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A collection of success stories

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Anything (good) is possible, 5 weeks and already settled!!!!

Aquib said:
Hi,
As I told you all earlier that I was waiting for my interview result, so now with all your prayers and wishes, Today HR finally call to negotiate salary , and I accepted first offer he made to me (bit desperate to say YES, later I been told by friend that I could easily negotiate 6-7000$ more , but Honestly I would be happy in 10000 less then what's he offer me - after all satisfaction count ) .

It's a management job in Retail . Need to go or 6 weeks training from 1st (so its good start within 6 week of landing - I am happy )

Further , please do let me know if anyone landing Calgary and need any help with airport pickup, if I am not working that day then I can pick you up from Airport , welcoming you to Canada .

My personal experience that its easy to settle in Alberta, Skan, and Manitoba for newcomer as compare to Toronto or Vancouver (got friend in Toronto and he just got part time job at one retail shop after 2 month struggle ) also I saw few people who in Toronto since 3-4 years now moved to Alberta .

Life is bit hard if you directly coming from South east Asia , but if you South East Asian living in UK, EU Arab, Australia , US etc then you find easy settlement.

It's approx 5 weeks we in Calgary, leaving good job and friends in UK and we questioned our self few time in first 4 days that "have we taken right Decision ? " but believe me after we moved to rental house , that day and today we didn't regretted even single time and found Ca very welcoming.

One thing I not happy - my daughter school , where in less then 2 week she lost her bag, tiffin , jacket etc few time , I have raise this with school office that even if she forget things in her break then also they should present in lost n found section, but looks like school suffering from some pickers ( else school is good ) .

Regarding my Car insurance , some insurance company honour UK no claim without any issue , I paying approx 100$ /month for 4 L engine SUV for full cover. So I am happy with insurance price as a newcomer .
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Been a while I updated this post, but a new success story is here!


Jibaba said:
Hello House ......here is my 3 month journey to a good job.. information matters alot here and you will really find this helpful . Enjoy and pick something out of it .... your testimonies are on the way !!! Amen

==============================

Felt i should share my story with you . I came in to Calgary in August 2012 , left after like 3 weeks to resign in Nigeria and finally re-landed in December 2012.
Honestly i thought i can just walk in and in the first 2 weeks i will get a job . Because i saw adverts of jobs i could close my eyes and perform like magic and was awed by the salary range they command.

Someone gave me a link to a website that can help format my resume and i tried to format my resume accordingly. I put up my resume on indeed.com and monster and within 2 weeks i got a call and had an interview.
Trying to impress this client , i loaded my cv with both technical and managerial skill sets . They were impressed , did well in the interview , but i was not called. I couldn't believe it ! I was later to learn that you cant be technical and a manager .

:p Lesson number one : Know what you want to be , and be it ... think of lean meat – zero fat , don't be a pork !

By end of December i did another interview , but failed again and was sending an average of 10 job applications everyday. I met a lot of our forum members that were very helpful and supportive , we exchanged information , encouraged each other and the information i got really helped me .

Lesson two , please don't go solo , seek others , socialize and be part of a positive thing . One of the information i got has to do with maximizing the government many opportunities to learn , integrate and network here . There are lots of good program for new comers you can latch on . if you come to Calgary on Saturday , by no means please visit places like Direction for new Immigrants, New comer centre, Catholic Christian ..something something ..CCIS , Bow Valley CRTP, Alberta works workshops . Power Engineering program please google all these programs . Some of these programs. Can set you up with an employer and you can get a job quicker through this route ...They have good program, register for as many as you can , start early . As Naija , we are too sharp to be slow , so no fall my hand .

