Emigrating from your home country can be both exciting and daunting. Adapting to and integrating into a new environment and society comes with its challenges. Some of my thoughts were highlighted in the first and second instalments of this series. In this instalment, I will be talking jobs — challenges and considerations.
For most immigrants, getting a job is a very important step in the adaptation and integration process. It is easier for some more than others and everyone has a different story. One common theme I have heard is where immigrants don’t get interviews or job offers because they don’t have Canadian work experience. Not only can this be depressing and frustrating but it also makes you wonder how they will get the Canadian experience if no one is willing to take a chance on them. My suggestion to you is not to be deterred until you get the job that you desire; it only takes one hiring manager or recruiter to take a chance on you! And sometimes when you get an interview, preparation for the interview is akin to preparing for an exam.
If you are in a regulated profession (medicine, pharmacy, law, accounting, etc.) and you wish to continue to practice in Canada, you should research the provincial requirements you need to fulfill before you will be able to practice and make plans on what you will do prior to being able to practice. You should also research if some of the exams you may be required to take can be taken prior to coming to Canada so that you are already on your journey before you arrive in Canada.
Some people also take the option of going back to school for a new degree, MSc or bridging courses which enables them to pivot to a different career path. Going back to school costs money but you will be paying local fees and you may be eligible for loans and/or grants. You will need to research what options are available to you based on your situation and the province where you live. And you may be able to pivot to a different career path without going to school or taking certification exams by highlighting the transferrable skills you have on your resume and finding that one recruiter or hiring manager that will take a chance on you!
Coming from Nigeria and seeing/knowing how “contract staff” are treated may discourage you from applying for contract roles. However, things are different here. Contractors are accorded the same level of respect as full-time employees (FTEs). I know people who left full-time roles to start contracting. In developing your job search strategy, don’t rule out applying for contract roles. Sometimes, companies make roles short (1–6 months) or long (>6 months) contracts because they need specific skills for a project at hand and/or they do not want to take on the cost of maintaining an FTE. If it provides any consolation, the rates for contractors are usually higher than for FTEs because contractors are responsible for remitting statutory payroll deductions to government, providing their own benefits (dental, vision, pensions, RRSP, etc.).
Based on my limited experience and from talking to people, a common theme I have seen is that there is sometimes a lack of preparation and/or job search strategy prior to landing. My suggestion is similar to what other people have offered - if you have friends in Canada who are working already, especially if they are in a similar profession to yours, connect with them and ask them for specific guidance on how to word things on your resume; if possible, ask them to send you a copy of theirs so that you use it as a guide to building your own. Please do not copy their resume — besides being wrong on all counts, when you need to talk about your resume, you will struggle because it is not your original piece of work. You should also ask for suggestions on writing cover letters, what things recruiters/hiring managers look out for, what interviews are like, etc. You can also ask your friends if they have recruiters that they can introduce you to — if your friend is good at what he does, a recruiter/hiring manager is likely to believe that anyone he/she introduces will also be as good. If someone makes a referral for you or introduces you to anyone in their network, please make sure you do your best to ensure that the outcome of the referral is a positive one. If you do a good job based on a referral, it will also give you credibility and you will soon be in a position to make referrals.
Additionally, you should consider connecting on LinkedIn to people that work in the same industry or organizations where you desire to work. Some people will accept your connection request and some will not. Don’t take it personal if your connection request is not accepted. If your request is accepted, the easiest/best way to get value from the connection is to find out how you can add value to the person before asking for any favor, if at all you ask for any favor.
Also consider having plans A, B and C for your job search. Do an assessment of your skills and abilities and identify what transferable skills you have. Based on your assessment, identify your ideal job/career, second choice job and an “I will do this if nothing comes along job”. For example, if you are a Product Manager, your ideal job may be Product Manager, second choice job may be Business Analyst and “I will do this if nothing comes along job” may be Project Coordinator. I understand that this may not be right for or appeal to everyone, but it doesn’t hurt to consider it. And it also doesn’t mean that you are wrong for being laser focused by considering only your ideal job.
Canadians are very big on relationships. Let me explain. Whether at work, meeting a recruiter, in the neighborhood or wherever, you are likely to be invited for coffee. “Let’s go for coffee or let’s meet for coffee or let’s chat over coffee” are things you will hear constantly. It doesn’t mean that you have to drink coffee as there will be other things on offer wherever you choose to meet for coffee. And please make sure you have your money to pay for whatever you take during the meeting. In limited cases, the person that invited you to coffee will pay; this is mostly the exception rather than the rule. Things can happen during coffee meetings — you get to know the other person and it’s also an opportunity for the person to know you more and that you’re job hunting. You never can tell where the job “breakthrough” will come from. As there may be a number of coffee meetings, especially before you start work, you should set aside a coffee meeting budget.
If you get interviews, please attend the interviews well prepared. Research the company, the team you are interviewing with, the job itself, the industry where the company operates, expected salary, etc. Use sites like Glassdoor, Payscale to research salaries so that you don’t underprice or overprice yourself. You can also search online for sample interview questions. One thing you should note is that salary increases in Canada, if you are on the same job, is not mind blowing (in a lot of places, it can be as low as 1% and if you are a superstar can be as high as 6%), so make sure that you negotiate a good salary when you are joining a company.
Also do not be afraid to propose a counteroffer when you get an offer from a company. More often than not, there is wiggle room for the hiring manager/HR and the first offer that you are presented may not the best offer! Your counter offer does not have to be limited to money — you can ask for a sign on bonus, extra vacation days, etc. However, you should gauge the “mood in the room” while you are negotiating or proposing counteroffers. I mentioned earlier that the salary increases are not mind blowing, the best way to get significant increases is to earn a promotion in your current company or change jobs.
Above everything else, make sure that you do your absolute best to be a star performer because you and your performance (on the job and socially) may open doors to other immigrants (Nigerians) or may shut the door in their faces.
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PS: Some useful job boards are: Indeed, Monster, Workopolis, Eluta. Randstad, S.i Systems, Hays, Robert Half, David Alpin are some Canadian recruitment agencies.
