Canada Calling

Introduction

I am writing this blog to share my experiences with other new immigrants to Canada. Many people before me (and many more after me) have had similar experiences; some of us chose to take their lessons learnt and share them with others in order to ease their lives and to give them a better and faster start in their new lives. The provincial governments have started a number of programs aimed at new immigrants where they provide support and guidance on the job search and to familiarize them with the culture and customs here. Life is very different here from what we all are used to back home and the sooner we all learn that, the faster we will start to fully enjoy and appreciate the facilities and benefits that Canada offers.

Because money makes the mare go (and pays the bills) and money needs to be earned, the one biggest hurdle for new immigrants is getting a meaningful job, preferably in their chosen field of endeavor. Immigrants face two hurdles:

a. Lack of Canadian experience
b. Lack of Canadian education

The former is a bigger challenge as it turns into a Catch 22 situation … if you can’t get a job upon arrival, how can you get Canadian experience? Most hiring managers seem oblivious to this simple fact and no amount of logical argument seems to work.

A very basic fact is that immigrants (here I am referring to economic class immigrants, as refugees have very different issues that I have no experience with and can’t comment on) have taken this huge leap of faith by leaving their comfort zone and careers and landed in a strange place with just their skills and a tremendous level of self confidence. They are successful professionals in their home countries and they are sure that they can be successful here too. This fact eludes most hiring managers and they view all resumes with the same rose tinted glasses. Call it what you will, it is the result of lack of exposure to International work cultures and education. Fortunately, that is changing (albeit slowly) and increasing numbers of immigrants are reaching hiring manager roles.

The euphoria begins to wear off once the legal formalities are completed, the touristy things are done and the first resumes sent out with the conviction of landing the dream job. This is where reality strikes and the stress begins to rise.

The job search
At the outset, let me say that there is no one winning strategy to conducting a job search in Canada; this needs to be a “full court press” and needs to be well thought out and strategized.

Mistakes made

The key mistakes made by job searchers are:

1. Not taking the time to understand that the work culture here is very different than from back home. This is a key stumbling block and people get frustrated and de-motivated when they don’t find people responding in a manner they expect and are used to in their native places. People appear cold and unresponsive and resumes seem to go into a black hole, never to return.
2. Not taking the time to prepare an effective resume that conveys their skills and experiences in a meaningful way that is expected by the readers here.
3. Not fully utilizing the resources that are available to job seekers by various agencies. Most are available locally and offer a very extensive menu of services aimed at getting people working and productive. These services usually include help with resume drafting, coaching on interview skills (including holding mock interviews), workshops on Canadian work environment, etc.
4. Not focusing on developing their soft skills, instead focusing on strengthening their technical skills. This is a key mistake, as the Asian and even European work culture places a very high premium on technical skills; being good at your work ensures steady progression in the career. In Canada, the opposite is true; soft skills (communication, public speaking, leadership, etc.) are given equal importance to technical skills and we have a number of people in leadership roles that are missing the technical skills required. Back home, this would be unthinkable, but here it happens all the time.
5. Not getting their education evaluated for equivalence in Canada.
6. Not utilizing professional and social networks.

Strategies

So having seen the mistakes, how can a new immigrant overcome these hurdles and get a job (any job to start with)? The obvious starting point is to avoid making the mistakes listed above … but specifically, the following tips are helpful:

1. Networking will really get you places … having your resume reach the hiring manager is key! If your resume lands on the HR desk, it is lost with out trace. They are swamped with thousands of resumes each day and can’t possibly read them all. They are very carefully stored on a database and resurface only when they contain a key work. Even then they are likely to be rejected because of lack of Canadian experience or education. The whole world my have heard about the IIT’s, but not necessarily the resume reviewers. If your resume can land on the desk of the hiring manager, they have a much better idea of the education and work experience that you bring, plus they place a lot of value on the fact that a colleague has referred the document. Frankly, I can’t stress this point enough … most employers prefer referred resumes over the other kind and even reward the referrer if the candidate is hired.
2. Use key words in your resume; this will ensure that your resume surfaces from the deep depths of the HR database and actually gets some attention.
3. Tailor your resume for the job opportunity; this does not mean fabricating stuff, just bringing the desired experiences up front and inserting the key words in the job description into the document so that the reader can connect with it.

I have found the following to be excellent sources of job opportunities:

1. Personal contacts and network. I can’t stress enough the importance of this.
2. Job sites like Workopolis.com
3. Websites of hiring companies
4. Temp agencies like Accountemps, Adecco, Man Power, People Bank, etc.

There is a lot of hard work and sweat involved and a large dollop of luck; but perseverance pays off and the reward is a rich and rewarding work and personal life in Canada.

I will share more experiences over time; please feel free to mail me at ajay.widge@gmail.com and I will be glad to share my knowledge. I have also added a power point presentation prepared by the Ontario government for guiding new immigrants, so feel free to refer to it.