Ok guys, this my personal experience on this first 3 months on Calgary on finding a job:
1.- I start opening and account in Workopolis and Service Canada, also reading the Calgary Herald and The Sun, and I sent my US resume (keep and eye on this I said sent, not SPAM) to the jobs that look interesting to me. I found out that for example in the banks if you apply to all the positions the system will block you for 6 months, so remember..DO NOT SPAM YOUR RESUME!!
2.- On March I enroll to a 3 weeks course on resume writing, interview preparation, cover and thank you letters and business cards, I extra highly recommend this course, they simply change completely my resume and cover letter, also I found out that:
a) 95 to 99% of people coming to Canada even if they have a high degree in Harvard, Germany or the ones you liked, they'll have a hard time to find a job on their field because the lack of Canadian experience.
b) The more certified are you the better, here even the guys who walk dogs need to be certified, so depends on your profession get certified when you get here.
c)Volunteer here is a big thing, you'll get more interviews if they saw that you have volunteer, here is 2 types of that, the informal one and the formal one, this is the want you need to fo because they gave a certified for the hours that you volunteer, also if you volunteer on something related to your career you can add that to your resume and that counts as a Canadian experience.
The institution where I got the course was:
http://www.ccis-calgary.ab.ca/And don't get the name miss lead you, this organization have nothing to do with religion, they talk to everybody regardless of that, they have many ways to help you, like the mentor program, I just enroll on this one and they'll found a professional who will coach me for 4 months on how to get a job in my field, how to gain Canadian experience, etc. and the better part of all is that is free. Also they gave me a list of about 500 links for websites to find jobs on each area like engineering, accountant, etc. great list!
3.- In the last week of the course on CCIS I found out by this organization:
http://www.immigrantservicescalgary.ca/About a job fair by Home Depot, and I went and pass the screen plus 2 more interviews so this is my first job in Canada and my survival job. My CCIS counselor told me to keep looking to a job related to my career and get certified, so also I went to the CGA Association of Alberta and gave them my school grades, in the next 2 weeks they'll told me if I need IQAS or not, also they'll mention the courses I need to take to get my CGA, this can be done in approx. 1 to 2 years, but you don;t have to wait until the end, as soon you become a member you can put that you;re a student in your resume and get more interviews and also is common for the employers to paid for the courses.
So don;t just stick with one association, all of them offer different things, if all of them offer the same the government will shut them down, take advantage of all the wonders that the system offer to you as a new immigrant and don;t lose your focus.
To finish: Be open, shoot high but Don't come with high expectations on it as a quick or easy search it's better to be realistic and be surprise with a good opportunity, because it's possible however most people has to start from scratch and build their self's up, and be patient, remember that you're coming to another country and don;t expect to have the same life style since day one.
Immigration Forum
