My settlement experience

[DEEPCUR]

I feel it was important to share my experience everyone has a different one however it is important people have use to all possible stories and information before making immigration decisions. Reality is most countries Europe Australia etc they like international experience and networking volunteering and working for free and volunteering are not usually required to get a job. It's a lot of hard work much harder than many countries to get into professions and it's good for people to know this so they can make informed decisions about life choices.

I don't know about Europe, but Australia has this problem with new immigrants too. You might not be exposed to it because you are a local there. There are tons of similar struggle stories in Australia with new permanent resident too. There is an emphasis on local experience in Australia as well. It is no better, no worse in that aspect. I know people have returned back home from Australia too after several months of struggle without any meaningful job or even volunteering positions. In immigrant world Australia is another Canada with better weather.

 

[emamabd]

In immigrant world Australia is another Canada with better weather.

True, i know a friend who worked for a long time in one of the Global Mobile Telecom Giants (his last position before immigrating to Australia was "Director - Project Management" in Germany), and he couldn't even get an interview for entry and mid level positions in his field for over a year.

However, my brother who's a Senior Software developer secured his first job in Australia 3 months after immigrating.I think it largely depends on the field/ job market demand and yes, from this point of view Australia and Canada are quite similar.

I think the key is to do some research in advance, identify target city/cities based on skills demand, shortlist target companies and try to build/find a connection to set a foot in the door.

 

[emamabd]

I even had one call centre tell me after an interview my accent would make it to hard for people to understand me so was rejected on this basis . First time as a white Australian I've ever been racially discriminated against.

Quite surprising, but don't take it personal...i know you've left, but if you had persisted more it would've worked out one way or another....every immigrant has his own success story, and whats common among most is - the struggle at the beginning.

 

[mattjp1]

Sorry to hear about your experience.

However I see no racial discrimination here (just a not so delicate recruiter/company) and details about healthcare system/transportation/job markets etc... that was not difficult to check before moving there. I currently live in Tokyo and certainly not expecting the same public transportation system in Canada.

As someone said above, as new immigrants, we have to take the good, the bad and the ugly. I strongly believe that Canada doesn't have to adapt to us, we have to adapt to the country.

Good luck in your next move though!

 

[kaegon]

If you will listen, dont waste your time applying for survival jobs. I applied for over 100 jobs on indeed and other sites, yielded nothing within a one month period. Even walmart and retail shops refused to hire me with a masters degree. You will be shocked. I can do whatever their staff members are doing and beyond!!! I was gradually becoming unhappy. THE DISCRIMINATION IS REAL--DUE TO LACK OF CANADIAN EXPERIENCE. These employers are choosy over their lowly paid minimum wage jobs. Visit immigrant organisations and get into a skilled trade. That is what gives job in Canada. You can ask any Canadian if you doubt me. Attend job fairs and network like crazy. As for me, I didn't fly 17 hrs from my country Nigeria to settle for a lowly paid survival job. I am worth a 6-figure pay check!!!

 

[pie_vancouver]

Just want to share:
http://www.zero2hired.com/blog/how-i-got-3-job-offers-in-2-weeks-as-a-new-immigrant-to-canada

 

[APPNOV2014NY]

If you will listen, dont waste your time applying for survival jobs. I applied for over 100 jobs on indeed and other sites, yielded nothing within a one month period. Even walmart and retail shops refused to hire me with a masters degree. You will be shocked. I can do whatever their staff members are doing and beyond!!! I was gradually becoming unhappy. THE DISCRIMINATION IS REAL--DUE TO LACK OF CANADIAN EXPERIENCE. These employers are choosy over their lowly paid minimum wage jobs. Visit immigrant organisations and get into a skilled trade. That is what gives job in Canada. You can ask any Canadian if you doubt me. Attend job fairs and network like crazy. As for me, I didn't fly 17 hrs from my country Nigeria to settle for a lowly paid survival job. I am worth a 6-figure pay check!!!

Walmart/Retail jobs are not really survival jobs. People spend their lifetime doing these.These big companies spend lots of money in training and would not want to hire an over-qualified person knowing that he/she will leave as soon as a better opportunity comes up in his/her field.

 

[mattjp1]

If you will listen, dont waste your time applying for survival jobs. I applied for over 100 jobs on indeed and other sites, yielded nothing within a one month period. Even walmart and retail shops refused to hire me with a masters degree. You will be shocked. I can do whatever their staff members are doing and beyond!!! I was gradually becoming unhappy. THE DISCRIMINATION IS REAL--DUE TO LACK OF CANADIAN EXPERIENCE. These employers are choosy over their lowly paid minimum wage jobs. Visit immigrant organisations and get into a skilled trade. That is what gives job in Canada. You can ask any Canadian if you doubt me. Attend job fairs and network like crazy. As for me, I didn't fly 17 hrs from my country Nigeria to settle for a lowly paid survival job. I am worth a 6-figure pay check!!!

