Public-sector contract recruiting in Canada is about a lot more than finding a good candidate and sending in a resume.
Opportunities can come through open electronic tendering, direct awards in certain circumstances, or through prequalified vendors like TEEMA. As a prequalified vendor, TEEMA receives certain Statements of Work, or SOWs, directly from public-sector organizations.
That’s when the work really starts.
Once an SOW reaches a TEEMA Member, there are requirements to work through, timelines to keep in mind and decisions to make about who should be put forward. There’s a lot that happens between receiving that SOW and hearing that your candidate has been selected.
It starts with understanding the statement of work
There can be a lot packed into a Statement of Work. The scope of the project, timelines, location, budget, deliverables and required experience can all play a part in who makes sense for the opportunity.
Then there are the evaluation criteria. Some requirements may be mandatory, while others are scored. A candidate could have plenty of experience and still not be the strongest fit if their background doesn’t line up closely enough with what the organization is actually evaluating.
That’s why the SOW comes first. It’s not just about finding qualified talent. It’s about understanding what qualified looks like for this particular opportunity.
The search can move quickly
Once the SOW is clear, there often isn’t much time to waste.
The TEEMA Member starts reaching out to candidates who could be a fit, including people they already know and others whose experience lines up with the work, but someone being able to do the job doesn’t automatically make them the right candidate to submit.
Do they meet the mandatory requirements? Where are they strongest against the scored criteria? Is their relevant experience clearly represented in their resume?
Sometimes an obvious fit becomes less obvious once you get into the details. Other times, the right experience is there, but you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the resume alone.
There’s more to the submission than a resume
For many public-sector opportunities, putting a candidate forward involves more than attaching their resume and hitting send.
There may be matrix responses to complete, with specific examples showing where and when a candidate gained certain experience. The TEEMA Member works with the candidate to make sure those details are clear and the submission gives the organization what it needs to evaluate their experience.
It’s not about stretching someone’s background to fit. If the experience isn’t there, it isn’t there. Sometimes it just takes a conversation to uncover a relevant project, result or piece of experience that wasn’t clear on the resume.
Not every strong candidate will be submitted
Depending on the opportunity, there may be a limit on how many candidates can be put forward. A TEEMA Member could have several qualified people and still have a decision to make.
Who meets the requirements most closely? Who is strongest against the scored criteria? Whose experience makes the most sense for the work?
It isn’t necessarily the person with the longest resume or the most years in the industry. It comes down to who is the strongest fit for that particular SOW.
Once that decision is made, the submission goes in for evaluation.
What happens after the submission?
Then comes the waiting.
Timelines vary, but candidates who move forward may be invited to interview. Reference checks can follow and, if a candidate is selected, there are still contract and onboarding details to work through before they start.
The TEEMA Member stays involved throughout, keeping the candidate informed and working with both sides as the process moves forward.
Getting the right candidate to the other side
By the time a candidate starts an assignment, quite a bit has happened behind the scenes. The SOW has been reviewed, talent has been considered, submissions have been built and evaluated, and the strongest candidate has made it through the process.
For clients, working with a TEEMA Member means having someone who understands that process and knows what to look for along the way. For candidates, it means having someone who understands their experience and can make sure the right parts of it come through when an opportunity fits.
Have an upcoming contract staffing need? Connect with TEEMA to start the conversation.
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