Lesson 3 : Register for at least 2 or 3 Immigration programs, get it started asap.
By January , i was lucky to get another interview second week of January , i did all i could, was nice , answered all the questions. But was told i was over qualified. SO i went back to the drawing board, skinned my resume and reproduced like 4 variants. One of the good guys i met on this forum introduced my to Directions for Immigrant and i was lucky to get into an orientation and a communication for business professional class that runs for 10 weeks. Believe me i learnt a lot from this class and it really helped . i will recommend the class for anyone any day . it is only 3 hours every week . Lesson 4 : have variant of resume , well focused and almost matching the advertised job description word for word. Ask around for the format for writing the cover letter . Get someone to check your “must be 2 pages resume”. Also i was assigned a coach who tried to check over me once in a while. One of the strategic advise she gave me was to enrol for a free 2 days resume and 2 days interviewing skills workshop . Those workshop were straight to the points , very rich you will even be video-taped during the sessions . I was given a 20 paged manual that later became my bible and tremendously helped me . There was once a mention of a certain Dr Laroche video on youtube. That is a must watch video , please get it and get viewing it .
By now i was getting fidgety , but i didn't lose hope . I did 3 more interviews without success. Meanwhile i started courting placement agencies, i had like 12 working for me at the same time , Naija no dey carry last ! so please those guys are good and you need to work with them . Names like Friday professional , Robert half, Executrade, S.I systems , and a couple of other ones.Google them and use them . You can pm me with your resume i will have a look and give you a good referral to some of them . Still with like 6 interviews , and no one calling me . I went on to Linkedin , bought a job seeker slot and pampered myself online , yes i was able to apply for some jobs , but it didn't work for me . Along the line i tried another thing , i joined the local chapter of a professional group and for the first time i felt welcome to Canada, . The members were so friendly , everyone willing to get my resume. So i went ahead and volunteered to help with some technical aspect of the organisation . So i was able to meet a lot of people in my profession and i did what is called an information interview. SO i already knew a lot about the industry , the key players , what the industry is all about , what employers look out for and how to comport and compose oneself. I released all the information on my 2 paged resume . . I even got a naija who volunteered to be my mentor and was calling me everyday to encourage me and boost my confidence , he really helped as well . So you might want to be on the look out for a mentor ....We were so professional about it , i respected his time and i tried to manage his time to ensure i am not hurting him while he tries to help me Lesson number 5: look for your professional association, join them , if there is none look for something related, take up a volunteering role , write it boldly in your resume , it works. Get a mentor.
Afterwards i went for another interview that totally destroyed my self confidence. I was so such i would be employed. Without asking a made and printed 5 paged presentation of how i will solve the problem at hand. I did my interview well and the presentation. I was unable to read their mind. When i got feedback from the recruiter, i was told the project has been put on hold..Isch ....another way of saying they don't want me . After this time . i lowered all my guards, stop applying for just any job , i totally stopped applying . As a Christian , the only thing i could do was to pray and watch . I used this short period to quickly read for my PMP exam and within a week , i passed and i updated my resume. I took my communication class serious and was looking out for the best .
Out a blue one of the biggest Energy companies advertised for a position and within 2 days 4 recruiters called me for the job. I was so sure that will be my job . SO i was given some pre-interview questionnaire, which i tried my best to fill. And i went for the interview. When i got there , it was like a walk over, they were pleased with the way i filled the questionnaire –sometimes called a skill matrix , probably because it made their work easy within an hour i was done , 2 days later i landed a very plush contract job . See me dey dance alanta like my friend will say . so all these former rejections were for a greater one waiting for me . SO don't be discouraged most time , something better , bigger is within your reach !
All through this period , i refused to give up, there were times when i felt so down , but i just have to encourage myself , i will wake up , look myself in the mirror and say Jibaba , executive director ..xyz Incorporated, One Calgary , One Jibaba! I will hail myself in my allocated 5 minutes madness per day and am out of the house. Wifey was also solidly behind me , prayer, kind words and encouragement from Nigeria every day , she wakes me up with her call and sms. I also appreciate the good sense of community we have on the forum especially the landed ones in Calgary .. Dapo and the Omoelle crew are superb. Omoelle encouragement was so infectious ...it helped me . I really pray for favour for everyone.
The first crossing i learnt is usually the hardest, I pray we all cross it to beautiful places . I will be willing to offer the little experience i have gained over these time with anyone, just pm me and wont mind mentoring people too on how i went about these things . But remember there was element of everything here , goodluck ,Patience, (no Jonathan oh ) God factor, timing, even previous positive bad luck , mixing with people, surrounding yourself with good people , a little bit of selflessness , being positive, not losing hope. My family are still in niaja , but so supportive , so i have ample time to be myself , scatter the apartment and take c train from south west to North East without any guilt !
Again i noticed and i will like to tell all that during the period you are waiting to land a good job , please make the best use of it , the day you get job , another stress has starts ! you wont have time to move around aimlessly and enjoy the various parts of the city again.. so while we cry , we must always make provision for vision ! Pa Mufu help translate that to your 21st century Ingrish :-X

SO if you are still in naija , or just landinng in Calgary this story will help prepare your mind and help you plan well . One more thing, naija are a class of its own here , superbly educated and doing well in most places. So yours wont be an exception in Jesus Name.