Sorry but I see a lot of frustration and generalization here.

1. Unless you can prove otherwise, you have not been discriminated. "Lack of Canada experience" is not a discrimination. I am landing soon and am facing this issue, yet do not consider myself being a victim of discrimination (I work in HR).
2. "Ask any Canadian if you doubt me" -> are you expecting any Canadian to back up what you are saying?
3. Regarding your flight and you "6 figure pay check" --> noone forced you to move to Canada and endure such a long flight or going through the long immigration and integration process. That was your choice. If you believe you can get better back home, why would you want to immigrate to another country?

I don't mean to be rude, but before talking about "discrimination", you might want to get some proofs. I appreciate that we are on an online forum, what we say is anonymous etc... but you probably wouldn't say this to someone face to face without being able to back it up with proofs, right?

Applying to 100 jobs is not uncommon. People apply for hundreds jobs before being able to get one. This is called a job market and employers have a large talents pool to chose from, according to their own hiring criteria that you do not know. Other people (including Canadian nationals) might have also faced rejection for the same job, yet do they complain about discrimination?

 

[vensak]

Sorry but I see a lot of frustration and generalization here.

1. Unless you can prove otherwise, you have not been discriminated. "Lack of Canada experience" is not a discrimination. I am landing soon and am facing this issue, yet do not consider myself being a victim of discrimination (I work in HR).
2. "Ask any Canadian if you doubt me" -> are you expecting any Canadian to back up what you are saying?
3. Regarding your flight and you "6 figure pay check" --> noone forced you to move to Canada and endure such a long flight or going through the long immigration and integration process. That was your choice. If you believe you can get better back home, why would you want to immigrate to another country?

I don't mean to be rude, but before talking about "discrimination", you might want to get some proofs. I appreciate that we are on an online forum, what we say is anonymous etc... but you probably wouldn't say this to someone face to face without being able to back it up with proofs, right?

Applying to 100 jobs is not uncommon. People apply for hundreds jobs before being able to get one. This is called a job market and employers have a large talents pool to chose from, according to their own hiring criteria that you do not know. Other people (including Canadian nationals) might have also faced rejection for the same job, yet do they complain about discrimination?

1. In Ontario "lack of Canadian experience" is a an officially recognized form of discrimination and it is forbidden to use it. So now they are using phrases like - lack of knowledge of local market (for those that deal with suppliers or customers). However in many other professions this does not matter. The real reason for such discrimination is the fear to hire foreigner who might have problem to deal with the company culture how to deal with things.
2. If you search online, you will find testimonials of Canadians that went through the same discrimination, because either they have studied abroad or they have work abroad and after some time returning back, they had problems to get any interview.
3. Yes it is true, that in many cases you will begin below your previous work position. That is the cost for the immigration. And while this is not a problem for many, for some this might be too difficult. Part of his bitter experience were wrong choices of the market where the competition was too high and where he was lacking some important aspects (social network among others)

I do not mean to be rude, but as an HR, you should be aware, what is behind the famous "Canadian experience".

 

[russ6970]

It sounds like you were way over qualified for the jobs you mentioned. Therefore, the employers will not take a chance knowing that you may leave sooner or later when a job suiting your ambitions comes up. That happens all over the world I'm afraid, not just here

 

[mattjp1]

1. In Ontario "lack of Canadian experience" is a an officially recognized form of discrimination and it is forbidden to use it. So now they are using phrases like - lack of knowledge of local market (for those that deal with suppliers or customers). However in many other professions this does not matter. The real reason for such discrimination is the fear to hire foreigner who might have problem to deal with the company culture how to deal with things.
2. If you search online, you will find testimonials of Canadians that went through the same discrimination, because either they have studied abroad or they have work abroad and after some time returning back, they had problems to get any interview.
3. Yes it is true, that in many cases you will begin below your previous work position. That is the cost for the immigration. And while this is not a problem for many, for some this might be too difficult. Part of his bitter experience were wrong choices of the market where the competition was too high and where he was lacking some important aspects (social network among others)

I do not mean to be rude, but as an HR, you should be aware, what is behind the famous "Canadian experience".

OK let's go point by point, Mr smart boy.

1. It is not. What is "forbidden", is to write in a job ad "Canadian experience mandatory". While this is certainly a grey area, a lot of countries are doing the same. If you believe this is a discrimination, take a Lawyer, go to the court and come back telling us what the result is.

• "Do not require Canadian job experience in a job posting or ad, or ask for qualifications that could only be obtained by working in Canada."
• The policy, which isn’t a law, says employers and regulatory bodies shouldn’t “discount an applicant’s foreign work experience or assign it less weight.”

