situation like your manager being shitty with you because your mouse stops moving when you're on teleconferences and this is a way to make that problem go away, I can't say I'd blame you for taking the risk.

Sounds like Bilingual Vocabulary for Governance, Public Policy and Administration.

I think it's out of print now sadly, but should still be available at some of the libraries.

Sort of sounds like this one?

Handbook of Useful Topics for Canadian Federal Employees and Students of French (a comparative analysis) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0994099010/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_7W1Z6XYV1GWZP55R9NXD

>https://www.amazon.ca/Politics-Management-Thinking-Like-Manager-ebook/dp/B00YI7W2QQ/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=2JV0DOJ2PR04N&keywords=Richard+Paton&qid=1645113326&sprefix=richard+paton+%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1

Awesome, thanks!! The description sounds like a perfect fit to my scenario

I would check out these books, i borrowed them from the ottawa library so you don't need to buy them.

they touch on a variety of different topics and are in short digestible chapters. i would also recommend some of their other books, the one on Meetings has helped me a lot.

HBR's 10 Must Reads Boxed Set (6 Books) (HBR's 10 Must Reads) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1422184056/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_i_RG98RNWE8ZDM7V88NEXH?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Check out https://www.amazon.ca/Politics-Management-Thinking-Like-Manager-ebook/dp/B00YI7W2QQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JV0DOJ2PR04N&keywords=Richard+Paton&qid=1645113326&sprefix=richard+paton+%2Caps%2C93&sr=8-1 …I took a university course based on this book…

I haven't used myself, but found out about this one on this sub: GRAMMAIRE PROGRESSIVE DU FRANCAIS INTERMEDIAIRE 4E ÉD. https://www.amazon.ca/dp/2090381035/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apan_glt_i_S2NB48C454G2VTENAAJV?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1.

Sorry about the messy link.

There are a few posibilities why it is being blocked. But i have heard that microsoft spam filters often put messages from proton mail in the spam folder, and as SSC doesnt deliver most spam to your spam folder, it might not show up. Another guess is that your domain name was very recently registered. The best indicator of a malicious activity (for spam, malware hosting, etc) is a domain name that is new. Generally speaking, if a domain name is new, it does not have a reputation (positive or negative) but by the numbers, it is most likely bad so email filters sometimes block emails from new domains.
Alternatively your domain name was used for bad stuff previously and is on a blocklist. I suggest you first try mail tester to check the spammyness. Next try setting up SPF, DKIM, DMARC.
Otherwise maybe don't use proton mail.

I've been thinking a lot about the need balance process (collective) and performance (individual) ever since I saw the netflix deck (below).

Netflix values individual performance in a way the Public Service only claims to, but Slide 44 shows how even Netflix has had to trade off performance for process.

Not sure if you've ever seen it - but think it says a lot that it doesn't inform more discussions about culture on the sub and PS generally (at least that I've seen).

https://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664/44-Most_CompaniesCurtail_Freedom_as_they

I highly recommend something like YNAB. Budgeting, done right, is about using this month’s income for next month’s (or even later) expenses. Details: https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-rules-are-the-magic/

That's cool. I've never heard of that tool! I always use https://www.linguee.com/ although it requires a pretty functional knowledge of French to know which translation options will fit. But I highly recommend!

>Average return of 8-10% per year.

Yes, provided you stay invested despite significant drops in value and you need to do so for at least twenty years. Broad-market stock indices have averaged around that amount over extremely long timeframes, but not without significant volatility.

Here's an interesting question to ask yourself: Assume if you held a broad-market portfolio weighted equally between Canadian, US, and International equities. Over the past 50 years (1970 to 2020), how many of those years would your annual return have fallen within an "average" range of 5-11%?

Dan Bortolotti of Canadian Couch Potato fame answered that question in a recent book on the topic of index investing, and the answer is seven. Seven years out of fifty, or 14% of the time, were the market returns "average". In roughly 60% of the time the returns were either years with significant losses or above-average gains.

Investing in index funds is generally a wise choice, but you need to fully understand the risks involved. If you're not willing to endure a loss of 30-50% in a year, you shouldn't be invested heavily in stock indices. The 650k received by OP would have turned into around $400k if it was invested in equities in early 2008, for example. Most people would have a very hard time seeing their investments drop by a quarter-million dollars without panicking.