Jibaba
 

Sahik

Full Member
Mar 15, 2013
22
1
I arrived Canada about 6 weeks ago with all the excitement of being in a new country. However the job hunt affair turned out to be more demanding than I thought. I registered with the newcomers centre in Calgary and continued with my job search; my move at registering with the centre proved helpful as one of the facilitator had a LinkedIn connector who had been in a similar situation as I was but had finally landed a job at one of the banks.
I scheduled a meeting to discuss with him and get a feel of how the banking industry worked in Canada, the discourse was quite helpful and I was able to re-strategise. Soon after the same bank organized a job fair and I attended, armed with all the insights I had earlier received...and I got the job! Please note that the interviews were not so easy but I thank God that I scaled through.

Learning points-1. Ensure you get involved with the newcomers centre here, you never know who you will meet.
2. Be ready to change your strategies because sometimes what you think you know may not get you the result you need.
3. Explore the use of LinkedIn and other social media, you can't imagine the amount of resources at your disposal in those forums.
4. Online applications may not get you the results you need even if you are very qualified for the job, try cold calls.
5. Be prepared always because you never know when you could be called even for a telephone interview!
 

RajeevPillai

Star Member
Jan 15, 2013
80
4
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
1121
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
05-01-2009
LANDED..........
15-04-2011
I started my career in Toronto as a Career Bridge Intern at one of the govt. firms. I started on a 6 months contract, which they extended to one year after 3 months. Last week they promoted to another division within the same location with $20,000 increase and excellent benefits. The role is now permanent :D
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
RajeevPillai said:
I started my career in Toronto as a Career Bridge Intern at one of the govt. firms. I started on a 6 months contract, which they extended to one year after 3 months. Last week they promoted to another division within the same location with $20,000 increase and excellent benefits. The role is now permanent :D
Congrats RajeevPillai, lets keep the light of hope shining
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Sahik said:
I arrived Canada about 6 weeks ago with all the excitement of being in a new country. However the job hunt affair turned out to be more demanding than I thought. I registered with the newcomers centre in Calgary and continued with my job search; my move at registering with the centre proved helpful as one of the facilitator had a LinkedIn connector who had been in a similar situation as I was but had finally landed a job at one of the banks.
I scheduled a meeting to discuss with him and get a feel of how the banking industry worked in Canada, the discourse was quite helpful and I was able to re-strategise. Soon after the same bank organized a job fair and I attended, armed with all the insights I had earlier received...and I got the job! Please note that the interviews were not so easy but I thank God that I scaled through.

Learning points-1. Ensure you get involved with the newcomers centre here, you never know who you will meet.
2. Be ready to change your strategies because sometimes what you think you know may not get you the result you need.
3. Explore the use of LinkedIn and other social media, you can't imagine the amount of resources at your disposal in those forums.
4. Online applications may not get you the results you need even if you are very qualified for the job, try cold calls.
5. Be prepared always because you never know when you could be called even for a telephone interview!
Congrats Sahik

Glad to have your story here, thank you for sharing!
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Hello all, got the mail below from a good friend, be inspired

Its been 6 months since i left for Canada and i must say its been a challenging experience integrating because its totally different from all the counties I have ever experienced.

As i got to Canada, i settled down and shortly started the job search - I did all i knew how to: prayed, search, applied online, made contacts etc. I am sure I made more than 200 applications during this period.

Two months after, i got a contract job in payroll; the amazing thing about this is that someone i had never met before offered me the job without an interview, based on a friends referral.

