Hi,
I have a question from those fellows who've been in Canada for a while and succeeded to find a professional job. Was it through the infamous "Networking" or you just send out resumes?

All the best

Networking for my hubby I lucked out with a resume But Networking is such a part of life here that I have been told that 80% of jobs go that way....

Clare

Hi,

I've been looking for a professional job recently. I have actually had alot of success with my resume, 90% sucess rate! I have a number of interviews lined up. One of them is a direct result of networking though!

So don't think you can't get anywhere by just sending your resume. It's just that there are alot of hidden jobs that you'll never hear about unless you network.

I still need to network some more!

Good Luck
Int

Both. No amount of networking will get you a job if your resume is sloppy. Networking is a great way to find out about the hidden opportunities, but you still need to make an impression to land the job. I have seen estimates that only between 5 and 30% of jobs are advertised, whether the rest are filled from networking contacts or from resumes on file is anyones guess.

An example...I was looking for a job after being laid off and bumped into a former collegue in Sears who told me his employer was looking for an engineer and that I should send a resume (although it wasnt directly in my field) I applied anyway, having taylored my resume as best as I could, and mentioned as references a couple of people I know who worked there who had worked with me before. I was one of about 10 people interviewed, and was lucky enough to land the job. Having seen some of the resumes of other applicants, many were very well qualified, but there resumes were muddled.

Had they just had my resume on file, without the personal touch of knowing some people there I doubt I would have even made the interview list.

Good luck

Iain

Sending out the right resume tailored for that particular job, will get you an interview, but don't expect questions about your studies or what not. Most of the questions are kind of like real life questions, like "was there a time you had to deal with a difficult task with a client, how did you tackle it"?

Most of my interviewers at the time, didn't really want to see my degree, they just wanted to know how you would handle different kind of situations when confronted with it. I will say networking is the best chance of landing a job from my experience, and that goes for canadians I know.

My wife landed her job with the help of a friend that was leaving the company at the time, to take up another post somewhere else. I landed mine with the help of my wife, because she had access to the internal job posting, I still had to attend the interview though, and 3 days later, I was told I got the job.

Like I said here before, this company is one of the biggest in canada, with offices in Europe, USA, and all over canada, and everyone there is related somehow, it's scary, and the lady managers that I set up with Lotus Notes and other programs, and resolve their laptop and desktop issues, seem to bring in all their friends, as I can hear them talking about what they are doing next, or somewhere they went to

That has been my experience as well, but then UK interviews were pretty much like that too.

Ladies / Gents

An interesting subject, Networking

Just a wee question or have I missed the boat on this one,

How do you start networking via the UK to Cananda to start obtaining contacts in workplaces etc, where do you start, how do you start !!!!
I would love to get my CV off to all these far away places, do you just send one away via E mail and take it from there.

MMMMM me thinks it is not as simple as people make out, or maybe I am wrong !!!!!!!

A sumwhat confused Eddie hoping to make the big move to Vancouver from a wet Glasgow

Have a look at the resume writing info on Workopolis & Monster - a resume is different from a CV. Post your resume online - agents do actually look at them. Set up job searches - vacancy information will be emailed to you - then email away.

In the meantime learn to play golf