Having been around immigrants and coached quite a number of them, I have discovered something most immigrants (particularly new immigrants) don’t know about finding a good job that pays good money.
I had a client who complained bitterly about how difficult it was to land a good job, even with her years of experience in her home country. She was struggling to find a job she qualified for here in Canada, and while she applied, she hardly got called back for interviews. Whenever she did get an interview, she just never got the job.
Here are two (2) things my client and most immigrants like herself don’t know about when getting a good job here in Canada.
2 things immigrants don’t know about getting a job in Canada
Table of Contents
Having the right information is key
Now, just like most immigrants, my client thought all that mattered when getting a job was that she had done the job before in her home country. However, that’s not enough. You can send lots of job applications and get no tangible results if you don’t do so in the right way and with the right mindset.
In my client’s home country, she only did what she was told, and even though she always did a good job, her resume showed only that. Going through her resume, you could see that she never showed work autonomy or initiative in what she did. This isn’t something any Canadian employer likes to see.
In Canada, they prioritize value and the use of one’s initiative, the ability to solve problems on the go without necessarily being told how exactly to do so. In my client’s home country, this didn’t matter, so she used that same mentality to write her resume, apply for jobs and even prepare for her interview. My client’s resume also didn’t highlight soft skills such as effective communication, teamwork, etc. Soft skills are important to Canadian employers, and it’s beneficial to demonstrate that you have such a skill set in your resume. These employers should read your resume and see the value you bring.
It might seem little, but having the right information and knowing the right things to do when looking for a job here in Canada is important. A little tweaking in your application process and how you position yourself can be the difference. This was something I also learned the hard way when I moved to the UK for a short while. I struggled a lot to get a job until I was guided by a community of people who helped me. Only then did I begin to see results immediately.
The key thing to take away from this is that Canada is different from your home country. Understanding how things work here, especially the job system will help you a lot when looking to land a good role.
I have a free resume guide you can use when writing a resume for job applications. Click here to download.
Acquiring Canadian certification and learning a high-income skill are important
If you’re a professional, eg. For a nurse, it’s important to get licensed by a professional body here in Canada. If you’re in a profession that doesn’t require any form of licensing, having an additional certificate, like a short course or diploma from a Canadian institution will prove helpful.
What this does is that it shows your employers that you understand how things work in that career in Canada. It also helps with the Canadian experience issue because they see you at least know how things work in Canada.
Another option is to learn a high-income skill. There are several of these skills. Learning one and being certified here in Canada will surely increase your chances of earning a high-income job in Canada.
Tech is a rising field, and people like to transition to tech. However, you don’t necessarily have to know how to code or any of the technical things done in tech. You can transition to no-code tech roles, and a Scrum Master role is one of them. You can become a Scrum Master.
I’m a Scrum Career Coach who will likely recommend becoming a Scrum Master. However, I do so because it’s one of the best and easiest careers to transition into if you’re looking to earn a high income. I only wish more people knew about this and took advantage of it.
As a immigrant, knowing these two (2) points above will keep you ahead when it comes to getting a good paying job here in Canada.