I took the job, worked there for four months and kept on looking for other jobs in my field. It was a challenging 4 month period as i had a lot of rejections and i got really depressed and wondered if my faith was working at all or if i made the right step coming to Canada. My spouse kept on encouraging me and we kept on praying and talking our desire in the face of these contrary situations.

In the sixth month after i got to Canada, i applied for a job and i was called for the interview; after the interview, the interviewer told me she may not give me the job because i was over qualified for the role, but she would pass my resume on to the projects department for a higher role. An hour after the interview, i got a call from the same company to attend another interview for the higher role.

After that interview, i got a positive feedback and in 3 days i was called again to choose which of the roles i wanted because i was qualified for both of them. Trust I chose the higher role and I have since resumed at the job.
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Hi folks, it's been several weeks, a new story and this time my personal story :D

I landed in Calgary February 2013 and spent a month settling my family down getting accommodation, the relevant registrations etc. once all that as done, I returned back home and planned to return permanently in December of 2013 to Calgary.

The cold weather, job search, child care and all made it so tough for my wife to cope, consequently there was a lot of pressure to return (first advice, you need a very strong spouse and/or a lot of money in the bank and a support group to execute this kind of plan i.e. leaving spouse and kid(s) here while staying back home, without you having so much problem)

After some months back home it was obvious I had to return earlier than the planned December date, so I started making plans to disengage from my place of work.

All this while, I started to collate list of companies that were into IT and particularly software development, as that was my core competence, started looking up the various job boards, made contacts with the landed people and became very active on Linkedin, joining IT groups in Canada etc. I also worked on my resume several times, I did like 4 resume reviews through friends and firms offering resume review services (another critical point here, network and make sure your resume fits the so called Canadian standard ;D basically get rid of that objective section and convert to professional summary, include achievement and not just a list of task performed etc)

I also got a software that routed phone numbers to my international number via VoIP, so I had a Canadian address and a Canadian number on my resume and started sending this out to company with vacancies for software developers, this got me a number of calls from hiring managers, I always made it a point of duty to let them know I was outside of Calgary at the moment but would return soon, most hiring managers were unwilling to proceed and would usually ask that I contact them when I'm finally in the country. A few scheduled phone interviews which held, but was not offered the jobs.

About June, a hiring manager posted a job in one of the LinkedIn groups I had joined, I contacted him about the role and found the company website to apply too, I and the hiring manager started a rapport from there, this eventually lead to a phone interview, 2 other organizations also held phone interviews with me about that time.

Fast forward to September, I finally returned to Calgary and had face to face interviews with 2 of the the 3 organizations, also registered with the major IT recruiters SI systems, Robert Half etc, a week after landing one of the 3 organizations offered me a contract role, another offered a permanent role, while the third is yet to provide feedback :eek:

So long story short, 3 weeks after returning I will be resuming work, not in the senior position I was anticipating but I can't complain about the offer.

In closing, I wish all the great folks on this forum success in your job search, hopefully you have been able to glean some info from my experience, thanks and keep the good news coming.

Guvcode :)
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Another interesting story, with some new lessons

My_story_2012_now said:
Posted on 5 Apr 2014

Today I thought Ill write something about settling in Canada. Like many other immigrants I landed along with my family in Toronto on a sunny evening (yes evenings are sunny during long summers days) in May2012. My plan was a short stay of 3 weeks during which I had a list of things to complete. We stayed at a very close relatives house during this time and we are so thankful for their support during this initial days.

In the first couple of days it was so exciting, why not? We had long dreamed to come here and we were here finally. As the excitement of the first days started fading with the realities I started getting into action. I had come here with a plan, a target to complete certain things before we exit in 3 weeks time.
The things completed were...

-Applying for SIN cards

-Got a G-1 driving license

-Me and my wife both appeared for a CLB test and got a high scores ( this test is free for new immigrants, can be taken at YMCA.

-Activation of bank account

-The most important thing I achieved was getting registered for 4-week full time bridging program( IWES) for new immigrants. A pre-requisite of this program was CLB with a high score. It was good in a way that I got a chance to experience my first interview in Canada for admission into this program. Once confirmed I deferred it for six months as I had no plans to stay beyond three weeks.

