Keep in mind there are almost no jobs!

[nj123]

@info-gc : Sorry to hear about your situation mate. After 10 years of trying to make things work, it must be tough to have to do this over and over again. I'd say keep trying. I usually find things change when you persist past your perceived last try. But then, it is easy to spout these hopeful remarks ...

I responded to a similar post here

http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/getting-a-job-after-landing-t57051.0.html;msg495734#msg495734

Seems like it isn't too bad if you have specific skills.

 

[info-gc]

As a person who has hired many people, I can tell you that I will go for the person I think I can work with over the person who has greater skills but will be more difficult to work with 7 days of the week. And "difficult" doesn't in any way mean to imply that the person is doing anything wrong. There are a hundred things that make a person "difficult". It could be language, it could be habits, it could be inflexibility, it could be distractions, it could be odor!

I cannot agree more with that! And that is exactly how it works. Now imagine you have an immigrant that can answer all technical questions, but you have a bit of trouble understanding him. Imagine the job he is applying to involves training of other people. Then, lets say you have a Canadian born person, friend, whatever, who may not be that good with the technical aspects but is great in communicating with people. Are you going to hire the immigrant? I guess not, your post actually answered this question.

OK, most of us are aware we face cultural or language barriers in Canada. What we are relying upon is basically the occupation factor which has to be an indicator of how easy it is to get hired with the skills you possess. If you are one of 5 applicants for a job you may have a very good chance of landing the job. What if you are one of one?

Now lets go back a bit. I guy scores maybe 10 out of 10 points, then comes to Canada and finds that there are 500 applicants to one job, well do you find this normal? What is this guy supposed to do?
How was exactly that occupation factor score supposed to be interpreted?

Whoever said that I justified the killing of the passenger on that bus, was taking my words out of context. I do not justify any of that. What I was pointing at was an example of a human struggle that resulted in a pretty gruesome tragedy. That Chinese fellow was an IT person, who took upgrading IT university courses in Canada but, according to the articles, never landed an IT job, he instead did a number of low profile jobs.

This is all I wanted to say. It is not about an individual, not about my story and situation. I may be able to find my way out of this, but many others will not.

 

[qwerbilzak]

I cannot agree more with that! And that is exactly how it works. Now imagine you have an immigrant that can answer all technical questions, but you have a bit of trouble understanding him. Imagine the job he is applying to involves training of other people. Then, lets say you have a Canadian born person, friend, whatever, who may not be that good with the technical aspects but is great in communicating with people. Are you going to hire the immigrant? I guess not, your post actually answered this question.

OK, most of us are aware we face cultural or language barriers in Canada. What we are relying upon is basically the occupation factor which has to be an indicator of how easy it is to get hired with the skills you possess. If you are one of 5 applicants for a job you may have a very good chance of landing the job. What if you are one of one?

Now lets go back a bit. I guy scores maybe 10 out of 10 points, then comes to Canada and finds that there are 500 applicants to one job, well do you find this normal? What is this guy supposed to do?
How was exactly that occupation factor score supposed to be interpreted?

Whoever said that I justified the killing of the passenger on that bus, was taking my words out of context. I do not justify any of that. What I was pointing at was an example of a human struggle that resulted in a pretty gruesome tragedy. That Chinese fellow was an IT person, who took upgrading IT university courses in Canada but, according to the articles, never landed an IT job, he instead did a number of low profile jobs.

This is all I wanted to say. It is not about an individual, not about my story and situation. I may be able to find my way out of this, but many others will not.

I know what you're saying, and I know there's a huge amount of frustration out there. Why in the world should Canadian immigration say "we're letting in X engineers this year" if there's not work for them? It seems almost fraudulent.

I really don't know the answer to that. I've never read anywhere on what basis they decide how many engineers they're going to let in. Maybe someone here knows. But I've also never read that there's any connection between the CIC and the actual job market. Do they look at job boards? Do they poll employers? Do they say, "we think Canada can support X thousand immigrants next year, and out of those n% of them can be engineers?" Do they just say in the abstract, "engineers are good - bring them..." without a thought to the specific labor demand issues at the time? It would be interesting to see behind the curtain on these issues.

It's a difficult problem for everyone involved, because even if you could admit exactly the number of engineers the job market is demanding, who's to say how many people would be compatible for the specific jobs in place on the grounds we've been discussing? On top of that, what about the Canadian qualifications? Maybe there are different safety standards in say Nigeria than in Canada, and to meet Canadian code a huge amount of study should be undertaken, on perfectly legitimate grounds.

