What are we doing wrong
 

Hi I have been applying for jobs for my husband in the hope we can get into Canada via the skilled worker immigration programme but to no avail!!
My husband is a sub station/power station electrician with over 20 years experience in the industry. After attending a working abroad expo we were told to apply to CANA but have had no response despite numerous emails.

What are we doing wrong?? should we be paying someone to find us a job etc, any advice would be greatly received as we have sold our home and desperate to make the move in the next few months.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

You need to call them - e-mails are great but to obtain any real response from Employers here in Canada, you need to call.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Where in Canada are you hoping to move to? Have you visited the area you favour? Face to face interaction here is so much more effective than emails.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

That area of work is obviously popular and very competitive. Those expos are good only as a window shopping exercise, and they are bound to tell you that everything is rosy here

Hopefully you didn't pay them?

There is a power plant in the Durham region Ontario, as well as in Simcoe

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

There's a new generating station about to be built near Napanee, Ontario.

You can either live in a small town like Napanee or Kingston is bigger and within commuting distance.

More info here

http://www.napaneegs.com/

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

loads of work in this area in BC at the mo.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

1. You are applying for him. It is a bit like his mum coming to an interview to make sure he is OK.

2. You are relying on e-mail. E-mail is a good tool for follow up. Ideally he should come out to Canada and pound the pavement a bit. Meet potential employers and drop off resumes. This shows commitment to the job serch and to immigration. E-mail is too passive for a proactive job search unless he is replying to an advertised job that asks for e-mail responses.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

You ideally need to get on a plane and come meet people, do some rounds of potential employers and try and set up meetings.
You could make some call's and let employers know when you will be in Canada and try to arrange interviews before hand.

Recruitment is very different here, Canadians like to speak in person and don't underestimate how much you need to network.

TBH here I've found that it does not matter how much experience you have or even the words that come out of your mouth at interview, what matters is if they like you or if you know someone. I even used to dress smart at interviews but not anymore, I found it makes no difference.
Both my most recent jobs I only got because I knew someone that already worked there. Of course experience helps and quite a few people seem to secure jobs before moving to Canada so it is possible but you will have a better chance if your here in person.

With the time it takes for you to secure a job and then to apply for a LMO or PNP unless you already have the right to work here it is unlikely you could be in Canada working in just a few months, something to bear in mind.

Good luck

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Just to add to the excellent advise given above (read the Job Hunting section of the Wiki to understand how differently you need to do things), you are aware that you'll be going over on a Temp Work Permit first if you want to apply as a Skilled Worker?

Best of luck to you.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Thank you all for the useful advice.

I think getting on a plane sounds like a good idea!!:)

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Let us all know how you get on and good luck

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Is it CANA, the construction company, or ENCANA, the energy company?

If its CANA, I worked for them for 3 years and have a few contacts still, I can pm you phone numbers.

Cana as a few sub companies, but I wasn't aware they done much electrical work, any job I was on was subbed out. Here in Calgary, the electricity provider is Enmax.

Hope this helps

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Hi yes CANA constuction the high voltage substation electricians, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
As you can see from my earlier messages I think perhaps if he could arrange meetings and fly out we may have more luck!!
How is CALGARY?? it is one of our preferred destination choices.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

My father in law is an instrument technician/electrician who previously worked at Sellafield for BNFL ( Nuclear plant). He was head hunted by a canadian company 4 years ago. He originally worked up north on the oil patches but now has more normal hours working for a local company near Red Deer (about 1.5 hours drive from Calgary). My OH and myself have recently moved to this area from the UK (March) but previous to moving my OH booked flights and went round door to door leaving resumes and asking to talk to recruiters. At the end of his two week visit he came back to the UK with 8 job offers! I cant recommend highly enough getting on a plane and doing some proper job hunting! I can also highly recommend the Red Deer area to live, we actually live 40km north but commute everyday to work and it's no problem at all! Good luck :)

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

definitely you need to speak to people face to face - But if you cannot start next week, don't bother!

You have to be here and be ready to get started.

Living very near to Napanee with have a couple of huge power plants and solar fields close by

Or be realistic and take some crappy entry level position at $11 p/h just to get in the work force like I did....... It took me on a totally different career path and I am now regional manager and enjoying the rewards of that "I have to do something" attitude.

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

There is lots of sparky work but they want you here, my hubby had no luck with emails when were in UK but he got offered 2 jobs within 4 weeks of arriving!

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

have you tried networking through LinkedIn. Many Jobs are sorted out through who you know

Re: What are we doing wrong
 

Send me your resume and I will make sure it goes to the right people. I currently work as a Sub Stations manager for BC Hydro in Victoria having just moved over from Vancouver looking after the city area and the Jordan River Hydro facility. Used to work for National Grid in the UK - been in the industry for 36 years. Will send you a PM.