glparker4

I am planning an exploratory trip to Calgary and Edmonton soon and seeking potential networking leads and any useful info BE members may provide beyond the helpful wiki articles. While Vancouver was originally my first choice, I am still considering Calgary and Edmonton as my research has indicated both are immigrant friendly, high availability of jobs, high quality of life, and lower cost of living (especially Edmonton).

I am in the IT industry with 10 years experience including networking, Exchange, RUP, UML, and development experience in ASP.NET and VB. I have researched career fairs but it seems that the results from these are mixed. I have also found much advice on this site against using recruiting agencies. However, I recently had my selection interview at the Canadian Consulate in Detroit and passed easily, so I am not seeking an LMO type sponsorship. I am doing my medical tests tomorrow which indicates from other experiences that I am only 2-3 months away from receiving my visa.

I have included this information in my cover letter which it seems that many hiring managers do not even read. Others have produced similar responses to: "Thanks but we need somebody now" and "Look us up when you get here." I would like to start networking now to see why opportunities may be available. Thanks in advance for help and making this an awesome site!

Judy in Calgary

I don't know what advice about recruiting agencies you read and when you read it.

The Wiki called Finding Job Opportunities used to be rather down on recruitment agencies, at least when it came to foreigners who did not already have authorization to work in Canada. However, only in the last day or two I've changed the part of that Wiki that deals with recruitment agencies. It now contains more nuanced comments, with more precise information for different groups of people (for some of whom recruitment agencies actually can be useful).

And, if you do have authorization to work in Canada, you'll have a much easier time of it, and even recruitment agencies will be useful to you.

Try these recruitment agencies:

• David Aplin
• Design Group Staffing

You need to convey the impression that you are not job hunting as such, but that you'd like to have a cup of coffee with them if possible and pick their brains. This is called an informational interview.

Also, you need to be picking up the phone and speaking to people. I recommend against sending your resume blind. I would like it if the Wiki articles would say that but, in writing them, I deferred to differing opinions. There are some people who believe you should send your resume and then phone. Other people believe you should phone and then send your resume. I belong to the "phone and then send your resume" school of thought. But all of us who have been through this process agree that you have to use the phone at some point in the process. (Sorry if you've already done that and I've misunderstood.)

You say you've read the Wiki articles, most of which I wrote. But I feel like a failure, because the Wikis that I wrote apparently have failed to get the message across. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I hope you see what I'm trying to say.

Have you thought of smaller towns and cities, like Kamloops (BC), Saskatoon (Saskatchewan), Lethbridge (Alberta), Halifax (Nova Scotia), Fredericton (New Brunswick), and the like?

Also, have you thought of companies other than IT companies? There are many large-ish companies that have their own in-house IT staff.

Please do yourself a favour, re-read the Finding Job Opportunities and Networking articles in the Wiki section, go back and fill in the gaps that you have still left open. If it isn't obvious who's who in a company, use Linked In to find out, if possible. Try to by-pass the Human Resources people, where possible, and speak to actual people who work in departments that are relevant to you.

If you haven't already done so, pick up the phone, call relevant people, and pick their brains. Ask them what skills they need in their company. If they don't need anyone with your skills, ask them if they know any companies that do. Ask them to provide specific names at those companies if possible. However, even the company names on their own are helpful. Afterwards send them a thank you e-mail. That is very important.

Then phone the companies whose names you got from the first round of phone calls, and pick the brains of the people at those companies.

In all these conversations, say that you are collecting information so that you can make the most of your scouting trip. When people sound as if they'd be useful to you and if they seem reasonably open and friendly, ask them if you might be able to have a chat with them during your scouting trip.

You need to look at the websites to which links are provided in the Finding Job Opportunities article, and you need to drill down through those websites to mine them for information.

For example, I cannot begin to tell you how useful the Canadian Company Capabilities website is. The Finding Job Opportunities article has a section called Real Life Examples that has links to threads in which members of this forum were walked through the process of identifying potential employers.

Many online business magazines and websites have articles along the lines of The 100 Best Employers in BC, The 50 Best Employers in Alberta, etc. IT companies may be included in those lists. But, even if they are not, the lists undoubtedly include large companies that retain their own IT people on staff. The companies in question have already been pre-screened and identified as good employers, so why not try to get in with them if you can? It's worth a try. And, even if you cannot get in with them, this is another starting point for your phone calls and research.

The Finding Job Opportunities article recommended doing a Google search for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + NAME OF DESTINATION PROVINCE. I've just done that for Alberta, since you named Calgary and Edmonton as possible destinations. By doing that, I found Alberta Canada. I then clicked on the link to Industry Sectors. I then clicked on the link to Information & Communication Tech. There I found a link to Techfiles: Alberta's Technology Industry Directory. Then, when I used the search function on that page, I found hundreds of companies. (You can search by sector, subsector, specialty, province, and city.)

I hope this has helped.

glparker4

Judy, the advice that you provide on this forum and through the wiki articles is priceless. Please don't think that your work is in vain. I have been lurking on this site for the past 2 years and perhaps I missed the recent changes to the wiki. I hope to contribute my experiences and what I have learned from this process so that others can benefit as well.

I will start reviewing the Top 100 companies that you mentioned. I have considered non-tech companies as well. Here in the US, I have built a consulting business comprising of clients mostly in the medical and financial sectors. However, when I originally posted this, I was also considering small and medium-sized companies. Many of the large firms receive thousands of applicants on a daily basis, and the probability of my resume even being viewed by a human is very low.

I agree with you regarding making phone calls. I tried calling during my exploration of Vancouver, and received the general response that I would not be considered since I did not have work authorization in Canada. Your post has given me some ideas as I am reevaluating my approach.

Also, I am hoping to garner more response as I have passed the immigration interview with enough qualifying points and completed medicals. The only obstacle now would be if I were to be deemed inadmissible for medical reasons. Of course, if this were to happen, even an LMO would not help me get to Canada. I don't foresee this though as I am a healthy 31 year old without prior medical conditions.

Again, you have provided me some good advice regarding my approach to suggesting an informational interview. I am still trying to make it clear that I am not seeking any type of LMO or employment sponsorship since CIC has already accepted me with enough qualifying points. Thanks again!