-Took an appointment and visited a few recruiters who gave me a first cut feedback on my resume - I consider this to be very critical, as a new immigrant we don't know very well how well prepared our resumes are to focus on job market in Canada. Usually when you sit with a recruiter who will go through your resume and ask you a small questions about your skills and previous experience to build his understanding on how to project you with the employers. S/he may also suggest you to make changes to your resume. If they don't, never hesitate to politely ask them if they think that you should be making some changes to your resume? They will be happy to give you suggestions. And if they say to make changes and email it back to them, always make sure to thank them for their time and suggestions/feedback and send them back within agreed time which can be EOD, next day etc...

-I would suggest to visit YMCA as they have lots of information which can help us, just browsing through their shelf of brochures and picking up a few and giving random calls to a few recruiters to book appointment will help a lot.. These initial steps are small but will help you focus and those little interactions will boost your confidence by helping you with your communication skills.

To be contd... :)

Posted on 6 April'2014

I returned back to India as I was still working with a MNC so didn't wanted to be in a haste to quit, now that I had some experience of being in Canada and meeting people I wanted to carry it forward and started applying for jobs while I was in India. I applied for a lot of jobs and got many responses but as I mentioned that I was not in Canada so obviously and as expected I was out of the race. Later At the end of October I returned back alone seeing that the response was good and it was worth taking a risk by quitting my job.

In my first week after returning and starting from where I left I passed G-2 driving license road test and followed it up by joining the IWES bridging program where I was already accepted during my previous visit. To give a background about IWES program, it supports new immigrants by providing them first hand information about Canada. Topics such as Canadian work culture and a range of activities such as resume workshops, mock up interviews, encouraging participants to do presentations on different topics are covered. Successful immigrants are invited to share their success stories and practices they followed which was quite interesting, during one such interaction an HR executive from an organization was invited to provide information about Canadian labor laws and hiring process which was another interesting aspect of this program. As it was a full day program it gives a first hand opportunity of interacting with different people which is very helpful as we can share our experiences with each other and learn from others too. One activity which was outstanding I thought was mock up panel interviews which were video recorded and shared with the candidates. It gave a very good insight on our ability to project ourselves during an interview.

A key thing to learn about the interviews is to always keep in mind S.T.A.R - Situation, Task, Action, Result. Recall your previous successes stories at work and write your own small stories based on STAR. It will help you during interviews. Interviewers love it when you narrate your story against a question based on STAR. I would say write it as it will remain with you and will always help you to quickly go through it before an interview call.

Here, I must also add that some people with whom I discussed about this program gave a discouraging view saying things like "those programs are only a waste of time" or "it is just a way of showing that you are not left alone after arriving in Canada and it doesn't help at all". Listening to such views was quite disheartening but if you stay focused on your goals such talk should never bothers you, it didn't bother me at least as I knew I have to keep my eyes wide open and secondly learning anything new is never a waste of time.

More to come.... 8)

Posted on 20 April'2014

Meanwhile keeping myself busy with the program I had also started to extensively apply for jobs. My primary source was monster.ca and workopolis.ca as I started to apply I made sure that I created an excel sheet which keeps a record of what positions I applied? Date of applying, the email address I sent my resume to and my own rating level between 1-10 on how much I expect that it will turn into an opportunity. One other thing I did was created a folder on my laptop and under this folder I created different sub folders with each folder having a small description of the position I applied for with a copy of my resume and cover letter mailed along with a word document where I copy pasted the job description saved in it, just so that I don't lose track of things.

When it comes to applying for jobs be open minded to relocating, I know it's hard and most of the immigrants including me land in Toronto expecting to only look for jobs in this city, it goes on to such an extent that they end up wasting a lot of time and missing out on opportunities elsewhere. There are plenty of 6; 12 months contract jobs in the market they give a real opportunity to jump start your career. The process of hiring in a contract position is shorter compared to full time positions, so never rule out contract positions.

I applied for more than 50 to 60 jobs online starting Nov until the third week of Dec'12 when I finally got a call from a reputed recruitment consultant about a contract position in Winnipeg, the recruiter told me to highlight some of my previous experience of working on projects and send him in a presentable format. It was more of why I should be hired for this position? I created a two slide presentation format and responded to him and bang! He got back to me saying that the employer is interested in an interview.

