Researching and Finding a Job in Canada
In times of economic uncertainty, with daily bulletins announcing more job losses by the thousand, it can be a gloomy prospect looking for work. If you are emigrating, need to get a job offer to move to Canada, or are looking for a new career, there are more opportunities to than ever these days. You can reach out to contacts around the globe from the comfort of your living room and vastly increase your chances of success.
Gone are the days when finding a job was just a case of scanning the local classifieds and sending off a few CV’s. In fact these days even submitting your resume/CV to job web sites is not enough. You have to be more proactive, think laterally and pursue new ways to secure the right job. There are a few key steps that will help to position yourself in the right place at the right time. The time is NOW and the place is EVERYWHERE.
- Preparation
Get specific about what you are looking for. What do you want from your career? Financially, and personally. Make a list of what your job needs to provide, the salary you need, the hours, the terms and conditions. Get clear about what you enjoy about your job right now, what you don’t like and what needs to change. List a few alternative careers to research; this is your opportunity to look in new directions. Collect all your work history, education, qualifications, references, skills and any other information into one reference file, it makes research and job search easier later on. When you know what you want it is much easier to search and find the right job.
- Research
Get as much information about the current job market before you start looking for work. Don’t waste time looking for jobs that do not pay enough or you are not qualified to do. At a minimum you must find out:
- What skills and qualities you need to be able to do each job
- Where there is demand
- That it will support your lifestyle.
You can also consider alternatives careers, without being committed to the change. By having the facts about each job you can decide if it’s a viable option and save time by only pursuing opportunities that will support what you want. Use government and provincial immigration web sites to get this information. Job web sites have useful tools and resources to help you find this information.
- Planning
A well planned and organised job search is going to get you the results you want. You will need to be consistent, focused and determined in your approach. It’s no good spending 20 hours one week and then nothing for the next 2 weeks. Decide what you are going to do, allocate time for each activity, set out what you want to achieve and record what you are doing. Keep good records of all your new contacts, and where you found them. List all potential employers, new opportunities and what actions you take.
- Networking
There are many ways to network, in person and online. When you are searching for work outside your local area, online can be much more practical. It is quite amazing the number of people you can communicate with online. Literally thousands of people you could never have dreamt of coming into contact with before. It has a huge potential to increase your job search success. You don’t have to be a computer expert or a professional net worker to do it. Online networking is not just for business people and high flying careers anymore. You can use many of the social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Linked In to actively meet and make new friends who can help you in your job search. Networking takes time, you need to get to know people, think about what you can do for them, what you know that may help them, and in turn they will do the same for you.
- Follow up
Your time is valuable; spend it on activities that are working most effectively. Because there are so many places you can be active you will have to be selective, you can do this by reviewing and modifying your plan.
Keep good records about what activities are producing results.
§ Which website has given you the most contacts?
§ How many of those contacts have given you a useful lead?
§ How many responses did you have from posting your CV on each website?
§ Which version of your CV gave the best results?
If you spend 8 hours on a particular website and get no responses or replies, is it worth continuing with that site, or moving on to another. You are going to have fun interacting and making new friends, which is good but to get that job you will also need to stay focused on your overall goal.
The next step is to take action. Whilst it’s exciting thinking about the opportunities and new career waiting for you it can be quite daunting, wondering where to start. Everyone who emigrates has been there too; every journey starts with the first step. Contact Louise to get more information about the new Guide to Researching and Finding a Job in Canada.
Written and submitted by Louise Green of The Expat Coach – helping emigrants get the answers they need to research, move to and succeed in Canada.
Feel free to pass this article on to anyone else who may be interested, you are welcome to use the information in your blog, newsletter or other online publication as long you include this info. Louise Green runs The Expat Coach specialising in planning and preparation services for emigrating to Canada. www.TheExpatCoach.com
