Is LinkedIn mandatory for IT job hunting in Canada?

[Bloodrose]

I've never struggled to find work without it in my home country (the UK) however I'm planning to return to Canada next year after moving away from there a few years ago and the research I've done online so far seems to suggest that LinkedIn is really important in the Canadian job market. In my line of work (IT/DevOps) it is a platform that most people tend to use however I personally hate it and have always ignored UK IT recruiters requests to join their network. I do have an account that I've used to message people once or twice when I couldn't find any other means to do so but I've never actually added any personal info on it.

The last time I lived in Canada my job was secured by a recruiter finding me on one of the job websites so I guess my question is this: Is a LinkedIn profile absolutely necessary to secure a good job in Canada these days especially without a large personal network or can just looking for work using the normal job websites be sufficient?

 

[scylla]

I've never struggled to find work without it in my home country (the UK) however I'm planning to return to Canada next year after moving away from there a few years ago and the research I've done online so far seems to suggest that LinkedIn is really important in the Canadian job market. In my line of work (IT/DevOps) it is a platform that most people tend to use however I personally hate it and have always ignored UK IT recruiters requests to join their network. I do have an account that I've used to message people once or twice when I couldn't find any other means to do so but I've never actually added any personal info on it.

The last time I lived in Canada my job was secured by a recruiter finding me on one of the job websites so I guess my question is this? Is a LinkedIn profile absolutely necessary to secure a good job in Canada these days especially without a large personal network or can just looking for work using the normal job websites be sufficient?

It's really your choice.

IMO a LinkedIn profile is good to have. Even if you are not job hunting through LinkedIn, potential employers will often look you up on LinkedIn as well as looking at your resume.

I would personally make sure your page is updated with your history while you are job hunting. You can always remove this content once you have a job to avoid the irritating recruiters (that's what I do).

Ultimately your call.

 

[Bloodrose]

It's really your choice.

IMO a LinkedIn profile is good to have. Even if you are not job hunting through LinkedIn, potential employers will often look you up on LinkedIn as well as looking at your resume.

I would personally make sure your page is updated with your history while you are job hunting. You can always remove this content once you have a job to avoid the irritating recruiters (that's what I do).

Ultimately your call.

Cheers, I thought that might be the answer. I'll probably just end up updating it a few months before I leave for Canada and then follow your advice and close it off again as soon as I've (hopefully) secured a job there.

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

 

[scylla]

Cheers, I thought that might be the answer. I'll probably just end up updating it a few months before I leave for Canada and then follow your advice and close it off again as soon as I've (hopefully) secured a job there.

Thanks so much for the quick reply.

Yes - just do that.

The economy is going to suck for a while so you don't want to put yourself at a disadvantage.

Having said that, I'm with you on LinkedIn being irrtating. I remove details when I'm not looking to try to keep the recruiter noise to a minimum.

 

[Bloodrose]

Yes - just do that.

The economy is going to suck for a while so you don't want to put yourself at a disadvantage.

Having said that, I'm with you on LinkedIn being irrtating. I remove details when I'm not looking to try to keep the recruiter noise to a minimum.

Well that's my other concern. I'm not planning to relocate until early 2021 but my biggest worry atm is what the Canadian job market will look like especially because I worry about more companies looking into outsourcing and distance-based home working after Covid is over.

 

[scylla]

Well that's my other concern. I'm not planning to relocate until early 2021 but my biggest worry atm is what the Canadian job market will look like especially because I worry about more companies looking into outsourcing and distance-based home working after Covid is over.

Honestly - it's so hard to say.

I'm not sure there's going to be more outsourcing (as in off-shore outsourcing). If anything I think the volume of off-shore outsourcing may go down or the model will completely change. There are tons of off shore clean rooms that have been shut down as a result of COVID-19 and this is creating challenges in deliverying off-shore services since in many cases companies are OK with a clean room set up but not OK with WFH in the same country locations due to concerns related to data, privacy, etc. It's kind of a mess.

