DO NOT COME TO CANADA (Part II)

[Ketevan]

Thanks so much!

Congrats!!!

 

[Hafsa]

For All...

Straight roads never make good drivers,

Smooth sea never makes a good sailors,

Clear sky nerver makes a good pilots,

Problem free life never makes a strong person,

So be strong enough to accept the challenges of life.

Do not ask life "Why me" ? ???
instead of saying ''Try Me''

''Have a Winning attitude''. . . . 8)

 

[Ketevan]

Yesterday was my first working day at call center. We have currently a 48-day training period which is conducted in a group of 16 people. So it is good to make new contacts and feel socially included. To my great surprise, all of those who I talked to have advanced degrees (Masters and above) and almost all are newly landed immigrants. One of them had Masters from France and the other gentleman even took a 1 year graduate certificate at a Montreal university. Yet even after doing this certificate he could not get a bank teller job. The recruiter told him he did not have enough experience for the teller position as he does not have client facing experience. So he hopes to accumulate client service experience at call centers and re-apply to banks.

 

[shakira2009]

Yesterday was my first working day at call center. We have currently a 48-day training period which is conducted in a group of 16 people. So it is good to make new contacts and feel socially included. To my great surprise, all of those who I talked to have advanced degrees (Masters and above) and almost all are newly landed immigrants. One of them had Masters from France and the other gentleman even took a 1 year graduate certificate at a Montreal university. Yet even after doing this certificate he could not get a bank teller job. The recruiter told him he did not have enough experience for the teller position as he does not have client facing experience. So he hopes to accumulate client service experience at call centers and re-apply to banks.

Hi Ketevan,

Congratulations on your new job, and thank you for sharing your experiences!

I know a bunch of immigrants in Toronto who came with their advanced degrees from their home countries; however the only jobs they were able to get were at call centers. So it's the same situation here... I also got called for such jobs but am reluctant to accept. It's a matter of personal comfort with that job setting, I guess.

Oh, by the way, I have a Masters degree from one of the top Canadian universities. The "problem" is... I did it abroad in its entirety, so employers don't seem to like that. It's ridiculous!

I wish you the best in all your endeavours

 

[Ketevan]

Hi shakira,

Thanks for sharing your experience as well. I have no problems with call center jobs. There are plenty of opportunities to progress within our company to more senior posts. In fact, I am happy to get this job. I was expecting to start with mopping floors at Walmart. I am obviously unhappy that employers do not recognize my UK degrees as the equivalent of Canadian degrees, but sitting at home and cursing my fate will not help me. Just curious - why you decided to decline call center jobs, if you do not mind asking? I can make a guess - irregular working hours, almost min wage pay, difficult clients ???

Hi Ketevan,

Congratulations on your new job, and thank you for sharing your experiences!

I know a bunch of immigrants in Toronto who came with their advanced degrees from their home countries; however the only jobs they were able to get were at call centers. So it's the same situation here... I also got called for such jobs but am reluctant to accept. It's a matter of personal comfort with that job setting, I guess.

Oh, by the way, I have a Masters degree from one of the top Canadian universities. The "problem" is... I did it abroad in its entirety, so employers don't seem to like that. It's ridiculous!

I wish you the best in all your endeavours

 

[alinec]

Hi shakira,

Thanks for sharing your experience as well. I have no problems with call center jobs. There are plenty of opportunities to progress within our company to more senior posts. In fact, I am happy to get this job. I was expecting to start with mopping floors at Walmart. I am obviously unhappy that employers do not recognize my UK degrees as the equivalent of Canadian degrees, but sitting at home and cursing my fate will not help me. Just curious - why you decided to decline call center jobs, if you do not mind asking? I can make a guess - irregular working hours, almost min wage pay, difficult clients ???

Hi Ketevan,

congrats on your job, i just have one question did you do get your educational and professional qualifications officially recognized in Canada before landing?

 

[sameer004]

Hi shakira,

Thanks for sharing your experience as well. I have no problems with call center jobs. There are plenty of opportunities to progress within our company to more senior posts. In fact, I am happy to get this job. I was expecting to start with mopping floors at Walmart. I am obviously unhappy that employers do not recognize my UK degrees as the equivalent of Canadian degrees, but sitting at home and cursing my fate will not help me. Just curious - why you decided to decline call center jobs, if you do not mind asking? I can make a guess - irregular working hours, almost min wage pay, difficult clients ???

Thanks for sharing your experience, I like your idea of starting off with whatever come in your way to survive first, at least your wont be wasting time sitting and apply jobs online which by the ways have no chance of even a getting a phone call back.You made me laugh by saying your were expecting to start with mopping floors at wallmart. lol. obviously new immigrating should study the market in initial stage and pick things quickly and don't be too picky. I myself lived in UK for 6 year done MBA, don't know really how gonna go with me when in land there. currently with a international bank, a quick questions how are the banking job opportunities there.

 

[shakira2009]

Just curious - why you decided to decline call center jobs, if you do not mind asking? I can make a guess - irregular working hours, almost min wage pay, difficult clients ???

