Regardless of where you go, the job search can be a challenging task. When finding jobs in Canada, you should need to be mentally and physically prepared to handle the screening process, the submission of documents and the anticipation of waiting for the outcome of your application.
Doing all of these does not only take a toll on your mind, but it can also take a bit of your money and time as well. Although it may seem as if work is generally the same from one place to the other, the specification of jobs varies especially in a culturally diversified country such as Canada.
Tips on Job Hunting in Canada
It may seem hard to find a job as you take a look at the country’s employment market, this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to find a job because, in fact, the country is always in need of highly skilled individuals, which means that employment is always within your reach as long as you know the ropes to climb.
How To Create a Canadian-style Resume
Because you’re in a different country, anything that may have worked in your hometown may not work in Canada. While almost all companies require the basics such as your work experience, educational background and personal information, arranging your details to fit your profiles appropriately for your province is essential for you to land a job.
A current pattern common among most Canadian CVs or resumes is the reverse chronological order of experiences. This means that your latest job should appear at the top of your employment record. The same goes for your educational background and so forth. The most common formats are as follows:
1. Name and Contact Information
2. Professional Summary
3. Work History
4. Education and Professional Training
5. Skills Section (optional)
While these are almost like the same resume requirements of other countries, there’s still important rules and guidelines which Canadian employers look for in an applicant’s portfolio, such as:
Bullets and Headers
Information can be separated by paragraphs, even if it’s not simple to distinguish one subgroup from the other. With this logic, most employers or recruiters prefer to have details separated by bullets or headers to make it easier for them to skim through.
Top Half of 1st Page
Since Canadian-style resumes are in reverse chronological order, you should do the same by putting employment and educational background at the top for best features. By highlighting your best assets directly at the start of your employment portfolio, you increase your chances of getting hired.
Cut out Unnecessary Information
Write only the necessary information your employers need to know. If you feel like some information you’ve provided serves no merit in the line of work you are applying for, take it out. Any unnecessary details would only waste your interviewer’s energy and time, and some helpful details you may have might end up getting unnoticed.
Examples of unnecessary information are:
* Outdated volunteering or Community Service Experience
* Jobs irrelevant to the role you are applying for
* Achievements or accomplishments dating back to your High School days
* High School Education
* Personal Information such as hobbies, political leanings and personal opinions
Keep it Short and Simple
When it comes to landing a good job, keeping your resume to a page or two is the best route to take. After all, your future employer is not interested in hearing your biography. They want to know how you can help the company in its future endeavours.
If you think winning any contest way back in college will help the company get more revenue, you’re wrong. Keep only the details that you think are relevant to the job.
If you’ve completed your resume and you’re now ready to get a job, you can do it in different ways:
Job Websites
Created by the government of Canada for those looking for employment throughout the country, the Job Bank Canada serves as an online portal where up to 2,000 new jobs are posted everyday.
Networking
Because words travel fast through friends and acquaintances, it’s the reason why networking is the best way to get a sponsorship. Also, when you are relatively new to a country, people are not likely to trust you.
However, if you know someone who knows somebody, this raises your chances of establishing a connection. If you don’t know anybody around in the province you’re in, you could always explore other options to get hired.
Agencies
In some countries, agencies take out a percentage from your pay, but Canadian agencies are different. They are paid by hiring companies to find talent or look for someone to fill in their vacancies. This trend is widespread these days as it’s much easier to delegate the task to an external hiring company or to “headhunters” than it is to directly hire someone themselves.
This approach also saves time and resources that the company management could be using to do something else, providing a win-win situation for both employers and potential employees because this also cuts off time, effort and expenses on your part if you personally seek out employment yourself.