Hi guys,
I'm feeling very happy that my friends are getting their good news and that their nail-biting wait is not going in vain.
I have something to share here which I'm sure will benefit those who are looking to increase their reach-ability to prospective employers in Canada while still being in
India their homeland (sorry if I was too country-centric. This apllies to all).
I do not want to jump to Canada until the time I'm at least able to line-up a couple of interviews during my (planned) initial 2 week stay in Canada in mid/end April'14. I can't simply quit my job and ask my wife to quit her job, book a flight in hurry, pack up half a dozen luggage bags and jump on-board. Simply can't jump the pit when I can't see the bottom - that's not my way of dealing with things ! I'm trying to make my visit a very 'fruitful visit' and I'm certainly not going on a costly picnic on a foreign land. Well, that's my thinking at least.
Thanks to Qorax, whom I've been following for almost a year now - silently reading his posts and juicing the extract in my head over those past months. (Not literally 'silently', I've been REPping him constantly!)
Ok, coming to the point now. I did some research on 'Canadian local contact number'.
Realizing that sitting seven oceans away I won't be getting a job or an interview call for that matter until I'm easily reachable by them. I needed to find a way to eliminate that restriction. I needed to have a local (Canadian) phone number where a prospective employer in Canada can contact me anytime or day of the week as if I'm staying in Canada. Buying a VoIP service is the first service that would hit the head of most people. But I'm not convinced for I need to have a data connection (Wifi/3G/LTE) on a phone, or sitting in front of a PC with Wifi on a scheduled time, or buying a VoIP desk-phone and be available on desk all the time. And these services might cost some $50 to $100 depending upon the plan.
I found a service provided by a Swedish company Sonetel (link: http://www.sonetel.com/en/) where I bought a Canadian number (with Toronto code 647) something like +1 647 xxx xxxx. There is no SIM card as this is a virtual number. If you dial at this number from anywhere on the world, the call would land on my Airtel number in India +91 98xxxxxx.
The benefit?
1) I do not need data connection.
2) I do not need to pre-schedule a call over chat or email. Call me up anytime of the day, any day of the week.
3) No connection glitches/ voice break due to lag or slow internet connection.
4) In India incoming is free so no Airtel charges.
5) For someone calling from Canada, it is a local call for them.
6) Costs $100. Just kidding man, it's as below;
One time number activation charges - $0.99
Monthly rental - $1.49
Per minute call charges - $0.01 (1 cent per minute)
Per minute call forwarding to my Indian number - $0.011 (1.1 cent per minute)
7) If you have a VoIP instrument, you only pay one time charges and monthly rent.
8.) If you buy premium account for $10, your outgoing to Canada desk and hand phone is free. Only the local carrier charges apply.
9) I can have as many as 60 extensions under the same number. Ex: 101 - Myself, 102 - Spouse, 103 - Father and so on.
10) Don't want the service next month, don't pay the rental. Surrender the number.
I recharged the account for $10 of which $2.48 went into activation and first month rental. The remaining credit is for my calling. That'e the cheapest and glitch-less and anytime-call-me service I could find. This number is already on my Resume which is flashing on monster.ca and workopolis.com
Last but not least, thanks to Nehal Roy (from watsapp group) who helped me do the POC (Proof-of-Concept). He called me from his Skype Canadian number to my virtual Canadian number and I got call on my Airtel Indian number and talked for less than a minute. His voice was terrible since he was on 3G and moving in field. My account credit went down from $7.57 to $7.54 which is $0.03 per minute.
(USD 0.03 = INR 1.86)
Hope this will help you guys. Check the link if you want to avail of this service.
http://www.sonetel.com/en/
And here's a good news, I got a call yesterday on that number from a consultant in New York who are hiring candidates for Holland Electronics, California. Bad news, I want to go to Canada not US, but that might change later. 8) 8)
Later - My research findings on "When to book a flight?"
