Do you think that having a contract government job in Canada can lead to permanent?

I'm not sure my new job is a good fit...

• I have been in a new job for about four weeks. I have moved from another industry into government. I was expecting it to be quite different to my old role, but I'm not sure that I like it. Do I start applying for new jobs? Sorry this is a bit long on account of being anonymous. I loved the last place that I worked at, but it was a very small workplace without much scope to move around. I had really enjoyed my job there for most of the time I was there, but after some major achievements over the last few years, wanted a new challenge. I have always been interested to try out working in this particular area of government and took a job that paid slightly more than my last job - but with less responsibility. I knew this when I took it, but previously had not been successful getting a government job because I didn't have government experience (feedback from interviews). So I thought this job would be a good bridge into government - it is a year-long contract, so I figured I would have a year where I could learn a lot about government and then be in a good position to move into another role within government. Although, it is also an election year for the jurisdiction I am working for and around here, this typically means a crack-down on hiring at the start of a new term - right when I would be after a new role. I don't hate the job, but I feel fairly ambivalent about it. The good parts - I don't think about work at all when I walk out the door at 5pm. I'm thinking of doing a part-time masters and I would possibly get some tuition assistance and definitely get some time allowance for it. I think I have felt very defined by my work for the last few years, so this is making me think about other things. On the other hand, I am not feeling challenged by the work, and enjoyed being engaged in my last job. Now that I realise how little responsibility I have, I am concerned that the job will look like a backwards step on my resume. It has a job title that sounds much lower than my last - I thought it was just government job titles, but really, it is lower. I am in my mid-thirties, my last role was a management role looking after a program and managing a team, with a lot of autonomy and decision making power. This role is not management (of anything or anyone). Since I started, I have been lent out to another team to work on a project that is different to what the role would usually be - doing something I'm good at, but find boring. This project will finish in the next few weeks. So it is fair to say that I haven't had a chance to really see what the job is about yet. But I also feel I'm 1/12th into a job where I really wanted to learn about this particular area and instead am back doing something I used to do years ago. I am still picking up small bits of new knowledge, but in a passive way from being in a new environment, not doing new things. I am finding myself looking at job vacancies - whereas with my last job, I didn't start idly looking at job vacancies for a few years. A few jobs have really caught my eye - should I apply for other jobs? How would I explain leaving so soon in an interview? I feel like I didn't know enough about government jobs to accurately gauge the level of role that would suit me. Would leaving this job soon be a black mark in terms of getting a government role again at another time? What else should I consider in thinking about staying or going? If I am going to stay, what can I do to get the most out of it from a work and non-work perspective?

• Answer:

  I don't think you've been doing this job long enough to have sufficient experience to make a sound judgment about whether it is working out or not. I suggest you give it six months. That's the period at which we (government agency) assess whether a candidate is working out. And I have seen a couple of people look tenuous for the first few months, only to blossom and really find their footing in the fourth or fifth month.