wayne-Niki

Well I’ve been in Richmond BC on my Bunac w/p now for 1mth, I’ve been looking for work for over 3 weeks now but no joy. Our plan was to come out here whilst our PR app (submitted Feb 06) was processing. If we gain employment then we would apply for a LMO to bridge the gap – or the LMO would speed up the PR. Either way we do not want to go back.

Sure we were chancing things as there was no guarantee the PR would tie in with the expiry of our Bunac w/p`s, but we are giving it ago. I have varied experience 6 yrs in the Police Force (last job in UK), 1 yrs accounts experience in 2001-2002 and 6 yrs sales prior to that. However with all this experience I’m still finding it hard to get a job even in entry level accounts or admin. I’ve applied for a number of jobs, registered with 5 agencies but still no joy.

I still have 11 mths left a miracle may still happen, any advice of help would be appreciated.

Judy in Calgary

Wayne-Niki, I have no idea what you have or haven't done so far, so I'll provide a list that's based on the assumption that you've done nothing -- just so I don't miss anything critical. This is not just for you, but for others who might be in the same position.

• Turn your British CV into a Canadian resume.
  
  
• Since you have varied experience, create two or three different versions of your resume, each emphasizing different skills.
  
  
• Tell everyone you meet that you're looking for a job. I mean everyone, even the checkout clerk at the supermarket when you're paying for your groceries.
  
  
• Ask people if you can pick their brains over a cup of coffee. When you have these informational interviews, ask people what's going on in their industry. Ask them if they know anyone who's hiring. Ask them for names of specific people in companies. Ask them about the pay scales in the field in which they work. (Information about pay is useful, because it's not productive for someone in your position to hold out for too much money. If anything, it would help you to get your toe in the door if you aimed a little low.)
  
  
• Go to meetings of groups that have interests in common with you. Since you were a police officer, perhaps you're interested in fitness. But perhaps you're also interested in knitting or kite flying or who knows what. It doesn't matter. Find some group with which you share an interest, and attend its meetings. Use the Meetup website to find groups in your geographic area.
  
  
• Attend events organized by Brits2Vancouver.
  
  
• Do a Google search for a job finding club in your area, and join it.
  
  
• Volunteer to coach a local kids' soccer team.
  
  
• Enroll in an evening course that's of interest to you.
  
  
• If anyone lets you know about a job vacancy or grants you an informational interview, follow up with a thank you email or phone call to that person.
  
  
• If you implement even some of these networking strategies, you should find out about job vacancies.
  
  
• When you apply for each vacancy, tweak your resume to emphasize the fit between your skills and experience and the needs of that specific company and the department in which you'd be working.
  
  
• Write a covering letter, if possible addressed to a specific person in the company, drawing attention to a couple of ways in which you'd be able to meet that company's / department's needs.
  
  
• About a week after the company could be expected to have received your resume, phone up the person to whom you addressed your covering letter and ask them how they're coming along with their search for a _______ [fill in the blank].
  
  
• Rehearse hypothetical interviews with your other half or someone else.
  
  
• If you have a tape recorder, write a list of questions, tape yourself answering the questions, and listen to the tape of yourself afterwards. This is a very illuminating exercise.
  
  
• If you're invited to a real interview, follow up the next day with a thank you note or email to the interviewer. Compliment the company on some positive facet of its operations that you found out during the interview, and use the opportunity to say that you believe your experience in ______ [fill in the blank] would be a good fit for the company's needs in ________ [fill in the blank].
  
  
• If you haven't heard anything about 10 days after the interview, phone the interviewer and ask him/her how he/she is coming along with his/her search for a ______ [fill in the blank].
  
  
• If the interviewer says he/she has hired someone else, ask what decided him/her in favour of the successful candidate. Ask the interviewer if there is something you could do that would make you more attractive to other employers like him/herself.
  
  
• Through your networking efforts you should find out about vacancies. But if you are not finding out about enough vacancies through networking, look at the job ads in the career section of the newspaper, and read the Wiki called Finding Job Opportunties to find out other ways of identifying vacancies.
  
  
• You need to do this fulltime. As the saying goes, treat your job hunt as if it's a job in its own right.

Hope that helps.
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Judy in Calgary

Something I've figured out only relatively recently is the idea of creating a spreadsheet to keep track of contacts.

In my case, I need to track customers, e.g., if I've made a commitment to call So And So back on Thursday. If one builds a large enough group of people with whom one is in contact, one needs a system for organizing the information, otherwise it can get away on one.

For job hunting, an Excel spreadsheet should be good enough.
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wayne-Niki

Judy,

Thankyou for all your info, a great help in a number of areas. Ive read your PM and I will make contact in a couple of days once I have read all the info and ajusted a few things.

Thanks once again.

Surrey Expat

A relatively inexpensive program that works well for keeping track of contacts is Maximiser.

Judy in Calgary

I've used my responses as the basis of a new Wiki article called Quick Job Hunting Instructions.

Surrey Expat, I included a mention of Maximizer.

I've divided the Wiki into two sections, one for those still in the UK and one for those already in Canada.

Any improvements to the Wiki would be most welcome.
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Mike1967

Hi Wayne-Niki,

If you have no joy with Judy's tips, you could consider moving somewhere most Canadians don't want to go (generally North!!!).

We did the same as you on a BUNAC visa 3 1/2 years ago, took jobs in the North (Prince George) to did exactly what you want to do.

We used to be Police Officers in a past life!!! Whilst it is a great talking point and shows rounded skills, I would use it purely as a way of getting through the door in interviews and then push your Accounting / Sales skills....................... this is just my opinion (from our experience). Most of the jobs that relate to the Police require PR as a minimum.

Good luck with your search, the North is not as bad as people make out!!!

Cheers,

Mike

san38

hello nikki wayne,

Richmond is a very difficult area to find work, due to the ethnic population in that little town. They only employ their own kind, this information was passed on to me the hotel staff.

I would advise you to move into another area and perhaps look at attending evening classes. I found that the locals where not very friendly in richmond.

Also properties in richmond is veeeeeeeeery expensive.

Sorry i just tell it as it is.

bazzz

Apparently there are still 40% whities there, so it shouldn't be impossible. Although I imagine being able to speak Cantonese could be a requirement for a lot of jobs.

wayne-Niki

Thanks to everyone for their advice, some very helpful points and tips.