I think the bigger question is how will the economy be doing at that point and what will be the health of various indutries and segments of the business sector. Really hard to say...

 

[Bloodrose]

Honestly - it's so hard to say.

I'm not sure there's going to be more outsourcing (as in off-shore outsourcing). If anything I think the volume of off-shore outsourcing may go down or the model will completely change. There are tons of off shore clean rooms that have been shut down as a result of COVID-19 and this is creating challenges in deliverying off-shore services since in many cases companies are OK with a clean room set up but not OK with WFH in the same country locations due to concerns related to data, privacy, etc. It's kind of a mess.

I think the bigger question is how will the economy be doing at that point and what will be the health of various indutries and segments of the business sector. Really hard to say...

Thanks, that's really useful info. I'll need to keep an eye on things over the next few months I think. Your off-shore argument makes total sense now I think about it. I can't imagine how many businesses have been severely impacted by offshore call centres and NOC's in India closing down over the last few months. Some of those risks probably went unconsidered before this year.

 

[scylla]

Thanks, that's really useful info. I'll need to keep an eye on things over the next few months I think. Your off-shore argument makes total sense now I think about it. I can't imagine how many businesses have been severely impacted by offshore call centres and NOC's in India closing down over the last few months. Some of those risks probably went unconsidered before this year.

Tons have been impacted. It's a scenario that no one planned for.

The large company I work has stood up an entire centralized team to help to manage through clean room shut downs. Some activities have been repatriated (i.e. brought back onshore), some can't be, some have gotten exceptions, in some cases you're just SOL until the clean rooms are operational again.

I've been hit. I'm trying to get an exception in one case but it's looking like I'm going to end up in the SOL bucket.

 

[canuck78]

UK will face similar issues if not more issues due to Brexit. Would agree that an updated LinkedIn is a must these days for professional jobs. I see you landed in 2018. Make sure you leave yourself some buffer time. We see so many people who move close to the 3 year limit and the realize they are in trouble when they need to attend to a family emergency or have a job that requires quite a lot of business travel.

 

[Bloodrose]

UK will face similar issues if not more issues due to Brexit. Would agree that an updated LinkedIn is a must these days for professional jobs. I see you landed in 2018. Make sure you leave yourself some buffer time. We see so many people who move close to the 3 year limit and the realize they are in trouble when they need to attend to a family emergency or have a job that requires quite a lot of business travel.

Thanks, I have to leave a few months ahead of my 3 year landing anniversary anyway due to when my PRTD expires. Ideally I would leave it a little while longer to allow for more post-Covid recovery time but that isn't likely to be an option for me sadly.

I agree with you regarding the UK situation though. The UK will be facing Brexit in a little over 6 months from now plus potential economic and employment fallout from the end of the government furlough program so I'd be running a gauntlet either way.

 

[Bloodrose]

Tons have been impacted. It's a scenario that no one planned for.

The large company I work has stood up an entire centralized team to help to manage through clean room shut downs. Some activities have been repatriated (i.e. brought back onshore), some can't be, some have gotten exceptions, in some cases you're just SOL until the clean rooms are operational again.

I've been hit. I'm trying to get an exception in one case but it's looking like I'm going to end up in the SOL bucket.

I'm sorry to hear that. I currently do DevOps for a cloud-based software company so I've just been working from home throughout the UK's lockdown period. Hopefully things will pick up and get back to normal for you pretty soon and thanks for all of your help and advice today, I really appreciate it.

My other concern regarding the employment situation in Canada atm is the state of affairs south of the border along with the impact of a possible political change there later this year. The last time I worked in Canada I mostly supported remote clients from the US and I get the impression that's quite common in the Canadian tech sector. A lot of the DevOps and Application Support jobs I've seen recently advertised in Canada are stipulating they want someone who can legally travel to America.