Most of the questions were to understand a candidate's behavioral response with questions such as "what was the toughest situation you faced in your career and what your response was?" as I mentioned earlier always remember STAR, be ready with your story (short to the point) and respond. The interview lasted for 45 minutes. The next day I got a call from the recruiter that I have been selected and have to join in a week's time, it was the greatest news I have waited to hear for! For so many months I have been thinking about this getting my first job in Canada and here it was. The down side of it, I had to leave Toronto to Winnipeg all alone on my own. I was prepared to take this risk as I considered that waiting for another opportunity in Toronto May take forever, who knows it, may have taken at least another month, two months or more? Looking at the financial position it was worth taking this step.

I have missed something which I thought I must add, during my fourth week at IWES, this was the second week of Dec'12 a friend of mine referred me for a 3-week contract job in Mississauga. The job was a low paying $12/hour, I thought that since I am at the end of the IWES program and it was December time when usually hiring is considered to be at low, better to get busy with this job. This job as I discovered was very much demanding. Not only that I had to travel at least 2 hrs one way from my place of stay but the job was entirely done standing. I made a few friends here who I was shocked to know that were working here for the previous 5 years. During one of my discussions at lunch I told them that I don't think I'm going to continue there after 3-weeks, some of them said when we join we too thought and said what you are saying but look at us it's 5 years now and we are still here. Inside my head I smiled and said to myself I'm not going to continue here whatever people say?

I want to make a little suggestion here, if as a starter you get a similar low paying survival job then better look for one which is closer to your place of stay, these jobs are not worth spending travel time of 4 hours as I did. Save your time and energies for your main objectives of getting a full time or a contract position which commensurate with your skills. When I was at the start of third week at this workplace I got a call from a recruiter about which I have already mentioned earlier and got a job to move to Winnipeg. When I disclosed this and said good bye to my colleagues they couldn't believe it! Be ambitious, be determined, be risk taking, the initial time is the most testing time for any new immigrant, if you don't show your bone at this time then try a soft ball game! Never get deterred by people who suck you in with their de-motivating stories instead be determined to write your own successful story.

Move to Winnipeg

It was a rocking start to the year 2013, I got a 12-month contract job in one of the biggest insurance companies in Canada, I planned to move to Winnipeg and bought my air tickets. I thought that my relatives in Toronto wanted me to wait to have waited a little more time to get a job in Toronto instead of jumping on the first job but I had my own worries in my head and didn't wanted to wait.

Before moving I looked for apartments in Winnipeg, usually it's hard to rent an apartment if your are not in the city where you are looking for, although I got a few positive responses from people willing to share a room. I didn't finalize it and informed them that I'll be there and will take a look before confirming. I booked a hotel near the place of work on Portage Avenue which is in the downtown.

The day I landed in Winnipeg and took a cab to the hotel as I was on my way I could see snow piled up in heaps on both sides of the roads and the temperature was -15c, I got this weird feeling inside, did I make a mistake of moving here? It was too early to think about whether I really made a mistake as I was in the first hour after landing in Winnipeg but we all know that the first impressions are lasting impressions, this feeling remained throughout my stay in Winnipeg and made me to quickly chalk out my future, how to get out of this city? :) sounds funny but since I was on a contract which meant that I was not permanent pumped me up and lifted my spirits.

My story is not complete if I don't say anything about Winnipeg. The city is cold, no! It is the coldest among all the big cities in Canada. Welcome to cold weather, temperatures of -30c are normal during winters, if you are heading to this city be ready with extra warm clothing. Winters are long cold, the most depressing thing I thought about this city was heaps of rock hard snow piled up until end of April, the snow is so hard by this time that it takes over 2-3 weeks to melt.

