Is Canadian work experience important? If you're in Canada-share your experience

[abelkwh]

Cant agree more with clubcanada!

Lots of people seem to complain that "lack of Canadian experience" is deterring them from finding a job or a survival job. This is possibly so cause these people either lack

a) good understandable command of English, which means "strong local accent" where local Canadian hirers or employers have difficulty understanding the candidates.
b) Poor written and bad grammatical command of English, where there are simply too many mistakes even from a simple resume (with lots of spelling mistakes or grammatical errors).
c) Lack of relevant transferable skills to the jobs applying for
d) Unable to integrate into the local culture eg. A recent co-worker of mine of fired cause he simply refused to communicate in English at work all the time with his fellow indians or pakistans and then my Supervisor just got annoyed after numerous warnings and fired him cause of his dis-respect for fellow workers who do not speak his home language!

 

[Traveler 1]

Cant agree more with clubcanada!

Lots of people seem to complain that "lack of Canadian experience" is deterring them from finding a job or a survival job. This is possibly so cause these people either lack

a) good understandable command of English, which means "strong local accent" where local Canadian hirers or employers have difficulty understanding the candidates.
b) Poor written and bad grammatical command of English, where there are simply too many mistakes even from a simple resume (with lots of spelling mistakes or grammatical errors).
c) Lack of relevant transferable skills to the jobs applying for
d) Unable to integrate into the local culture eg. A recent co-worker of mine of fired cause he simply refused to communicate in English at work all the time with his fellow indians or pakistans and then my Supervisor just got annoyed after numerous warnings and fired him cause of his dis-respect for fellow workers who do not speak his home language!

How can one learn the local accent eh?

 

[newtone]

Dont hang around FOBs

 

[angelbrat]

Canadian experience is so much more than just having a job.

Canadian experience is about becoming a Canadian.

If you really want to live and work here, then start by embracing the Canadian culture and the language.

This is hard to try and write but you should almost forget your own culture, become Canadian first, your own nationality second. You want to immigrate to Canada, then you must be prepared to sacrifice your identity and become one with your new chosen Country. this

I am not saying this to offend anyone, just trying to help pave the way.

 

[sukhija23]

Interesting topic and i must thank all those who have contributed to this thread with their knowledge and experience.

As for me, i am yet to move to Canada. My medicals are done though, so hopefully its just a matter of time now.

Now here is my question. Wayyyyy back in 2001-2, i was in Canada on work permit, and worked for a large Canadian company, for a total of about 9 months or so. My work relationship with the company continued even after coming back to India, till 2003, when i changed my job in India.

Now, does the above count as "Canadian Experience" ?

Cheers.

 

[scylla]

Interesting topic and i must thank all those who have contributed to this thread with their knowledge and experience.

As for me, i am yet to move to Canada. My medicals are done though, so hopefully its just a matter of time now.

Now here is my question. Wayyyyy back in 2001-2, i was in Canada on work permit, and worked for a large Canadian company, for a total of about 9 months or so. My work relationship with the company continued even after coming back to India, till 2003, when i changed my job in India.

Now, does the above count as "Canadian Experience" ?

Cheers.

The 9 months you worked in Canada is Canadian Experience. The rest is not because you were not physically located in Canada.

 

[jhun_nyor]

Hi I just want to share my experience. But I would like to give a brief background of myself

I’m an IT professional from the Philippines landed in Canada in Dec 18 2010 but since I am working in UAE ( 7yrs) I have to go back to UAE and finish off my contract. I resume my residency in Canada last Sept 1, 2011.
Before moving back to Canada I did lot of research about getting a job in Canada. I've read lot of struggles for fellow immigrants about having hard time getting a job since their previous experience and education is irrelevant in Canada. So I told myself, I'll give myself six mo's if I haven’t got a job in my field I will pursue Canadian education.

Now with the question if Canadian experience is important, based from my experience it depends.

I resume residency on September 1, 2011 and I sent close to 20 job application that match my profile.
I never got a call back from 19 applications for 6wks, on the seventh wk I got a call from one application I sent 2 wks ago.
I did a 12minute phone interview, the next day they called me for a technical interview, and it was an intense 45 min panel interview. I got a call back after a week that I got the job and will be signing my offer letter this Monday.
During the interview I ask the HR manager about how new immigrant fair with competition especially with those having Canadian education and experience. She said their company is an equal opportunity employer and they based their decision with the job requirements and the person’s experience and qualification plus their attitude must be in line with the company core values.
So after 2 mo’s I got a job which commensurate my qualification and experience as a Systems Administrator in Canada’s major player in the Oil and Gas industry.

 

[ashokcan]

From my point of view there's no such thing as ‘Canadian experience'. Either you fit in or you don't. If someone rejects your application due to lack of canadian ex that is probably because there was no fit (over-/underqualified, cultural gap, language gap, lousy interview performance, better candidate available, etc.).
Some jobs require having experience on the canadian/local market. A strong network within the local industry/market is of significant importance for management positions. A sales person or a VP/director without work experience in Canada will mostly likely fail in their position.
If you have sufficient language skills, have work experience that is applicable to the position you've applied for and you possess a skill set/profession that is difficult to fill with locals, you soon or later will get a job. HOWEVER, things like heavy accent, language issues, huge cultural gaps, lack of willingness to adopt local procedures, etc. can be show-stoppers. In addition, if you apply for positions that are far below your last job you probably won't have a chance either.

