For intending landed immigrant have this as your luggage...........................
Your first Interview in Canada
Hello friends!
Welcome to Canada!
In this post I am going to share some of the information regarding INTERVIEWS in Canada. There are two types of professions in Canada regulated and unregulated. For regulated professions one has to apply for a license and a person can practice his profession only after getting license (like teacher, doctor). Conversely for un regulated professions(like I.T) there is no need of such license and one can apply for a job immediately after coming to Canada. I will cover the following points for an Interview in this post .
1. Credential Evaluation
2. Resume
3. Dress code for Interviews
4. Language
5. Confidence and Presentation
6. Certifications
7. Time
1. Credential Evaluation (CE) :-
When a person moves from one country to another he should get his Educational credentials evaluated. CE is generally a process that converts records of education completed in one country into its Foreign Equivalent. There are various organizations proving these services and they charge some fees . As soon as you land in Canada apply for CE.
2. Documents to apply for a job:-
a. Cover Letter- The first and foremost document to apply for a job is Cover Letter that is sent with the resume. It provides detailed information on why you are qualified for the job you are applying for. It should be impressive for the recruiter. To make the CE effective explain the reasons for your interest in the specific organization and identify your most relevant skills or experiences.
b. Resumes- In India mostly people call this document “Cirruculum vitae” or CV. Whereas in Canada it is “Resume”. The most important thing while making this document is that it should be “Scannable electronically”. Sometimes, candidates use so many bullets and formatting and the scanners cannot read those documents . As a result , resumes get rejected. Secondly, it should be simple and lucid. Canadian style resumes are short in size. It should be of 1 or 2 pages. But if you have 15-20 years experience then you you can use 3-4 pages. Thirdly, Try to use maximum number of keywords(regarding your job duties etc.) in your resume. Next, don’t use personal details like nationality, married, religion. Last but not the least , always write your work status in Canada ( work permit, Permanent Resident, Citizen).
It is better to send resume in the Microsoft word format as an attachment. Some recruiters may ask for resume in pdf format.
c. Thank you letter- In most of the cases when the candidate get a response”Unfortunately you are not selected for the job” he doesn’t even care to reply to that e-mail. But that is wrong. Always write a Thank you letter . In future, may be that recruiter come to you with another opportunity.
d. References- It depends on the recruiter , at what stage of recruitment process he asks for 3 references . Some prefer in the beginning and some at the end of recruitment process.
e. LinkedIn- If you have linkedin profile , you can paste its link in your resume. If you don’t have then make your linkedIn profile and maintain it.
3. Dress Code for Interviews:-
a. Men
i. Shirts- Prefer to wear clean white shirt . You can also chose from light colour plain shirts (same as we wear in India). Its better if you can bring 7-8 professional shirts from India because shirts are costly here.
ii. Business suits – Same as we wear in India. Chose black, grey or Darkest blue color. Its good to bring only 1 or 2 suits from India. Business suits in Canada are much better than India and are of same price. Moreover, texture of cloth used to make suits is different here. Here it is more on the professional side.
iii. Ties- Same as in India.
iv. Shoes – Same as in India.
b. Women
i. Wear professional trousers with full sleeves shirts.
ii. Can also opt for knee length skirt and decent top.
iii. Wear professional shoes( no sandals)
iv. No heavy makeup.
v. No jewellery
4. Addressing recruiter or Boss:-
Don’t address your Boss or recruiter as Sir/ Madam. In Canada, we address them by their first name . For example, name is “John Mirinda”. John first name and Mirinda last name. Address him either as “ John” or “Mr. Mirinda”. Its always better to use first name regardless of the position, as this is the corporate culture here.
5. Presentation and Confidence:-
What matters the most in personal interview is your “presentation skills” and “confidence”. Technical skills much later. Your communication skills should be perfect.
6. Certifications:-
If you are from IT background, update yourself before coming to Canada. Canadians are very professional. They do everything process by process. Its not only reading the books but implementing the things.
So update your certifications .
7. Time :-
Always reach 15 minutes before your interview timings. Canadians are very punctual. So, set your watches to Canadian time and not to “Indian Standard Time”.
At the end I would like to share one news with you . My husband got job this month in a very reputed IT firm in Toronto. He has to struggle for 1 year to get his dream job .It needs lots and lots of patience .I have seen him sending 100’s and 100’s of resumes every day and night .Searching for a good job is a lengthy process. Sometimes companies take 2-3 months to close a job and you have to wait for those 3 months for final result. So, be cool and search for your job.
GOOD LUCK
For those of us in MI 2 i wish us soonest response fro
