How a survival job is effecting CV ... True or Not ?

[amaniziad]

Hi everybody,
Yesterday I visited one of my friends, we were talking about the opportunity to find a job in Canada upon arrival, I explained that I ll take any survival job until I get Canada experience or I find a suitable job . BUT , she said that , she is having a friend , traveled with her daughter ( single mother like me) and she wanted to do the same in order to take care of her daughter, pay the rent, food …etc. when she reached Canada ( Hamilton ) she was informed that if she is not starting her work record in the CV in her field (that she is willing to work on the future) , it will affect her in finding a better job (permanent) later on . her survival job will be counted a different field and she will not be accepted for any other job except the same level “ low level jobs”.

What I understood is , if for intense I start I survival job (in a shop, or a restaurant or part time job ) later on I can not work in my field ( banking /Admin.) !!! that means starting a survival job is an obstacle to get a good job on the future !!?
Please advice …. Thanks

 

[explorer101]

Hi everybody,
Yesterday I visited one of my friends, we were talking about the opportunity to find a job in Canada upon arrival, I explained that I ll take any survival job until I get Canada experience or I find a suitable job . BUT , she said that , she is having a friend , traveled with her daughter ( single mother like me) and she wanted to do the same in order to take care of her daughter, pay the rent, food ...etc. when she reached Canada ( Hamilton ) she was informed that if she is not starting her work record in the CV in her field (that she is willing to work on the future) , it will affect her in finding a better job (permanent) later on . her survival job will be counted a different field and she will not be accepted for any other job except the same level “ low level jobs”.

What I understood is , if for intense I start I survival job (in a shop, or a restaurant or part time job ) later on I can not work in my field ( banking /Admin.) !!! that means starting a survival job is an obstacle to get a good job on the future !!?
Please advice .... Thanks

The beauty of North America is that any type work is counted as work experience and any type of work is good enough for the future reference. Non working and looking for permanent job means that you never had a Canadian experience of working. If one does not work for some time then in future the employers would ask about the gap in resume, and it is considered that the resume is dead after about 4 months cause you never worked in that period.
If you get a survival job it will infact help in your bank/ admin job. You can mention about the job( survival) in your resume( dont have to write that it was a survival job) and give the local references also. Job in a shop/ restaurant means customer interaction, resolving customer issues, sales, maintaining inventory, cash dealing and this is what required to work in a bank as a teller/ CSR/ FSR. It can also help you in applying at some bigger stores like walmart etc.
You also look to get yourself enrolled with a co op program and get yourself placed as a volunteer in a bank. By doing this although you would not be paid but , will gain local experience and the same bank may absorb you or the experience would be good enough to get a job in another bank.
hope this helps

 

[amaniziad]

The beauty of North America is that any type work is counted as work experience and any type of work is good enough for the future reference. Non working and looking for permanent job means that you never had a Canadian experience of working. If one does not work for some time then in future the employers would ask about the gap in resume, and it is considered that the resume is dead after about 4 months cause you never worked in that period.
If you get a survival job it will infact help in your bank/ admin job. You can mention about the job( survival) in your resume( dont have to write that it was a survival job) and give the local references also. Job in a shop/ restaurant means customer interaction, resolving customer issues, sales, maintaining inventory, cash dealing and this is what required to work in a bank as a teller/ CSR/ FSR. It can also help you in applying at some bigger stores like walmart etc.
You also look to get yourself enrolled with a co op program and get yourself placed as a volunteer in a bank. By doing this although you would not be paid but , will gain local experience and the same bank may absorb you or the experience would be good enough to get a job in another bank.
hope this helps

thank you sooo much explorer101, ur response made me comfortable and took out some of my fears ... appreciate ur helpful information. regards

 

[draxz1289]

I was going to say the same, this is my experience

I came here in 2006 to study as an international student and graduated in 2008 I did my co-op for two terms as a database administrator though my study was in International Business. After graduation I was struggling to find a job in my field and I took up a job in a retail store just to survive. After 3 years of working and getting frustrated ( I applied for PR using that). I went back to school and had to find a co-op job again.

I though I would be in the same situation since I didn't have any solid Canadian experience (I though) so I started to apply for jobs using my retail and database experience and I was surprise to get interview calls (for my previous co-op I didnt get any interview calls) during one of the interviews for a big digital studio in downtown Toronto the interviewer totally ignored my database experience and directly asked about retail exp so I explained. After the interview I was curious so I asked them how come a mere retail experience was considered and she told me that I dealt with customers in a fast paced environment etc etc I was surprise.

Though I didn't get the internship I learnt a lot about any Canadian experience will boost your resume as long as you put it correctly, I had another interview for a different company and I got the internship
I am now interning at a big marketing company during ads for TD bank, Molson beer and BMW and they want to hire me after graduation.

Most employers dont want to see a gap in your experience and you just have to show you fresh and have a strong desire to learn.

Hey everybody has to start some where...