Demystifying Myths Surrounding PSC SLE Testing

First of all, in the news department, both Marina and Alicia encountered some hiccups in the fastidious process of getting their results! Marina had not signed the form authorizing the PSC to forward her oral interaction test results to HR before she went for her test on Monday… therefore, her results have been sent to her through regular mail!… As if waiting for three or four days were not excruciating enough, now she will have to wait until probably the middle of next week… Paperwork!!!… the most time consuming stuff ever that slows down everything… And poor Alicia, after more than two weeks she has not heard about her reading comprehension and written expression tests results yet. Is it unusual? I guess so… yet it happens!

In February 2008, ZZ had waited close to four weeks before getting his results… he always suspected it was his punishment for having filed a formal complaint due to the 20 minutes he had lost during the test because of a vice de procédure… actually, looking at it today is quite hilarious… but at the time those incidents took place it was not funny at all! On the D day, he had driven in one of the worst snow storm of  the year to get to Gatineau (across the river)! Of course, when he got there he was quite stressed! Then he was stuck between two other guys and could hardly move his arms (ZZ is a 6′ 7″ heavy built guy who needs room)… at some point during the test, he had this urge to go to the bathroom… after having tried to wave at the man who was watching the exam session (making sure no one was cheating), he realized he was actually snoozing… therefore he got up and tapped on his shoulder… the answer was no! he was not allowed to leave the room… okay then… yet nature calling, he could not hold it any longer and he insisted (du haut de ses 6 pieds 7 pouces… quite impressive!) that he needed to get to a bathroom as soon as possible. Finally the garde-chiourme escorted him to the stairs telling him he would find the men’s restroom in the basement. When ZZ tried to return to the exam room, he realized he was locked up and without an access code he could not open the basement door… In despair he called his office on his cell phone, asked someone to reach the PSC central office on Slater and tell them to call someone located in the Gatineau building, so he could be freed… Finally when he got back to the exam room, he had lost 20 minutes and he was not given extra time. Of course he had the right to file a complaint… useless to mention that it did not go further than the administrative assistant’s office!… Actually there was no reason for the delay… it was just another flaw in the system. I am convinced there is nothing wrong with Alicia’s results either: maybe it is only because the person who scans the candidates’ answer sheets is away on maternity leave!

 Yesterday was a weird day… my blog usually attracts a pretty good number of visitors on a daily basis (between 100 and 150). I consider this average of views is quite impressive given that I am addressing a specific audience. Well… yesterday my stats counter registered 695 views and most of them were direct hits! At first I thought there was a bug with the stats plugin… anything can happen with technology, right? Finally things slowed down in the evening… when I got up this morning, I already had 82 hits… a bit strange because overnight traffic on my blog is pretty dead! Right now at 3:45 pm, I can read 127… meaning that I had 45 additional hits, which is normal for daytime… Or my blog suddenly became very popular or… I have a secret admirer! Since I will probably never know what happened, I will only consider myself very lucky!

Of course, being curious, I always click on the links appearing under Referrers on my stats page… it is always interesting to see who gave links to my blog… Wednesday, I landed on the page of Canadian Law School, Law Student, and Prospective Law Student Forum. I was intrigued because I did not see any connections between law students’ concerns and the issues I address on my blog…

The title of the forum’s thread was “French?…” Someone wanted to know which provinces/areas would require people to be fluent in French. It did not take long for the conversation to turn into a discussion on the PSC language requirements. I would have liked to be able to post a reply because most of these people had different views and explanations regarding the three SLE tests. Well… I cannot blame them for not really knowing since even public servants are provided with minimal information. Except for CrownRoyal (the individual who provided readers with the link to my blog) who wrote accurate information (more likely one of my regular blog’s silent readers), I could see that most of them did not know much about the whole testing process within the Federal Government. Therefore I will answer a couple of their questions here…

Myth #1

It only takes minimal abilities in French to work in Ottawa… the Government tests are pretty easy: many people pass them and definitely cannot speak or write French.

Well… the three SLE tests are anything, but easy! Although the reading comprehension one is easier than the others… yet it takes more than minimal abilities to get a a good score. The written expression test is difficult and filled with traps that even Francophones would have a hard time to deal with… it requires a sound knowledge of grammar, syntax and government jargon. As for the oral interaction test, no one can pass it with minimal abilities… In other words, take the tests and then go on language training is an utopia… it is the other way around! People need to be well prepared to achieve either a B or a C… unfortunately, an A is no longer in the equation: no job positions require an A… anyone receiving an A will not be considered for bilingual positions within the government.

Myth #2

Level B is the necessary level recognized as bilingual.

As much as I hate to say that, a B is hardly functional!… There is a long way to go before being considered as bilingual. Even a C is functional, although at a higher level. Level E (for exemption) is the only one considered as bilingual.

Myth #3

The oral test is known as to be the hardest and also the most subjective.

Indeed, the oral interaction test is the most difficult of the three tests but it is no longer subjective… the PPC took care of this in June 2008. What used to be more or less a conversation in the past is now a test with four components and very strict standards and criterias for each level. Oral skills are now evaluated quantitatively, not qualitatively… Consequently, there is little room left for the examiner to be subjective.

Myth #4

Most positions do not require BBB for entry level.

Unfortunately, if this were true in the past, it is no longer the reality. Most of my trainees are people who are not yet working for the government, but applied for several positions. Unless someone is lucky to find either an “English essential” or a “French non imperative” position, the majority requires BBB. And more and more BBB positions are now turning into CBC…

Myth #5

Pronunciation should not be counted against you.

I think some people confuse pronunciation with accent. In the oral test, good pronunciation is an important criteria… Someone can have an accent, yet pronounce everything clearly… and vice-versa.

To make a story short, passing the SLE tests is not an easy task… it requires knowledge and lots of work. So… my advice to the ones who have no or little background in French and wish to find a job within the Federal Government is: start learning it now!!!  And if you do not have the courage to commit to it, well… look somewhere else for a job… And second language requirements are not only for jobs in Ottawa: I train people in Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton, Moncton, Vancouver, Toronto and even in Brussels. This is the reality check…

“Pour devenir habile en quelque profession que ce soit, il faut le concours de la nature, de l’étude et de l’exercice”

Aristote