Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Hi there,

It's been a while since I was on here and a lot has changed. I've been living in Nova Scotia since April as I was lucky enough to find an employer who wanted to bring me over. I'm loving it and so happy that I made the move. The thing missing is my husband! He stayed behind to sell the house and hopefully find a job, but it's not going to plan. The house is still on the market with only one viewing and although hubby has updated his resume to say that he can start work straight away he's not getting any responses, at all :(

We had decided that he'd move over when either the house is sold or he gets a job, but nothing is biting. We've had friends in his line of work look at his resume and they say it's great. We also, have friends who have forwarded his resume to people looking for staff. He's applied for countless jobs and still nothing. He's even been over and walked into loads of places we knew were hiring. He's really well educated and worked for a big company in the UK for 20+ years and has great references. We just don't understand it and he's starting to get really downhearted about it. Plus, financially it's starting to hit us as our savings have gone so he has can't just move over as we won't be able to afford the house in the UK.

Anyone else been in a similar situation? Does anyone have any advice on how to get this moving along so we can get him here asap?

Any help will be gratefully received

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

That must be frustrating for him.

What does he do for a living? Does he need Provincial Certification - is it a Regulated profession or trade?
Does he have Permanent Residency or an open Work permit in place already?
Unfortunately, unless his profession is one that is sought after, his UK experience and references don't really count for anything - it's Canadian work experience and references that are generally looked at positively. Has he Canadianised his resume https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Resume ?

Have you had a look at the various articles in the wiki? There's some very useful info there - if you've no time then look at the quick job hunting one for now https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Quick...uctions-Canada :)
https://britishexpats.com/wiki/Categ...Hunting-Canada


Have you considered renting your house out, if you are not likely to sell in the near future?

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Hi Siouxie,

He's a Data Analyst which he's done for many years with real success. He also has a Master Degree in Physics. We've had English and Canadian friends who are in his line of work look at it his resume, as well as agencies etc.. and he's not had any negative feedback. He's got an open work permit and our PR application has been submitted. There's really nothing that put an employer off. It's just not working for some reason

We looked into renting the house out, but there are houses being rented in our area for less than we pay on the mortgage so we wouldn't be able to afford to make up the difference. Plus, we did this before and the loopy juice tenant ended up costing us $1,000's in unpaid rent and damages. I'd avoid it now if possible.

I'm seriously considering giving it till Xmas, and if he still hasn't had any luck going back and starting again myself.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Good that he's making contacts and developing a network - that's usually key to finding a job here. Friends (English or Canadian) may not be that knowledgeable about what employers will look for in the resume - a lot of the time it's not generic but specific to the job applied for (particularly the cover letter) and using key words used in the advert in the resume. So much is done with automated software now when picking candidates. Does he have a Canadian (or at least a Gmail) email rather than a UK ISP one - and does he have a local phone number for them to contact him on? Has he included in his cover letter that he is legally able to work in Canada rather than putting down 'work permit' or whatever - many employers won't understand and think it's temporary or they need to obtain an LMIA in order to employ him... (grasping at straws, just trying to think of all aspects)...


Has he contacted these people? Seems like they might have some jobs that would suit. You can designate different city - I just chose Halifax for ease. They are approved for the Global Talent Stream for the Atlantic Pilot Project - so will be more conversant with overseas candidates. They originally posted in our 'jobs available Canada forum' - but they are a very large company, so are likely also to have current jobs available.. worth taking a look and perhaps getting in contact with them..

https://cgi.njoyn.com/cgi/xweb/XWeb....age=joblisting
https://www.cgi.com/en/canada/careers

:)

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

My wife and I did something similar in our move to Halifax. I stayed behind to revamp our house for renting out (which has gone brilliantly so far thanks to a cracking agent). I must have made 5 trips of 3-4 weeks each over to go job hunting and I finally got the nibble that enabled me to pull the trigger and move. Halifax is a weird market to job hunt in. I put out lots of resumes to different places, updated my LinkedIn, walked the streets and visited offices, went to job fairs etc. The job fair thing was informative inasmuch as I understood that, here at least, you need to get in front of a human being. Once you do that, at least in my line of work, they really do make good efforts to see how they can take you on (I am presuming the existence of relevant experience). The issue is getting in front of a human, even with agencies. I had applied to several companies on line and got turned down every time. When I met the "talent acquisition manager" for one of these companies, she was giving me her card and trying to set up a meeting. Rambling response but I hope it gives a bit of additional comment to the very good ones above.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Thanks for the responses. The link you sent me Siouxie is great thank you. As it happens one of our friends is a Manager at the company in the link (small world). He did look at hubby's resume and gave him some contacts for job openings but alas nothing yet. I've sent the stuff to my O/H to see if it's of any interest to him.

Hubby has been over once, but finances and work commitments make it hard. It's like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place! We're crossing fingers and toes that the house sells and he can come over with some cash in his pocket and do the job search while here. Perhaps we need to change our tatics somewhat.

Hopefully, this will blow over and we'll be wondering what the stress was about in a few months. But like I said earlier, if he's not here by Xmas I'm not staying here indefinitely on my own regardless of how much I like it here. It's no fun without your O/H

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

An acquaintance did that many years ago, could not find the job he wanted, ended up in fast food, became a manager, went on and got a job more in his field a few years later. Retired from it with a small pension, does his own thing no. His dream job never did come along, but he did OK.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

That's close to what I did. Except when I moved and was living locally, I got a job within a week. Data analyst is quite a broad job description. It may be that his tool set needs updating. Does he know Caldera? Is he using Tableau or OBIEE?

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Thanks guys

Our house in on as cheap as we can go. We've priced it so we can cover the outstanding mortgage, fee's and have enough left to buy hubby a cheap car, that's it. The problem is in our area, there are quite a few house for sale and some are stupidly cheap (although they are in really bad condition). We have gone in at less than market value in the hope that it'll peak someones interest.

We've spoken many times about him lowering his expectations about a job and it's not something he's prepared to do, at least till he gets here that is. I think once he's here he'll take any job to get some money coming in so the priority is to get the house sold above all else.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

Has he considered consultancy work and/or signing up with agencies? I would also suggest he has a strong profile on LinkedIn (clearly show his experience, technology etc.) and show that he is open to opportunities (this is an option on his profile) and also be very clear about his working status and availability to start work with a date or timeline. As a corporate recruiter, I used LinkedIn A LOT to find candidates for roles and more and more companies are doing this now.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

We just took the plunge and both quit and came over and started the job hunt more or less immediately. My partner found a job after a month whereas I was unemployed for 2.5 months before getting a good job. Emotionally It can be demoralizing and he should expect to get alot of negativity about lacking Canadian experience etc.

I just don't think there's a better way than being here and seeing the lay of the land and speaking to people. The biggest problem I found was the incredibly long recruiting process some companies have here, so you might hear nothing for a couple of months after you apply and then they call you out of the blue.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

I cant add anything new to what has already been said. The chances of finding the right job immediately are very slim. He will find "a job" as soon as he is based in NS, will it be what he wants, most likely not, but it will help pay some bills until he finds something suitable. I was working within 3 days of arriving, albeit in an entry level job, but it took me 10 years and changing provinces, away from NS, to get back to the same level that I was when I left the UK. I was told on 5 occasions in NS that my resume and skills were exactly what they wanted, but to come back when I was Canadian...just they way it is there often.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

It does however happen.

Re: Hubby needs help finding a job. What's going wrong?
 

So does winning the lotto.