Very well written. thanks.

 

[betty216]

Canadian experience is so much more than just having a job.

Canadian experience is about becoming a Canadian.

If you really want to live and work here, then start by embracing the Canadian culture and the language.

This is hard to try and write but you should almost forget your own culture, become Canadian first, your own nationality second. You want to immigrate to Canada, then you must be prepared to sacrifice your identity and become one with your new chosen Country. this

I am not saying this to offend anyone, just trying to help pave the way.

Angelbrat, you really hit the nail on the head. Yes that is what the 'Canadian Experience' really is. If you are to be successful here, then you have to embrace the Canadian culture, language, and way of doing things. This is one thing that I have come to realize, it took me a few years to realize though. Its not about how much education you have, no, its about how you integrate with the Canadian people. For example, most Canadian are cheerful, smiling people. SO if you are to go into a work environment where people are cheerful, happy go lucky people, but you bring that mood down, then you may not be considered the right fit for that job. Not the best example but hope you get the point.

 

[betty216]

Most public sectors use SAP system to do their finances so that would be a very great bonus for you. In regards to Accounting and Finance - these jobs usually have transferable skills. The only short come in Accounting and Finance you might face hardness in getting a hire post in specialised posts like taxation or law and regulating accounting in canada thats where your certification will need to get certified and then you could work on getting the CGA. Anyway this is not my field am mostly in HR but that the bit I know.

All in all you have skills to do the job so you will just look for work like anybody else.

Hi Martha, as an immigrant, how do find the HR profession? Is it a good field for immigrants to get into? Do you think they can be successful?

 

[Baloo]

This book is worth borrowing from the library

http://www.amazon.ca/No-Canadian-Experience-Daisy-Wright/dp/0973894504

 

[ashokcan]

Angelbrat, you really hit the nail on the head. Yes that is what the 'Canadian Experience' really is. If you are to be successful here, then you have to embrace the Canadian culture, language, and way of doing things. This is one thing that I have come to realize, it took me a few years to realize though. Its not about how much education you have, no, its about how you integrate with the Canadian people. For example, most Canadian are cheerful, smiling people. SO if you are to go into a work environment where people are cheerful, happy go lucky people, but you bring that mood down, then you may not be considered the right fit for that job. Not the best example but hope you get the point.

That's true ......... ;D

 

[zero]

That's true ......... ;D

It is good news. I have been lived in Western country last 19 years and integrated, have so much energy, can smile always.. so I have sure chance to get a job in Canadian Market!

 

[mysteryocean]

i studied and work in canada so i can throw some light on this topic. canadian experience is not just about working in canada. someone said very true thing about adopting the canadian culture. personal hygiene, appearance, attitute,accent, everything matters. while hiring, HR manager look for subtle thing like how this person is gonna fit into their work environment? imagine you're working in your home country and one person from different country who speak your language in different accent that you have hard time to understand and dont know anything about music,movies, or any other cultural things about your country. how would you accommodate that person in your office? its all depends on how easily you can communicate to canadians on about any topic and make friends. if HR manager thinks you can easily fit into their office environment, your chances are brighter.

second and big thing is resume. most people try to put everything on resume. resume should be edited according to job description. you cant be OVER qualified or cant UNDER qualified. cover letter with correct grammar is equally important.

if you move to canada, do yourself a favor, dont move to big city like toronto or Vancouver or calgary. move to mid sized town or city and dont hang out with your country people. it will limit your improvement as a canadian.

 

[sukhija23]

i studied and work in canada so i can throw some light on this topic. canadian experience is not just about working in canada. someone said very true thing about adopting the canadian culture. personal hygiene, appearance, attitute,accent, everything matters. while hiring, HR manager look for subtle thing like how this person is gonna fit into their work environment? imagine you're working in your home country and one person from different country who speak your language in different accent that you have hard time to understand and dont know anything about music,movies, or any other cultural things about your country. how would you accommodate that person in your office? its all depends on how easily you can communicate to canadians on about any topic and make friends. if HR manager thinks you can easily fit into their office environment, your chances are brighter.

second and big thing is resume. most people try to put everything on resume. resume should be edited according to job description. you cant be OVER qualified or cant UNDER qualified. cover letter with correct grammar is equally important.

if you move to canada, do yourself a favor, dont move to big city like toronto or Vancouver or calgary. move to mid sized town or city and dont hang out with your country people. it will limit your improvement as a canadian.

Good points there although I am not so sure about the emphasis on movies etc.

I mean, here in India too, people move from one part of the country to another and the change is as huge, if not bigger, as moving to another country. Yet, people do settle down, in spite of not knowing much about the local language etc.

I'd say the main difference is in the level of courteousness and respect for an individual that is expected from a Canadian. That, to me, is the true nature of Canadian culture. We Indians are not so used to saying "thank you" and "you're welcome" etc so frequently. And don't even get me started on our inability to form a queue.

Bottom line, be polite, listen to others, smile and give them space. These are just a few things to get one started on the right foot. Right?