Source: hrmonline.ca
Source 2: OHRC

2. "Testimonials of Canadians" doesn't equal to "All Canadians". OP (edit: sorry not OP, just the message I initially quoted) wrote "Ask any Canadian". Get my point here?
3. Again, this is up to everyone. Noone is forcing us to immigrate to another country.

 

[tonygunk]

If you will listen, dont waste your time applying for survival jobs. I applied for over 100 jobs on indeed and other sites, yielded nothing within a one month period. Even walmart and retail shops refused to hire me with a masters degree. You will be shocked. I can do whatever their staff members are doing and beyond!!! I was gradually becoming unhappy. THE DISCRIMINATION IS REAL--DUE TO LACK OF CANADIAN EXPERIENCE. These employers are choosy over their lowly paid minimum wage jobs. Visit immigrant organisations and get into a skilled trade. That is what gives job in Canada. You can ask any Canadian if you doubt me. Attend job fairs and network like crazy. As for me, I didn't fly 17 hrs from my country Nigeria to settle for a lowly paid survival job. I am worth a 6-figure pay check!!!

Well what's stopping you from going back to your country? You just don't expect to arrive to a new country as an immigrant and declare that you're worth a 6-figure paycheck, this country doesn't owe you anything buddy. That's a ridiculous attitude to have in the beginning, just FYI.

I spent 3 months looking for jobs, yeah even I expected to land at least an entry level job owing to my vast international experience and degrees but as someone pointed out earlier- businesses wouldn't hire me, probably due to Over qualification or lack of Canadian experience. But I didn't give up and I recently landed a decent survival job which is helping me settle down and hopefully in the future I will work my way to a better job.

When you land here, you should expect to start from the bottom and make it to the top. This is a new country and your past doesn't mean a lot here, so expect a rough beginning. And if you survive that, things would possibly get better. Stop giving excuses and work for your future.

 

[mattjp1]

Well what's stopping you from going back to your country? You just don't expect to arrive to a new country as an immigrant and declare that you're worth a 6-figure paycheck, this country doesn't owe you anything buddy. That's a ridiculous attitude to have in the beginning, just FYI.

I spent 3 months looking for jobs, yeah even I expected to land at least an entry level job owing to my vast international experience and degrees but as someone pointed out earlier- businesses wouldn't hire me, probably due to Over qualification or lack of Canadian experience. But I didn't give up and I recently landed a decent survival job which is helping me settle down and hopefully in the future I will work my way to a better job.

When you land here, you should expect to start from the bottom and make it to the top. This is a new country and your past doesn't mean a lot here, so expect a rough beginning. And if you survive that, things would possibly get better. Stop giving excuses and work for your future.

Hats off, Sir.

 

[Wonderland_1010]

New immigrants should not have many high expectations when they move to a new country. This is not like moving to a new city at all. When you immigrate, everything is reset to like when you first started a new job with no experience. Many Canadian employers have the right to choose which person that fits a job position. But in my experience, you should always research the company and the job you are applying for. I always get reviews back from each employer after every interview to see what should I make up for when going for a interview. Also I ask a lot of questions from people who have similar job positions to prepare for any questions asked during the interview. This will show that you are well prepared and is willing to research on your own time about the job. Many employers like that.

 

[jammin24]

New immigrants should not have many high expectations when they move to a new country. This is not like moving to a new city at all. When you immigrate, everything is reset to like when you first started a new job with no experience. Many Canadian employers have the right to choose which person that fits a job position. But in my experience, you should always research the company and the job you are applying for. I always get reviews back from each employer after every interview to see what should I make up for when going for a interview. Also I ask a lot of questions from people who have similar job positions to prepare for any questions asked during the interview. This will show that you are well prepared and is willing to research on your own time about the job. Many employers like that.

I don't agree with the first part of this. The basis of Canada's immigration policy is to attract highly skilled and educated people into its workforce. The implication is that there are jobs available that will be able to utilize the skills and experience that immigrants bring. The problem is the disconnect between government policies and inward-looking companies that prefer to employ locals with fewer skills or less education over foreigners. It's false advertising on the part of the government whose real purpose is simply to expand its tax base to fund an ageing population, so once the immigrants are here, it doesn't really have much incentive to ensure that their skills and education are being put to good use. It's such a waste.

In my case, I would never have moved if I hadn't had a job lined up (I worked for a global company in my last place and was able to get a job in the office here). I'm so far along in my career that it would have made no sense for me to start over... it would have been a waste of the last several years of my life. I'm sure that's the case for many others. The Canadian immigration system implies that you can pick up around where you left off, but the reality is far different.