Unskilled work - Calgary
Oct 12th 2018, 8:20 pm
#16
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2016
Location: Calgary, AB
Posts: 327
Re: Unskilled work - Calgary
Minimum wage in Alberta is now $15. (Took affect from October 1st).
I’m in management for a fairly well know international retail company- I’m in Calgary and we have increased the wage to be competitive- for our basic sales associate position we pay almost $2 more than the min wage. Supervisor positions are on $21/$22.
The store I work for is based in a mall & at the moment everyone (and I mean everyone!) is looking for seasonal staff- 99% of which paying the $15 an hour. But regardless of the time of year there’s always a crazy amount of shops looking for retail staff. Most places keep a handful of staff on permanently after Christmas.
Though it is worth noting that most non-skilled positions are initially based on zero hour contracts. It’s still a big thing here- the same for a lot of servers (aware of this because a lot of my staff do a bit of both)
When I recruit, I couldn’t care less what qualifications people have. It isn’t something I look at because for customer service in my opinion it literally makes no difference- and I know many other people who’re in the same position as me for other companies who do the same.
Calgary is a very transient city- so people don’t hang around for long- my store is in the NW of the city and we struggle with keeping anyone who has any sort of decent availability as everyone is a student.
I can only speak about what I see based at my store- and I’m not speaking for skilled positions- but for unskilled work it’s definitely not a huge challenge in Calgary- i’ve never known a place with so many open positions. I had zero experience in retail when I moved to Calgary just under 2 years ago.
Maybe also worth mentioning though that I came on an open work permit but because I’ve been in a supervisory position for over a year full time- I can use that experience to gain points for PR which is a bonus.
Hope some of this is helpful- apologies if it isn’t.
Best of luck!
I’m in management for a fairly well know international retail company- I’m in Calgary and we have increased the wage to be competitive- for our basic sales associate position we pay almost $2 more than the min wage. Supervisor positions are on $21/$22.
The store I work for is based in a mall & at the moment everyone (and I mean everyone!) is looking for seasonal staff- 99% of which paying the $15 an hour. But regardless of the time of year there’s always a crazy amount of shops looking for retail staff. Most places keep a handful of staff on permanently after Christmas.
Though it is worth noting that most non-skilled positions are initially based on zero hour contracts. It’s still a big thing here- the same for a lot of servers (aware of this because a lot of my staff do a bit of both)
When I recruit, I couldn’t care less what qualifications people have. It isn’t something I look at because for customer service in my opinion it literally makes no difference- and I know many other people who’re in the same position as me for other companies who do the same.
Calgary is a very transient city- so people don’t hang around for long- my store is in the NW of the city and we struggle with keeping anyone who has any sort of decent availability as everyone is a student.
I can only speak about what I see based at my store- and I’m not speaking for skilled positions- but for unskilled work it’s definitely not a huge challenge in Calgary- i’ve never known a place with so many open positions. I had zero experience in retail when I moved to Calgary just under 2 years ago.
Maybe also worth mentioning though that I came on an open work permit but because I’ve been in a supervisory position for over a year full time- I can use that experience to gain points for PR which is a bonus.
Hope some of this is helpful- apologies if it isn’t.
Best of luck!
Oct 13th 2018, 3:39 pm
#17
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2017
Location: Burlington, ON
Posts: 158
Re: Unskilled work - Calgary
@ SuzeandMatt
Thanks for the above reply, it really is very helpful. Perhaps when we land I'll drop you a message and see if there are any positions available lol. I have no doubts that my Resume will likely land on your desk at some point in any event! We are semi thinking of doing a soft landing in November as we have 10 days holiday booked off to use, we could actually look around and get more of an idea, but if I found work then i'd probably stay, as would she.
The drawback of doing soft landing for her, is if she comes back to the UK and I get set up over there (her salary in the UK would cover all the expenses of me living there and her in the UK), is that if she gets an interview request, she won't be able to do it as A), not in the country anymore, and b) possibly no PR card or PRTD as waiting for that. Difficult to weigh up what to do really. Seasonal work (full time) would cover a majority initially, so savings were used minimally, but the worry would then be finding something once that contract ends.
@YoshiPal2010 - A cleaning job would be something I'd welcome. Where I work now, cleaning is part of the job. A lot of the time it's not the most... hygienic, of substances. So a basic cleaning job would be somewhat refreshing. Looking at Indeed there seems to be quite a few available so that is reassuring. Shame about the minimum wage aspect, but at least it would be something until I can get something better!
@Jsmth321 - Had not thought of any of those. Will certainly bare those in mind. My drivers license would be the Class 5 GDL as I only have 1 years UK experience (come this December). Not sure if that would have any effect on potential jobs that ask for drivers license. Far as I can see it doesn't impose any extra restrictions that should pose an issue.
Thanks for the above reply, it really is very helpful. Perhaps when we land I'll drop you a message and see if there are any positions available lol. I have no doubts that my Resume will likely land on your desk at some point in any event! We are semi thinking of doing a soft landing in November as we have 10 days holiday booked off to use, we could actually look around and get more of an idea, but if I found work then i'd probably stay, as would she.
The drawback of doing soft landing for her, is if she comes back to the UK and I get set up over there (her salary in the UK would cover all the expenses of me living there and her in the UK), is that if she gets an interview request, she won't be able to do it as A), not in the country anymore, and b) possibly no PR card or PRTD as waiting for that. Difficult to weigh up what to do really. Seasonal work (full time) would cover a majority initially, so savings were used minimally, but the worry would then be finding something once that contract ends.
@YoshiPal2010 - A cleaning job would be something I'd welcome. Where I work now, cleaning is part of the job. A lot of the time it's not the most... hygienic, of substances. So a basic cleaning job would be somewhat refreshing. Looking at Indeed there seems to be quite a few available so that is reassuring. Shame about the minimum wage aspect, but at least it would be something until I can get something better!
@Jsmth321 - Had not thought of any of those. Will certainly bare those in mind. My drivers license would be the Class 5 GDL as I only have 1 years UK experience (come this December). Not sure if that would have any effect on potential jobs that ask for drivers license. Far as I can see it doesn't impose any extra restrictions that should pose an issue.
Last edited by jimmynoshoes; Oct 13th 2018 at 3:46 pm.
Oct 13th 2018, 7:12 pm
#18
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Posts: 404
Re: Unskilled work - Calgary
@YoshiPal2010 - A cleaning job would be something I'd welcome. Where I work now, cleaning is part of the job. A lot of the time it's not the most... hygienic, of substances. So a basic cleaning job would be somewhat refreshing. Looking at Indeed there seems to be quite a few available so that is reassuring. Shame about the minimum wage aspect, but at least it would be something until I can get something better!
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