Quick Tip for you folks heading to Canada soon to land your job as I did within 3 months
1) I presume you all have your credentials assessed, you need to include this with every job application you submit. This is how you can make the recruiters job easy that your educational experience is in line with what is attained here.
2) The term CV should be expunged. We use the terminology Resume's here. Format your resume in a chronological style (at least that worked for me). The wordings on your resume should be in 2nd persons' using actionable words like "Facilitated the audit of several accounts" with Facilitated here being the actionable word.
3) Highlight achievements in your previous job description using metrics to proof this e.g could be "Achieved and surpassed marketing targets by overturning a deficit which was in the department for months before I arrived by recording a 30% growth in sales within first month of assignment".
4) keep an excel spreadsheet of all the jobs you have applied for. The last thing you want is for a recruiter to call you on the phone making reference to a job you applied for. To leave a first impression, you've got to be able to recall on the call the job title, date applied for, job duties and why you were so keen to apply for it. If you haven't kept a log, you will fluff your lines and leave a negative impression on the recruiter.
5) Be prepared for a minimum (2) rounds of interview; could be by skpe, go-to meeting or citrix as your first interview over the PC. Yes do not be deterred from applying for jobs outside the province you are settled in. They are quite flexible with this approach as everyone knows Canada is a huge country.
6) Your LinkedIn profile should be formatted in a professional manner.
7) You should possess soft skills and try to soften your accent. They can be prejudicial if your accent is difficult to be understood.
8) A couple of sites to check for job ads which include: eluta.ca, linkedin job search, indeed.ca, Workopolis.ca, monster.ca. Also check the provincial and municipal websites for jobs placement ads.
9) Cover Letters are crucial. Read the job description and highlight in your cover letter previous experience you have that demonstrates you are a candidate for the job.
I came here to Edmonton, Alberta last year in November. I didn't a get until about second week in February though but within this interval from Nov-Feb, had about five interviews. God was faithful that even when I did eventually get a job, I quitted after a week as I got an even rewarding and high profile job within the provincial government. My wife was smarter than me; she landed a job within two weeks!
I intend to write a blog post to elaborate on how to land your first job during the weekend. Please kindly visit my blog at
www[dot]leavingforcanada[dot]com and do not forget to subscribe to be notified by email whenever a new post is published. Feel free to leave me a comment there and I will respond to emails within 24 hrs.
Good luck everyone