I joined my place of work and was lucky to get a shared apartment on the very next day. The work place was a relaxed atmosphere with a large team of mostly senior people. It was a 40-hour per week job, the first couple of months I did almost nothing and was getting frustrated and I was even thinking why do they have to hire when there was not work at all? Later as I started getting familiar with people and environment my work load gradually increased but still I thought it was a lot lesser than when compared my previous workplaces outside Canada. The work culture was very organized, systematic with clear procedures and guidelines and above all stress free. People appreciated even when I completed a small task. I found that almost all my team mates were working here for over 20 years, my team lead was working in this organization for 35 years, I was looking like a small kid with just 10 years of experience :)

This was my first experience of Canadian workplace and every small thing was learning, when I say learning, it's mostly the Canadian work culture, knowing people and interacting with them. I should say that Canadians love to say stories and hear your stories too, so even if it is a small story like "you were coming to work this morning and the driver of the bus accidentally took a wrong turn and had to be reminded by passengers" small stories like this breaks the ice so whenever you get a chance speak about weather, news (not political I would suggest) but can be gossip related or even a ice hockey game, if you don't know ice hockey start picking up as it the most popular sport in Canada. At least be familiar with the names of hockey teams of favourite of your city like it is "Winnipeg Jets" in case of Winnipeg.

As I was in the month of June 2013 I knew that I had to start applying again as my contract period of 12-month was 6 months away but too me it looked as if it was very close. I updated my resume with my latest work experience and uploaded it on monster, within a few days I started getting calls. In one such call if I could remember it was from Ottawa the recruiter had to say "how did you ended up in Winnipeg"? And she was laughing. Here I would like to add a caveat "my views about Winnipeg must not necessarily be taken as negative, it's my own opinion based on a few observations (mostly cold weather) and others may have a lot many reasons to like this city"

By the end of June I had two interviews lined up for full time jobs one in Toronto and the other in Calgary, I was very inclined towards the job in Toronto as it will take me back to this city but unfortunately things didn't work out, the other interview was quiet successful, after three rounds of interview I got selected for a full time job in Calgary, by mid of July It was time to say good bye and start planning ahead for moving to Calgary.

story doesn't end here...more to come :)
 

Nuvin

Star Member
Jun 12, 2012
176
6
Hi senior

I am applied from QSW. Outside Quebec. My visa is ready to issue so they request us to send CSQ to renew does anyone have any idea how Lind does it take to renew an expired CSQ please?
I am on my way to succeed step by step ...
Thanks
 

mish

Hero Member
Feb 16, 2014
974
52
Category........
Visa Office......
LVO
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Passport Req..
19/08/2014
VISA ISSUED...
Mashallah
LANDED..........
Nov 2014
Guvcode!!!!Amazing Job

God Bless you

+1, you deserve this
 

guvcode

Star Member
Jul 16, 2012
148
17
Category........
Visa Office......
Accra
NOC Code......
0213
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
Med's Request
19-03-2012
Med's Done....
12-04-2012
Interview........
Waived
VISA ISSUED...
16-July-2012
LANDED..........
Feb 2013
Thanks Mish, I hope more folks would share their success stories here fo rthe beefit of all.

Thanks once again!!!
 

sonyaadnan

Star Member
Dec 29, 2009
111
7
Category........
Visa Office......
London
NOC Code......
2174
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
09-05-2014
Doc's Request.
sent with application
Nomination.....
PER: 14-08-14
IELTS Request
sent with application
Great job +1 to u for your effort
 

mahesh.rcr

Full Member
Jun 10, 2014
43
9
123
Bangalore, India
Category........
Visa Office......
NEW DELHI, INDIA
NOC Code......
2173
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
19th June 2014 [CC Charge: 8th Oct][PER email: 17th Oct]
Med's Request
19th Nov [Meds, PCC, RPRF requested]
Med's Done....
[29th Nov: Med Chkp][4th Dec: RPRF paid][8th Dec: 3rd line]
Passport Req..
PPR & 4th Line: 27th Feb 2015
VISA ISSUED...
18th Mar 2015 (2015/02/25 on Visa)
guvcode said:
Hi folks, it's been several weeks, a new story and this time my personal story :D
.
.
In closing, I wish all the great folks on this forum success in your job search, hopefully you have been able to glean some info from my experience, thanks and keep the good news coming.

Guvcode :)
Hi Guvcode.. Congratulations for your achievements. Wish you all the best ahead. Thanks for sharing.

And thanks again for starting such an inspirational and informative thread. Please keep adding and helping :)