IT job market - My experience

[jnathan]

ankit

would you please tell us what kinda questions do Canadian employers ask the possible employees during the interview? how much the interview is about technical and other things.

each posts of you is so encouraging for me. keep posted. cappuccino's posts are good too.
I like Thomas's posts as well.

about Resume, you gotta be 100% truthful about everything you could write on on your resume or you can write something , I mean to some extent exaggerate it. you know.

 

[MrH1B4Canada]

Here in the USA some agencies and companies not accept RESUME more than 5 pages , what about canadian employers or agencies?
My resume is too big, total 7pages (Break down from 10pages), because I worked with lots of technologies in different countries and companies.

 

[ankit_20]

Here in the USA some agencies and companies not accept RESUME more than 5 pages , what about canadian employers or agencies?
My resume is too big, total 7pages (Break down from 10pages), because I worked with lots of technologies in different countries and companies.

Resumes need to be 2 page for Canada. Your resume should be focused for the job role that you are applying, it can not be spread all over the place like some of QA, Some of BA, some of dev, and PM. You need to write all your roles correctly but focus on the role that you are applying and what are your past experiences in that role that makes you a good fit.

Read my first two posts on this thread for more Information on Resume

 

[ankit_20]

Below is Bibile for Interview Preparation by Great Explorer101
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/-t59921.0.html

ankit

would you please tell us what kinda questions do Canadian employers ask the possible employees during the interview? how much the interview is about technical and other things.

each posts of you is so encouraging for me. keep posted. cappuccino's posts are good too.
I like Thomas's posts as well.

about Resume, you gotta be 100% truthful about everything you could write on on your resume or you can write something , I mean to some extent exaggerate it. you know.

 

[syedd]

After reading all this. I could't stop myself from sharing experiences of two of my friends who are doing good jobs in canada.

One of them landed a job in Bell 4 months after his arrival and then another job within a month or so. he is working for a bank as a permanent employee at present. he says his UK experience was well weighted and he is quite happy.
2nd was the guy who i met in toronto who just did a security + certification and got the job straight away though his degree was totally different than IT. He was also from UK and seemed to be sort of satisfied. He thought wages in canada are higher than UK but for some reason he seemed to be missing London busy life!!

I am also in the same boat and been to canada twice but i find it hard to migrate to canada permanently after quitting a good job here in the UK. There are some plus in canada and so in UK but it's very very hard decision to make at this point. I have seen few people who decides to go canada instantly but regret later on their decisions. One more important thing is that normally people think that job market in canada is very tough and no one gets a professional job. that's true for may be accountants, doctors etc who need to update their qualification there in canada but not for IT professionals specially when you hold some certifications and good english skills.

 

[Cappuccino]

Here in the USA some agencies and companies not accept RESUME more than 5 pages , what about canadian employers or agencies?
My resume is too big, total 7pages (Break down from 10pages), because I worked with lots of technologies in different countries and companies.

Canadian resume is recommended to be 2 pages, no more. 1st page should contain everything they need to know about your skills and qualifications at a glance. 2nd page can have more detail about employment history etc.

So if yours is 7 pages you seriously need to trim it down! Any more than 2 pages and the resume will likely just end up in the bin.

My resume is 2 pages long - however I am preparing a portfolio of work I have been involved in from my current company and previous company, which spans 10 years, including screenshots, so that when I go to an interview and we're talking about past projects I've done I can visually show the interviewer what the application was about. This document will probably be about 30 pages includes all the screen shots.

Wayne.

 

[Cappuccino]

Wayne, I follow your posts a lot on the forum and you write some wonderful stuff. Thanks for being around.

Vancouver is not that big of a market, but I think it should be easy for you to find the job. The market is good and if you have the right resume and good preparation I see no reason for any one, not to find a good job, and top it all you are a native English speaker and very informed and logical person (your posts speak for you).

I would recommend you to read some of the tips that I have written in the beginning of this thread and they should help you to be well prepared with your job search strategy

I do not like recruiters my self but they are necassary evil. You have to use them but try to post resumes to companies directly as much as you can

OK thanks for the information

We are going to CHC London tomorrow to collect our passports with visas. Then we are landing on 27th August for a 2 week trip, during which I am hoping to arrange interviews. I was planning on emailing and telephoning companies from about 3 weeks before the trip, to see if I could secure some interviews prior to going over there.

We are provisionally staying in the Abbotsford area since we already have a 1 bedroom apartment sorted out which we are subletting from another forum member. I also have 1 interview provisionally arranged after a telephone call with them last month, although they have yet to get back to me on the exact date.

As I said to the previous poster my resume is a short, sharp 2 pages long - but I am preparing a portfolio showing the range of my development work over the past 10 years, which is about 30 pages long but includes screenshots of the software I have been involved in writing - so that when I am talking about specific projects with prospective employers I will have something to visually show them and it can act as a talking point.

I am also going to prepare samples of design documentation to bring with me to interviews.

Does this sound like a good idea?

My main focus I think will be direct contact with companies, but I am also going to try to contact a few agencies.

Wayne.

 

[ankit_20]

You have a very good plan in place. All the best

OK thanks for the information

We are going to CHC London tomorrow to collect our passports with visas. Then we are landing on 27th August for a 2 week trip, during which I am hoping to arrange interviews. I was planning on emailing and telephoning companies from about 3 weeks before the trip, to see if I could secure some interviews prior to going over there.

We are provisionally staying in the Abbotsford area since we already have a 1 bedroom apartment sorted out which we are subletting from another forum member. I also have 1 interview provisionally arranged after a telephone call with them last month, although they have yet to get back to me on the exact date.

As I said to the previous poster my resume is a short, sharp 2 pages long - but I am preparing a portfolio showing the range of my development work over the past 10 years, which is about 30 pages long but includes screenshots of the software I have been involved in writing - so that when I am talking about specific projects with prospective employers I will have something to visually show them and it can act as a talking point.

I am also going to prepare samples of design documentation to bring with me to interviews.

Does this sound like a good idea?

My main focus I think will be direct contact with companies, but I am also going to try to contact a few agencies.

Wayne.