I do know that if I were running the system, I'd try to give immigration applicants a way to make their qualifications "Canada-valid" while they're waiting through the immigration process. I'm no expert, but I could imagine a board that reviews your degrees, your work, offers courses, etc and in many cases is able to cross-certify you ahead of time so that by the time you land, you've got the qualification certificate you need. I could imagine online training in "fitting in in the workplace" for waiting immigrants. Things like that. I'm sure you'd have many more good ideas than I do. But at the end of the day, an engineer is an engineer, and it seems the rest could be surmounted (maybe not for all, but for many), and I think Canada would benefit from it. Look at the doctor situation. There's no reason in the world a qualified physician shouldn't be immediately working in Canada from the day she steps on Canuck soil. Such a person driving a taxi is ipso facto disastrously bad policy.

But I may be missing or not understanding lots of important issues, I'm not sure. It seems if some of these ideas made sense, someone would have done them by now.

 

[EnvioZA]

I cannot agree more with that! And that is exactly how it works. Now imagine you have an immigrant that can answer all technical questions, but you have a bit of trouble understanding him. Imagine the job he is applying to involves training of other people. Then, lets say you have a Canadian born person, friend, whatever, who may not be that good with the technical aspects but is great in communicating with people. Are you going to hire the immigrant? I guess not, your post actually answered this question.

OK, most of us are aware we face cultural or language barriers in Canada. What we are relying upon is basically the occupation factor which has to be an indicator of how easy it is to get hired with the skills you possess. If you are one of 5 applicants for a job you may have a very good chance of landing the job. What if you are one of one?

Now lets go back a bit. I guy scores maybe 10 out of 10 points, then comes to Canada and finds that there are 500 applicants to one job, well do you find this normal? What is this guy supposed to do?
How was exactly that occupation factor score supposed to be interpreted?

Whoever said that I justified the killing of the passenger on that bus, was taking my words out of context. I do not justify any of that. What I was pointing at was an example of a human struggle that resulted in a pretty gruesome tragedy. That Chinese fellow was an IT person, who took upgrading IT university courses in Canada but, according to the articles, never landed an IT job, he instead did a number of low profile jobs.

This is all I wanted to say. It is not about an individual, not about my story and situation. I may be able to find my way out of this, but many others will not.

I have recently applied for immigration. It's been 6 years I am in Japan and doing fine.
I have a lot of hope and equal amount of fear when I think migrating to a new country.
At first your post seemed fearful to me but I would like to give you my heartfelt thanks for posting your experience.
I don't understand why people start criticising the post if that doesn't go with their opinion?
I have my reason for for migration, so do others.
All of us thinking just to go to Canada, none here except very few talk about what will happen if we move there. We should exchange views like how we can settle, education, jobs, issues to consider etc etc. Need comments from people like you who are already there.
So post like yours will keep us doing more research before we move.
You gave a nice hading to your post " Keep in mind there are almost no jobs". Thats fine enough. You did not say "Don't come to canada" or somehting. You warned us and I thank you for that.
May god help you on your way. All we can do is hope better and work for it the rest lies on Gods hand.
Cheers.

 

[fromdubai]

Fascinating.

Thanks.

Just for my info, under which NOC you applied ?

 

[qwerbilzak]

Just for my info, under which NOC you applied ?

5132

 

[asaif]

Regardless of the genuinity of this story, the discussions around it helped me to realize some essential points about finding a job in Canada:

- the credentials, experiences and skills that enabled you to get a high-profile job in your home country might not guarantee you the same in Canada. You should learn the success factors in the Canadian marker and adopt yourself accordingly.

- if you find your credentials not recognized or not valued, don't waste your time applying again and again for hopeless jobs. In this case you have to start over and get an acceptable qualification (i.e. Canadian degree). Bear in mind that a bachelor degree from your home country plus a diploma or master from Canada is not equivalent to a bachelor degree from Canada. I would advice you to study for a bachelor degree again.

- If you can't find a job, don't just stay at home. Go out and volunteer. In this way you will get some Canadian experience and network with potential employers.

- Always have a plan B. If you can't make it in Canada try to do elsewhere. A rational choice is returning to your home country since you were able to succeed there , but you can try other alternatives also (US, Middle East, Europe). Remember, you are Canadian now, and that gives you some (but not much) edge over many nationalities in these markets.

 

[asaif]

5132

Now I can understand your problem.

 

[info-gc]

But I may be missing or not understanding lots of important issues, I'm not sure. It seems if some of these ideas made sense, someone would have done them by now.

