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Contents 1 Dave's Story 1.1 Why this story? 1.2 Dave's Strategy 2 Sharon's Story 3 Jon's Story 4 Other job hunting articles

[edit] Dave's Story

[edit] Why this story?

• This story is a shining example of someone who quickly found a job after his arrival in Canada.
• It is posted here to serve as an inspiration to other job hunters.
• With a certain degree of regularity, BE forum discussions arise about the hurdles immigrants encounter when they seek employment in Canada.
• Some immigrants with post graduate degrees have to accept lowly paid, menial jobs, e.g., as cleaners and burger flippers.
• Can the BE Wiki articles about job hunting provide you with advice that will guarantee you'll never be in that situation?
• No, they cannot.
• What the Wiki articles can do is assist you in minimizing your risks.
• If you follow the advice in the articles, you will increase your chances of finding work in your chosen field, and you will decrease the period during which you will need to accept lower than average wages.
• Some members of this forum were very proactive about researching Canada while they still were in the UK and networking in Canada before they'd left the UK.
• Their efforts paid off handsomely.
• They either lined up Canadian jobs before their arrival, or they found employment soon after landing in Canada.
• In some cases, they initially accepted slightly lower than average salaries, but within a couple of years worked their way up to Canadian norms.
• In other cases, they negotiated normal Canadian salaries from the start.
• The steps that follow are those that were employed by one BE member who is representative of these successful job hunters.
• He reported that he received two job offers within seven days of landing, and started in one within sixteen days.
• The account is taken from one of his posts on the forum.

[edit] Dave's Strategy

For your chosen province:

1. Research what sort of strategic direction the provincial government is taking, i.e., which areas they are focussing investment and effort on.
2. Understand the key success factors for the industries in your chosen province.
3. Start to read up on local companies and try to gather a list of target companies that might be prospective employers. (Try the local chamber of commerce, enterprise agency, etc.)
4. Carry out a recce visit of the chosen province and, before departing, mail/email target companies with the request of an information interview (include a brief resume), explaining that you are in the process of immigration and trying to establish what skills, certifications, etc., local employers are looking for. Send thank you emails / letters.
5. On return study for certifications, try to shape experience, etc., into the areas the province and your identified potential employers are moving in or supporting.
6. When you receive the visa, reconnect with the potential employers, specifically the ones who interviewed you, giving them an arrival date and asking if they would like to discuss potential employment opportunities.
7. Conduct any telephone interview as if it was face to face.
8. Arrive / Land.
9. Have the face to face interviews with those employers who have shortlisted you.
10. Accept job with a salary below what you would expect, and work your way up in the next 2 years.

[edit] Sharon's Story

• Another BE member, Sharon, demonstrated a different type of success.
• She was offered a job in a remote region to which she and her husband did not want to move.
• The good news was that this job offer, had she accepted it, would have led to a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) and a Temporary Work Permit (TWP).
• This at least told Sharon that she was LMO / TWP material.
• She decided to stick to her guns and seek the same kind of employment in a larger city that had more amenities, an international airport with non-stop flight to the UK, and so on.
• To further boost her chances, she enrolled in a part-time degree course in her field in the UK.
• In just under a year from the time that Sharon started job hunting, she was offered a job in her preferred city and has received her TWP.
• Not only that, but in a field in which shift work is common, Sharon was offered a job with regular hours (no nights and no weekends).
• Sharon's job offer had an additional benefit. Not only did it get her a TWP, but it also fast tracked her permanent residence (PR) application.
• So this is another example of research and persistence paying off.