You're right, I don't like the working hours of a call center and responding to complaints. In the past I did a call center job for a couple of months (not in Canada) and hated it. But again, it is a matter of individual comfort and goals. There are call centers that address technical matters and inquiries mostly, and don't receive so many complaints. I hope you enjoy your job and eventually move up.

I'd prefer a job as admin assistant and don't mind the salary so much, but I can't even get that. I'm overqualified for entry-level jobs because I have a Master's degree from a Canadian university, and underqualified for mid-level/manager jobs because I don't have Canadian experience....

 

[Ketevan]

Hi alinec,

Thanks a lot. No I did not because for evaluation I need to either send my original diplomas (which is insane) or provide copies certified by the uni. Since I studied all over the world, I could not travel to all places to get certified copies. So I waited until landing and made appointment to apply in person. I will go with my original diplomas and they will return them immediately after scanning.
Moreover, I am still awaiting the official award of my PhD certificate.

Hi Ketevan,

congrats on your job, i just have one question did you do get your educational and professional qualifications officially recognized in Canada before landing?

 

[Ketevan]

I wanted to get a bank teller job. I talked to the largest recruiter in finance at the job fair. He said until I evaluate my degrees (they are British) I cannot hope for a position, because "employers to do not know what is a UK MSc" (his words). Moreover, my colleague has an MSc from home and a local continuing education in business and was also rejected for bank teller job due to "lack of experience in customer service". If you check adverts for higher positions, you will notice that they demand too many specific skills and experiences and it is very difficult to match own CV to that.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I like your idea of starting off with whatever come in your way to survive first, at least your wont be wasting time sitting and apply jobs online which by the ways have no chance of even a getting a phone call back.You made me laugh by saying your were expecting to start with mopping floors at wallmart. lol. obviously new immigrating should study the market in initial stage and pick things quickly and don't be too picky. I myself lived in UK for 6 year done MBA, don't know really how gonna go with me when in land there. currently with a international bank, a quick questions how are the banking job opportunities there.

 

[Ketevan]

How about starting at call centre and move to admin later? Our HR dept mentioned that quite a few move to administration dept of the company after gaining some experience in customer care dept.
Also, did you try to delete some info from CV to present yourself less qualified? I got a job thanks to this operation ;D

You're right, I don't like the working hours of a call center and responding to complaints. In the past I did a call center job for a couple of months (not in Canada) and hated it. But again, it is a matter of individual comfort and goals. There are call centers that address technical matters and inquiries mostly, and don't receive so many complaints. I hope you enjoy your job and eventually move up.

I'd prefer a job as admin assistant and don't mind the salary so much, but I can't even get that. I'm overqualified for entry-level jobs because I have a Master's degree from a Canadian university, and underqualified for mid-level/manager jobs because I don't have Canadian experience....

 

[Ketevan]

I am afraid mopping floors at Walmart was not a joke but a real case scenario which already happened in the past once you land here, you will realize how competitive the job market is and how sceptical employers are to foreign workers. Obviously, this does not mean that someone should not come to Canada. But people should come having downgraded their expectations as much as possible.

Regarding online applications, indeed I never got any calls after online postings. I got the job by talking to the company at the job fair and handing my CV.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I like your idea of starting off with whatever come in your way to survive first, at least your wont be wasting time sitting and apply jobs online which by the ways have no chance of even a getting a phone call back.You made me laugh by saying your were expecting to start with mopping floors at wallmart. lol. obviously new immigrating should study the market in initial stage and pick things quickly and don't be too picky. I myself lived in UK for 6 year done MBA, don't know really how gonna go with me when in land there. currently with a international bank, a quick questions how are the banking job opportunities there.

 

[bilal83]

ketevan thank u

i agree with u 100%,,,they donot tell u the truth,,,,not every one has to work mop the floors of superstore or walmart,,,but usually every one might do it.
very few come to canada and right away work with their degrees or related jobs

just be patient people and donot expect things to go as planned at first
good luck

 

[Ketevan]

Agree with bilal83. Floor mopping is not a must but can happen. This was to illustrate that our career path in most cases has to start from 0 in Canada.

ketevan thank u

i agree with u 100%,,,they donot tell u the truth,,,,not every one has to work mop the floors of superstore or walmart,,,but usually every one might do it.
very few come to canada and right away work with their degrees or related jobs

just be patient people and donot expect things to go as planned at first
good luck

 

[yy1gc]

Yesterday was my first working day at call center. We have currently a 48-day training period which is conducted in a group of 16 people. So it is good to make new contacts and feel socially included. To my great surprise, all of those who I talked to have advanced degrees (Masters and above) and almost all are newly landed immigrants. One of them had Masters from France and the other gentleman even took a 1 year graduate certificate at a Montreal university. Yet even after doing this certificate he could not get a bank teller job. The recruiter told him he did not have enough experience for the teller position as he does not have client facing experience. So he hopes to accumulate client service experience at call centers and re-apply to banks.
Hello Ketevan
Could you please tell about how to get a call center job here. I not able to find a job in my engineering field here. That job would at least be better than a helper's job at some outlet.Thanks.