I have been thinking about the reasons too and I came up with some conclusions that may or may not be right.

Low end jobs that do not require too much knowledge are more than the good jobs the skilled immigrants are after. Finding a person for a low end job is difficult. Such jobs are done by students, that drink and party every Wednesday and do not show up for work on Thursday who also do not care a lot about the job and how well they do it. If there is a significant expansion somewhere (like Fort McMurrey) there is a big labor shortage, the labor rates go up and the business owner misses to make top profit.

Now if immigrants are brought in, there is a transition period during which they feel and are quite vulnerable. Their knowledge of laws and regulations is very limited, their language skills are not up to par and they are flexible to move to any place. It is then easy to convince those people that they are not yet ready to handle a job in their field. Because an immigrant wants to make the best of it, he/she will work harder and will be the last to speak up or object an order. If eventually, no better opportunities arise, the immigrant has a place to go (go back or move on to USA). Many leave quietly, relieving Canada of the burden to take care of them and freeing up new spots for the new applicants.

OK, so why not Canada accept people that just want to come and work and who do not have university degrees? It is possible that such people will not adapt well enough to do the work. They may have little motivation to learn the language or learn new skills, they may be riskier and increase the crime rates. By checking the education and work history of an applicant as well as its health and language abilities, Canada makes sure the person is of good character and likely to perform well no matter what the job is.

But who will trade a good job offering security for a crappy factory job that hardly pays the bills? No sane person will! So here comes the role of the Occupation Factor, Information boards, immigrant publications and other media. Immigrants are enticed to believe that there are endless opportunities for them. Even the job boards these days contain a link to the immigration site and state "you may need a work permit to work in Canada", and that's how the game starts.

With this being said, I have also seen people who got jobs recently. If you are well above the average level for your profession and can demonstrate it, it is likely to make a difference.

Sharing conclusions and expressing my opinions is not that easy. It is difficult to evaluate the whole immigration program based on a few cases and the words of a few people and I will be ashamed if my findings do not reflect the reality. I am interested to see how the last 3,000,000 immigrants fared in Canada and how they feel about their adventure.

 

[kathe]

I have been thinking about the reasons too and I came up with some conclusions that may or may not be right.

Low end jobs that do not require ............It is difficult to evaluate the whole immigration program based on a few cases and the words of a few people and I will be ashamed if my findings do not reflect the reality. I am interested to see how the last 3,000,000 immigrants fared in Canada and how they feel about their adventure.

A thoughtful post worth reading! May God bless you and your love ones!

 

[nj123]

I have been thinking about the reasons too and I came up with some conclusions that may or may not be right.

Sharing conclusions and expressing my opinions is not that easy. It is difficult to evaluate the whole immigration program based on a few cases and the words of a few people and I will be ashamed if my findings do not reflect the reality. I am interested to see how the last 3,000,000 immigrants fared in Canada and how they feel about their adventure.

The way I see it; if you have a good job/prospects where you are, then a move to Canada has to be for more than financial reasons i.e. stable democracy, stable/fair judiciary,some sort of state health care, good infrastructure etc.

Even then, you have to check if moving to Canada is worth it for the above advantages....

The reality is that if you are moving there without a pre-arranged job, family links etc. you are going to struggle unless you happen to have some in-demand skills.

Sobering...

Thanks for sharing with us...

 

[canada4all]

I would like to share my own experience.

I m in Pakistan. I have 10 years experience as IT professional in a good financial institute in a managerial position. Around one year ago I was forced to resign due to my high salary. I am unemployed after that for almost one year. I have IT certifications. I m also 1st postion holder in master degree of computer science. I have networking links also as it is my native country. I have posted cv on internet sites, went to many organizations. but what is bottom result.

Still Unemployed in my own native country despite all experience, certifications and excellence in education!! Most of my savings have been elapsed in this period to take care of my family and school going children.

Bottom result is that unemployment is not related to immigration.It is related to international financial crisis which is almost every where. Even in China which is an example of World progress, many workers are doing suicides due to low salaries and intolerable working conditions.

So why we should blame Canadian immigration system. This system only selects those whose skills are in demand in the country. It is separate issue that education and experience of most immigrants does not meet the advanced systems in Canada. For example in Pakistan we are using mostly windows XP but in Canada mostly used systems are Vista or windows 7. In Canada almost every system / procedure is of highest standard.

Moreover, our children can get free education and medical facilities when we are unemployed.