[edit] Jon's Story

• This happened during the period 1997 - 1999. At that time, BC was in an economic slump, so things were very different from the way they are in 2008.
• Before his first visit to Vancouver/Victoria, Jon used the internet and library resources to try and identify people to make contact with during his visit.
• The on-line world was less extensive back then, but he did manage to make contact with two ex-pats who had established placement/marketing businesses, and set up an informational interview with a head-hunting firm in downtown Vancouver.
• None of these people worked in Jon's field (accounting/financial management), and he made it clear from the start that he wasn't expecting them to find him a job - just to help him with information on which he could base a decision about moving.
• The ex-pat Jon met in Victoria was very helpful, but his information was not promising. Essentially, there was not the kind of industry on the Island that matched Jon's work experience, and if he wanted to live there his best chance was to start his own business. Disappointing, but at least this told Jon that he should focus on the Lower Mainland of BC rather than on Vancouver Island.
• The head hunting firm were equally blunt. Yes, Jon would be able to find a job but, if he wanted one that was equivalent in salary and status to his UK job, he could expect to spend at least six months looking. They suggested he bring enough money to last a year!
• Wiser, better prepared, and undaunted, he sent off his application for PR as a skilled worker in May 1998. In December the visas arrived (yes, it was a different world back then), so he booked tickets to head back to Vancouver.
• Although the primary focus of this trip was somewhere to live and a school for Junior, Jon spent three days in Vancouver public library, first with a 'phone book listing out dozens of potential employers, and second with as many business/tax books as he could find to make sure he understood the difference between the tax and regulatory frameworks of Canada and the UK. In hindsight he views this as key number one to getting a job - he had to persuade employers that he knew how to file their tax returns on time.
• Key number two was making sure that a former boss was willing to give him a reference on the 'phone to Canadian employers. This was not a done thing in England and in his industry at the time.
• After returning to the UK from that second recce trip, Jon kept working on his network. He made an appointment to talk with a consultant in London who worked for a major international firm of recruiters in the finance industry. After the interview the consultant agreed to introduce Jon to a colleague in the firm's Vancouver office. Straight away Jon made contact by email and arranged to meet as soon as he arrived in Vancouver.
• Once Jon had relocated to Vancouver, the recruiter wasn't able to place Jon in a job because Jon's experience didn't match with the profile of companies the recruiter worked for. Once this was established, they talked at length about the job market and the difficulties people fresh off the boat faced. It is a problem that many face - employers want Canadian experience before they offer you a job, but without a job you can't get Canadian experience. They also talked about salaries, and the recruiter suggested a salary Jon should ask for. That was a salary that was such good value it would make it easy for the employer to overlook his lack of Canadian experience. This was key number three.
• Jon had arranged a to-do timetable with his family. The first month was settling in -- buying cars and furniture, getting Junior enrolled in school, equipping his wife's workshop, and so on.
• Serious job hunting was to start in week five.
• Jon started the week writing to all the companies he had listed in the library. This turned out to be a waste of paper and stamps.
• On the Wednesday he saw an advert in the Vancouver Sun for a job and thought, "I can do that". He faxed off his resume and was called for an interview on the Friday.
  • Key one: He knew enough of how things worked in Canada to persuade the interviewer he could do the "Canadian" part of the job.
  • Key two: The employer called Jon's ex-boss in the UK, who told him that Jon could do all the other parts of the job.
  • Key three: Jon's salary demands were the lowest of all the people whom the employer had identified as being able to do the job.
  • In relaying his story, Jon emphasized that all three "keys" had to be there. He feels that he would not have been offered the job if any one of the "keys" had been missing.
• Second interview was on Tuesday, when he was offered the job. He started work the following Monday.
• Jon said during the second interview that he would only complain about his salary twice: after six months and again after a year. After a year, unless the employer had a convincing explanation, Jon expected to be earning the same salary as a Canadian would. As it happened, his salary was adjusted after six months.
• Jon still works for the same company.
• Jon believes that his success in landing a job was at least partly attributable to the research and networking that he did before he moved to Canada as well as his flexibility after he had landed in Canada.

[edit] Other job hunting articles

• This is only one of a series of BE Wiki articles about job hunting in Canada.
• To find links to the other articles in the series, please go to Job hunting process.