Hello Friends
I am listing below a few questions that are asked in interviews here. These are behavioral questions and it is advisable to rehearse some answers to these. They may or may not be asked, but this is a good guide to what can be expected:
GENERAL
1. What made you apply for this position>
2. Can you summarize or give examples of your leadership skills/abilities/experiences?
3. What strength(s)/weaknesses will you bring to this role?
4. What aspect of you current role do you dislike the most?
5. What aspect of you current role do you like the most?
6. Tell about a time when you found yourself in a situation where you had difficulty dealing
with a team member. How did you handle this? What was the result?
7. If your co-workers had to describe your work-ethic, what would they say?
8. What motivates you to pull yourself from you bed and come to work?
9. Describe you ideal work environment and why?
ADAPTABILITY
10. Describe a time when you altered your own behaviour to fit the situation.
11. Tell about a time when had to change your point of view or your plans to take into account
new information or changing priorities.
CLIENT FOCUS
12. Describe a situation in which you acted as an advocate within your organization for your stakeholder’s needs, where there was some organizational resistance to be overcome.
COMMUNICATION
13. Give an example of a difficult or sensitive situation that required extensive communication.
14. Tell about a time when you really had to pay attention to what someone else was saying , actively seeking to understand their message .
ORGANIZATIONAL AWARENESS
15. Describe the culture of you organization and give and example of how you work within this culture to achieve a goal.
16. Describe the things you consider and the steps you take in assessing the viability of new idea or
initiative.
PROBLEM SOLVING AND JUDGEMENT
17. Tell about a time when you had to identify the underlying causes to a problem.
RESULTS ORIENTATION
18. Tell about a time when you set and achieved a goal.
19. Describe something you have done to improve the performance of your work unit.
20. Describe something you have done to maximize or improve the use of resources beyond your own work unit to achieve improved results.
TEAMWORK
21. Describe a situation where you were successful in getting people to work together effectively.
22. Describe a situation in which you were a member (not a leader) of a team, and a conflict arose within the team. What did you do?
DEVELOPING OTHERS
23. Give an example of a time when you recognized that a member of your team had a performance difficulty/deficiency. What did you do?
IMPACT AND INFLUENCE
24. Describe a time when you went through a series of steps to influence an individual or a group on an important issue.
LEADERSHIP
25. Describe a situation where you had to ensure that you “actions spoke louder than your words” to a team.
26. Describe a situation where you inspired others to meet a common goal.
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
27. Give me an example of a time when you deliberately attempted to build a rapport with a co-worker or customer.
SELF-MANAGEMENT
28. Describe a time when things didn’t turn out as you had planned and you had to analyze the situation to address the issue.
29. Describe a time when you were in a high pressure situation?
STRATEGIC THINKING
30. Describe a time when you used your business knowledge to understand a specific business situation.
Showing posts with label Canadian immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian immigration. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
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.
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.
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