Someone created a list on the flashcard program Memrise that I found insanely useful:

https://www.memrise.com/course/630846/french-vocabulary-canadian-public-service-exam/

I wasn't a beginner, but I documented all the resources I used here to 're-learn' French. https://www.notion.so/Relearning-French-09bb715dc625470d9a6a1839c35a4534

+1 to Kwiziq - I went through what I think was a reseller at progress.lawlessfrench.com - it'll bring you from beginning through advanced in an entertaining way.

Once you are trying to ramp up to "goverment-lingo", I really like lingq.com - you can use a browser extension to import any online article, and then look up vocabulary words in-line and add them to a learning list. I used this to import govt webpages so I could learn the specific vocabulary for that dept.

I also took skype 1:1 lessons with FastForwardFrench (because I didnt want to travel to Kanata)

Bonne chance!

https://monosnap.com/file/CB7R6EqItfrNY9HUDVJIPzUF4QbqZQ

Still prefer my 35.46$ + taxes (40.77$ total) for my 11GB Data with Unlimited Text, Minutes (Canada-wide).

You can try https://ahaslides.com/ - see if it works for what you need. Depending on how many people are in your group, there are different fees and there is an option for a one time event too.

The practice tests are very good....like MacnCheese said the format is the exact same. I found the difficulty to be about the same as well, maybe the real test was even a little easier. I received my results within 2 hours of taking the test (C in reading and B in writing). To study, I recommend doing the practice tests, reading the answer key, review verbes (main ones) and also review the words in the link below. I have my oral next week and hear that is the hardest exam!!! https://www.memrise.com/course/630846/french-vocabulary-canadian-public-service-exam/

Do you have Win10 at home?

If you do - enable Sandbox Win10.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-kernel-internals/windows-sandbox/ba-p/301849

​

It will spin up a VM with Win10 on it - go download the software through the VM... Camera MAY not work though - but mic did last time I used it.

once you are done, you close the VM and the data is cleaned and removed.

I'd say mostly no. However there are a handful of folks interested in moving away from static slides and using tools like Jypiter Notebooks. Not enough to get traction, I'd say. The training department would be more interested in offering workshops on JNs if they had the tech skills to teach it, I suppose.

Depends on how much tasking and components are in your projects...

We use Jira, we can keep track of parts of a project and all their multiple deadlines on smaller tasks within that project.

You can assign tasks to specific people on your team, add comments and also log how many hours are spent on a specific task.

(You can have up to 10 users in the free version. You have to have the paid one if you want non signed up users to be able to add tasks/requests.)

It’s like an electronic Kanban board for project management!

Then you definitely won't want to try Tents and Trees. I like that it's the perfect logic game to do while I'm listening to a meeting or watching tv, etc. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.frozax.tentsandtrees

Leadership Is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say--and What You Don't by L. David Marquet

I recommend The Effective Manager by Mark Horstman.

The Manager Tools podcast also has lots of good guidance (the audio is free, though they charge a fee if you want the printed materials).

Congratulations!

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but it'll help you find your own answers: I recommend reading "How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free" by Ernie Zelinski. The book includes an exercise called the "Get-a-life tree" that is designed to help you identify activities to fill your time in retirement. The book also includes hundreds of ideas to help you get started.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B083VWXYGQ?pf_rd_r=YTHYEN77R02DSJ07C88H&pf_rd_p=05326fd5-c43e-4948-99b1-a65b129fdd73&pd_rd_r=f61e1aeb-f11e-4ee6-8e62-17a80297e42f&pd_rd_w=ox3VW&pd_rd_wg=cxTL7&ref_=pd_gw_unk

It's been mentioned a few times in previous comments, but I'd recommend Alex Marland's The Public Servant's Guide to Government in Canada as a handy reference - it was actually a required textbook for a public policy course I was a TA for a few years back. Ian Brodie's At the Centre of Government: The Prime Minister and the Limits on Political Power is also good, though I felt it was colored a bit more by Brodie's experience as Stephen Harper's chief of staff, so your mileage may vary a bit more on that one. (I'm personally not a fan of David Smith's The Constitution in a Hall of Mirrors: Canada at 150, as it felt like an incredibly dry and long-winded read, but it may appeal to some.)

Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister are also recommended viewing for how they portray the interactions between elected officials and civil servants in a parliamentary system, though they are a bit dated in some respects (I think the former is better, but both are still enjoyable). The Thick of It is also pretty good, but is much more cynical, so it may not be as enjoyable.

If you want to make sure you thought of everything for this type of preparation, there is a book called Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To by Melanie Cullen and Shae Irving (updated in 2020). Available on Amazon.

While not that cheap I bought a set of these for myself and after a year of WFH i'm super happy I did, they are extremely comfortable, and sound great.

https://www.amazon.ca/Philips-SHP9500-Headphones-Over-ear-ORIGINAL/dp/B00ENMK1DW

I also bought this for the mic.

https://www.amazon.ca/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Communication/dp/B00BJ17WKK/

I love the headphones so much I bought my wife a pair for when she gets of parental leave and starts WFH in March

Easiest option here would be to have something like this: https://www.amazon.ca/Cable-Matters-Grounded-Outlet-Switch/dp/B07QKPBZX1/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=electric+outlet+protector+with+on+off+switch&qid=1603898918&sr=8-3

I even have a thing like that with a remote for the block heater on my car. I can plug the car the evening before and then turn it on something like an hour before needing the car during those coldest weeks of winter. (I don't use it to commute otherwise I'd use a timer instead)

I would recommend the Yes Minister series.

You can pick up the materials on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.ca/Yes-Minister-Complete-Collection-Disks/dp/B00008DP4B

I have one too, though I mostly just use the desk for non-work reading. It's nice with a TV too. Not crazy expensive and works fine. I'm happy with it. The package from Amazon takes about 30 minutes to put together.

https://www.amazon.ca/FitDesk-FDX-3-0-Exercise-Massage-dp-B06XYHXP8W/dp/B06XYHXP8W/ref=dp_ob_title_sports

https://www.amazon.ca/Verilux-VT10WW1-HappyLight-Liberty-Compact/dp/B00K08ZDBI/ref=zg_bs_6369970011_4/141-2779172-2299816?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=F9WM0F15XYP1CWWC9DHK

This one! $40, and it's nice and small compared to the other models.

I've been using a SAD lamp for about 7 years at the advice of a therapist. It's definitely BRIGHT. The important thing is that you have to be somewhat facing the light (you can't have it beaming on your back, for example). I usually set it on the side of the my desk so I see it in my peripheral vision, but you should only have it on from 10-15 mins at a time (if you can handle that much).

As for effectiveness, I'd say it works overall. I find I have more energy and it helps me wake up in the morning/afternoon slumps, for sure. As for benefits to mood, it's hit or miss. I've always been on medication and gone to therapy while using SAD lights, so hard to say whether mood improvements are attributed to those, or the light. But I like the small boost I have in energy at least, so I'd say it works.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.forces.hrciv.hrgo&hl=en_CA&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle%26utm_medium%3Dorganic%26utm_term%3Dhr+go+app+dnd&pcampaignid=APPU_1__U5uX_igDPPstQar87LADw

I would suggest Microsoft Office Lens. It automatically creates borders around pages of papers that you want to scan (that aren't perfectly flat) and then constitutes the scan to appear as if it were.

I'm a fan of it and have used it at work as well. Here's a link for it:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.office.officelens&hl=en

Edit: Just saw that you're doing this for Protected documents. Ignore my suggestion. Talk to your IT and ask for an alternative.

This doesn't directly answer your question, but apparently DND has a mobile phone app for HR-related information called "HR Go RH". It's available for Apple and Android:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/hr-go-rh/id1460154062 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.forces.hrciv.hrgo&hl=en_CA

Thank you for the correction. When I was looking at KVM options I noticed there would be a whole bunch of complications for dual-monitors such as connectors, options and cost. I ended up going with a single monitor KVM since I don't typically use the dual monitor for the other system.

This was the dual monitor KVM I was looking at that I didn't get : DUAL monitor KVM with DVI / VGA

> Amazon has well-built mounts/arms that work pretty well and are around $150.

Not even ... 4.5* and over 12,000 ratings yet only $60

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B009S750LA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've had one since the summer and not a problem holding a pair of 24" monitors. The only downside is setting the height and it's locked in instead of an arm pivot, but the monitors are quick release so it's not a huge chore to do.