Public Service Exam Prep (PSEP) is a division of FSECC Inc, which was established in 1984 in Ottawa, Canada. Since then we have expanded—literally worldwide—to help individual clients with specialized career advancement materials and personal coaching, and provide institutional and corporate clients with workshops and organizational development consulting services.

Our company’s expertise, based on the diverse international work and corporate training experience of president Barry Yeates [click here], has made PSEP the preferred resource for people seeking entry positions or career progression at officer and executive levels in government and international organizations.

In particular, we provide individual clients with a significant advantage in highly competitive staffing exercises. We do this by separating fact from rumour about how institutions apply hiring and promotion criteria, and by showing candidates how they are screened, tested, interviewed and evaluated using arcane behaviour-based methods which we understand thoroughly.

A list of client organizations we have served is shown below, and comments from individual clients are displayed elsewhere on this website. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) by prospective clients are also provided for information.

To discuss your personal or organizational needs and how we can help, please contact us after looking over our array of services.

Individual Clients

We have provided test prep materials, simulation, interview and other career advancement coaching to thousands of individual clients in Canada, the United States and abroad.

Services initially focused on helping university undergraduates, graduate students and doctoral candidates seeking entry-level employment. Over the last 15 years we have expanded to become an “entry to exit” career development resource, dealing with professionals seeking career change, experienced individuals pursuing internal promotions or outside opportunities, and retiring executives honing their job search skills and materials to find consulting work.

Our clients come from different academic backgrounds and universities around the world, and from a wide range of sectors, jobs and levels. For example:

• Disciplines include: law, politics/international relations/development studies, business/ commerce/administration/MBA, public administration, economics, history, journalism, languages/linguistics, psychology, applied sciences, and engineering.
• Places of study include: virtually all Canadian universities; U.S. institutions including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, U.C. Berkeley, Duke, North Carolina, GWU, Georgetown; European universities including Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, London, Sussex, Le Sorbonne and l’ENA.
• Types of positions most commonly sought or worked in include: government officer or executive, diplomatic officer, multilateral organization staff or NGO program officer.

To honour confidentiality, we do not publish the names of individual clients. However, testimonials provided voluntarily by clients are displayed on this website along with comments and names of supporters.

Institutional and Corporate Clients

We have led consulting teams, participated with other firms in projects, and carried out individual assignments with client organizations listed below.

Canadian Government Departments and Agencies

Central Agencies

• Privy Council Office
• Treasury Board of Canada

International Departments and Agencies

• Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
• Citizenship and Immigration Canada
• Canadian International Development Agency
• Canada Border Services Agency
• Immigration and Refugee Board
• National Defence
• Passport Canada
• Trade Facilitation Office of Canada

Other Departments and Agencies

• Canada Revenue Agency
• Canadian Coast Guard
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Canadian Heritage
• Canadian Human Rights Commission
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• Correctional Service of Canada
• Elections Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
• Indian and Northern Affairs
• Industry Canada
• Justice Canada
• National Gallery of Canada
• Parks Canada
• Public Safety Canada
• Public Works and Government Services Canada
• Royal Canadian Mint
• Service Canada
• Transport Canada

International Organizations and Business Associations

• International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna
• International Centre for Migration Policy Development, Vienna
• International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal
• International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva
• United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Vienna
• United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs, New York
• International Trade Centre, Geneva
• Association of Manufacturers and Exporters Canada, Toronto
• Canadian Association: Latin America and Caribbean, Toronto, and partner Chambers of Commerce in Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti
• Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce, Bridgetown, and affiliated Chambers of Commerce in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Antigua, Grenada, Dominica
• Belize City Chamber of Commerce, Belize
• Metal Trades Industry of Australia, Melbourne

Corporations: Canada and the United States

Educational Institutions/Associations

Why Use Our Services?

We are the only career coaching firm that specializes in helping candidates understand and advance in government, multilateral organization and international NGO hiring and promotion competitions—from entry level to executive level.

No service offered by government, universities or the private sector—past or present, in North America or abroad—matches our expertise or placement record over the past 25 years. The success rate of our clients in institutional hiring and promotion processes attests to the high quality training we provide. Please take the time to read the testimonials sent to us by clients and supporters displayed under Client Comments [click here].

For additional information on what we do and why we know how to help you, see our List of Standard Programs and Services [click here] and the Profile of Our Director [click here].