Profile: Anbien Ha

Variety is the spice of life!

Anbien Ha is truly a “jack of all trades.” His job is to build, maintain and support information management systems for Infrastructure Canada’s grants and contributions programs.

What does a systems analyst do at Infrastructure Canada?

For Anbien Ha, a Systems Analyst at Infrastructure Canada (INFC), no two days are alike. Being part of a relatively new and smaller department like INFC means that employees are often required to wear many hats. Anbien’s role at INFC is no exception.

Anbien works as part of a team that interacts with provincial/territorial governments and other federal government departments in helping them to use a customized software solution to better manage the millions of dollars that are jointly being invested in infrastructure projects. “In general terms, my job is to build, maintain and support information management systems that support INFC grants and contributions programs. This can involve a variety of different tasks, from gathering requirements from partners, supporting clients, training, project management and business analysis of client needs.”  What this means is that Anbien is truly a “jack of all trades.”

From university to government

While working toward a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a concentration in Information Systems, Anbien was hired at INFC through the Federal Student Work Employment Program and was offered a position shortly afterwards. “I had looked into working in the private sector and other government departments and agencies, but INFC was just a very dynamic place to work.  Why would I leave?  The department was very new and so were many of the issues we were managing.  It was of high personal interest to establish processes and develop innovative IT solutions to new problems.”

No two days are quite alike

While some days Anbien finds himself in the vast depths of IT development, other days he finds himself participating in workshops and training employees or stakeholders.  “No two days are quite alike—it’s something I wasn’t expecting from working in the Public Service” he says.  It sounds like the perfect job for an active person who enjoys playing basketball, touch football and volleyball.  The job duties themselves are interesting and fulfilling but working for the Public Service provides more than those things.  The Public Service has a diverse workforce that very much represents the Canadian public, and it strives for equity and fair treatment of all employees while promoting a non-discriminatory and open-minded culture.  “When organizations strive for this, it makes it a better place to work for everyone,” says Anbien

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