In Jasper, no matter your qualifications or experience, you never have to be shy to apply for a job.
With a shortage of workers and limited housing opportunities for newcomers, businesses and organizations are often willing to hire someone with little to no experience, as long as they鈥檙e here and they鈥檙e willing to learn.
In a way, it鈥檚 a wonderful thing. Hiring from within the community provides unique opportunities to the people who want to call Jasper home. It allows people to learn new skills and further their careers without having to leave town in search of opportunities for growth.
The question, though, is at what point does education and experience outweigh a person鈥檚 willingness to learn?
For instance, do you hire the former daycare manager to be the fire chief?
Although they both require administrative skills, there is certainly a knowledge gap between the two. Handling a departmental budget for childcare and providing for the day-to-day needs of the community鈥檚 young doesn鈥檛 translate to overseeing the town鈥檚 protective services鈥攖hat is, of course, unless that person is also a trained firefighter, with experience in emergency response.
It may seem like an outlandish scenario, but this is the current position of the municipality鈥檚 finance department. In June, the municipality hired the former aquatic and fitness centre manager to be the town鈥檚 director of finance.
Natasha Malenchak is now the keeper of the community鈥檚 coffers, tasked with overseeing a $14 million budget, despite having little experience with municipal finances.
Malenchak did nothing wrong. She was just one of those brave folks who applied for a job despite the fact that she doesn鈥檛 have the appropriate qualifications, and it happened to work out in her favour.
We just have to question how, out of 31 candidates, she was the one selected.
The job posting clearly stated that the municipality was looking for someone with an accounting designation鈥攁 qualification that Malenchak lacks.
We have to assume out of those 31 applicants, at least a few met that requirement and presumably a few also had 鈥渇inancial leadership experience in municipal accounting,鈥� which was also listed in the posting.
In most cases we鈥檇 applaud the decision to promote from within, allowing for organizational growth, but in this instance we鈥檙e stumped.
The director of finance is supposed to be the municipal watchdog, keeping an eye on spending and ensuring that the community鈥檚 taxpayers are well served. By hiring someone who lacks the knowledge to truly scrutinize the numbers, the municipality is losing that oversight and putting itself and the community at risk.
When it comes to filling the role of director of finance, qualifications should be of primary concern; simply residing in Jasper and being willing to learn is not enough.
