Cassie 10000

I've been searching long and hard to find an Assistant Admin role for myself.

All my background in England was admin, when I came to Edmonton, Alberta. I stupidly thought going into retail would gain me new friends.

So most of my "Canadian" experience is in retail, which I hate. I have to work weekends and evenings which is not good. We (my husband and I) made the move for quality of life and all I seem to do is work when he is off Don't even get me started on holidays, I don't think my boss whats me to have any

I am as I said now on the look out for an admin role, I must admit it's hard!

I send in my resumes left right and centre and it's starting to depress me a little.

Is gaining your PR status any help or not?

I am starting to become very depressed about it all and to be honest I could do with a hug from my mum right now to make me feel better

I know it takes time to find a job, it's staying strong and being positive that i'm finding increasingly hard right now to do.

iaink

Clearly, for anything other than a specialised position the need to get some paperwork done is going to put people off, but if you have an open work permit instead of PR, Im not sure how much the somewhat temporary nature of it would put anyone off.

dbd33

Why have anything about your status on your resume? If it says nothing the reader will assume you can work in Canada, which is true. Unless asked directly, I'd not mention it.

Cassie 10000

I currently have an open work permit, which runs out in four months

Neil's company are currently in the works of sorting out the new LMO and work permit.

I think the uncertainty of everything is getting to me again

It's hard on the emotions at times.

Cassie 10000

True, they can see that I've been working here from my past nearly two years experience.

Maybe I'm shooting myself in the foot?

ExKiwilass

I wouldn't say anything about what permit you have. I'd just say you can legally work in Canada if they ask. Otherwise, don't put anything on your resume. I've never had to prove I am a PR.

re: admin, I found it hard to break back in and ended up going to a temping agency. That's probably your best bet to getting your foot back in the door and getting that 'canadian experience' in admin, because they don't tend to be looking for the perfect person for a temporary role.

B91212

I voted yes, although I think it is more of a potential turn off to prospective employers than a hard and fast rule. I think the type of job could be more of the problem - you hear stories of hundreds of people applying for a few admin jobs.

Have you thought of using a Temping Agency just to get some experience / contacts?

B91212

re: admin, I found it hard to break back in and ended up going to a temping agency. That's probably your best bet to getting your foot back in the door and getting that 'canadian experience' in admin, because they don't tend to be looking for the perfect person for a temporary role.

Ignore what I said, Kiwilass beat me to it - that will teach me to check the newer posts when it warns me before submitting a reply

iaink

Under the circumstances Cassie I wouldnt say anything up front, like you say, you have a couple of years behind you, and when your fellas permit is renewed your open permit will be too.

If it comes up in the process, then deal with it honestly then, but there is no point putting anything on your resume that might put them off interviewing you, you are eligible to work for anyone at present after all.

Good luck! You are right, work permits can be hard on the nerves.... it makes PR that much sweeter when it comes

el_richo

Agreed with DBD. Why would you even mention anything?

G77

I think Canadians are generally unaware of the various statuses that you can hold - with the exception maybe of a HR dept.

I wouldn't mention it, doesn't really have a relevance - at this moment you have the legal ability to work and they will assume that, so just keep quiet.

ireland2canada

I managed to get two different full time jobs whilst here on Bunac. At that time, I just had a sentence saying that I was legally permitted to work in Canada. During the interviews, both employers asked about my status. My reply was that I had a permit that enabled me to work for any employer in Canada, that they needed to do nothing more in terms of paperwork, I had a SIN and was ready to start work. This worked a treat.

I should mention that these were both very small companies, neither of the bosses had the first clue about immigration to Canada or the work permit process involved. I don't think they would know what an LMO is if they fell over it. And I wouldn't expect them to. I believe that this worked in my favour, I was able to speak directly to the person in charge and put everything in very simple terms. An HR department may be a totally different story.

Good luck

paolosmythe

With recent economic stresses, there have been more applicants than job vacancies. Really, this has always been true for the 'generic' administrative roles.

Consequently, for every position advertised, there are shed loads of resumes sent in. The poor bugger who has to go through all of the resumes, is going to scan for a reason to bin it.

Don't give them that reason!

Some would also add that such a 'permit' status is too close to descrimination. The fact that you are here and are allowed to work is illustrated by the governmentally issued SIN card. It is this SIN that any prospective employer should be interested in. Anything else is a hazard into prejudice.

Of course when i got to interview, having managed to save my resume from the recycle pile, my accent necessitated my 'confessing' my immigrant status; but I could then add to this the reasons for why I moved across the planet and give assurance that i wasn't about to up sticks and leave them in the lurch!

fledermaus

I would just stick with the sentence about legally entitled to work in Canada.

We had problems when Flederman was on an open work permit and were told a couple of times that they were not interested in non PR people without Canadian experience.

I think you need to get some Canadian admin experience and would recommend some volunteering to do this. Though this isn't as easy as it sounds either. I've been waiting 3 months for one organisation to get back to me re me doing work for them.


Good luck with the search

Steve_P

You really have to wonder about organizations and how well they operate.

I volunteered to work for the Red Cross a long time ago. They called and I went through their volunteer training program then never heard another word from them.

They seemed happy with me throughout the training. I don't think I said anything to put them off.