So I think unemployment in Canada is better than in my own country.Because after getting job in my own country I will not get World standard way of living.

Economy depression or boost are essential parts of global monetary system. Immigration covers every field of life including work. So a decision should be based on all aspects of life and not only based on job or work only.

 

[kimwayne]

Just have faith to your self and to the almigthy!


You're fortunate enough already that you are in Canada right now,many people wants to go there,including me and my family.Just count your blessings and name them one by one as my friends told me.

There is a lot of enthusiasm around here and I do not want to sound negative and discouraging.

Yet there are things you need to know.

The score based skilled class immigration system is a bogus one and it is not based on any real job demand numbers. What you will find out is, your skills and experience will not count for much and you will have a difficult time competing with the unemployed Canadian professionals and other immigrants that came here before you and are still struggling.

The reason Canada is going to accept another 500,000+ people in 2011 is they are expected to bring their savings with them.

If you are ready to spend the rest of your life in a factory as a regular employee toiling for $10-12/hour then you will be fine and may even be able to get a bit up the ladder. If, however, you come with the hopes of landing a job in your field in the first 5 months or even a year, this is extremely unlikely to happen, unless you are a real prodigy.

This site may provide another perspective to immigration:

ww.dsc-gc.com/ (add a w to make it work)

It is not the first of its kind and it will not be the last. The good thing about it is, one can fill out a survey sheet and share their experience in Canada.

Best of luck to all of you!

 

[charninder]

Hi info,

My advice -

1) Just concentrate on jobs which earn more $.

2) Put aside your reservations.

3) Don't waste your time here in this forum.

4) Try to live in suburban area where your cost of living will be lower and you may find job also.

5) Forget about going back to your home country. You have spent 10 years in Canada, you must be able to find some sort of job.

6) From which country are you? This is very important.

7) Just try to trust in God and visit Church when you find some time, you will be blessed within days, and if that happens please do inform me through this forum.

God Bless You.

 

[aspire]

Dear Friends,

My PR status is in process since July 31, 2009. I am an internationally educated and experienced nurse. Though I am a Registered Nurse from my home country and has the license as well to practice from the country where I am currently working, I was aware that these licenses are not accredited in Canada and my educational credentials may not have the equivalency to that of Canadian Standards. I am also aware that nursing profession is a regulated profession in Canada and that I cannot practice as a nurse without passing first the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination. To get the eligibility to sit for the CRNE you got to have your education assessed if indeed it has the Canadian standards equivalence.

These were the 2 things which I did after submitting my PR application. I made a research and I found out that each province in Canada has its own ways and standards. My Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree (4 years) is only accepted as equivalent to a practical nursing diploma (2 years) in Ontario. But in Manitoba, my nursing degree from my home country has the BSN equivalence. So, I applied in Manitoba, though in our heart we want to settle in Toronto. I went all the long process and huge spending to have accredited and to get the eligibility to sit for the licensure exam.

While going through the accreditation process, I asked my friend in Winnipeg to search for an employer for me. Until I got the eligibility to sit for the CRNE, I still do not have my PR. I went to Canada on a visit visa just to sit for the CRNE. While I was there I got interviewed by some of the hospitals where my friend submitted my resume. Getting the eligibility means you are registered as a GN (General Nurse) and give you the temporary license to work as a nurse provided you will be put under the direct supervision of a registered nurse. Temporary license lasts for 1 year. You have to pass the CRNE within 1 year otherwise your temporary license will be revoked.
One of the hospitals hired me as GN, and just recently I passed the CRNE. The employer is now working for my LMO not just a GN but as RN. I do not know when I will receive my PR; I do not know either what is the reason for the delay. TRV will soon be processed in parallel with my PR. Be it on PR or TRV, I will not move to Canada without the license to work.

I do not know what’s ahead of me in the future. Will I get the PR or the TRV, or I cannot have both. That is out of my control. The least that I can do are the things which I have a grasp of. To do all the preparatory things that can be done before landing Canada. I will not land in Canada if I do not have the license to work and the employer to work for.
Friends, again I do not know yet what’s ahead of me in the future. But I believe the track that I have been taking should be the path each and every individual who dreams to migrate to Canada should take. I am encouraging all friends to do the same. With these at hand, surely there will be no anxiety as you board Air Canada with the maple leaf on your passport. We cannot just leave our current stable jobs and life here and fly to Canada with full of uncertainties ahead.

God is in control. PR is delayed because He wants to equip me with all the needed weapons before He grants our visa.

May God Bless Us All.