This is going to sound wrong, but I've learned its true. I used to work with an organization on a volunteer basis that helped new immigrants get settled. The truth is, their is some prejudice or something that is often held by employeers towards immigrant applicants. I'm not sure if its intentional prejudice because although racism and what not exists in every country, I'd like to think Canada is not to bad in regards to that issue. It could be assumptions combined with a lack of understanding. Maybe employeers feel more comfortable hiring another born n raised Canadian where their is no struggle to understand accents, or fear they can't communicate as well with each other. Plus there is alot of immigrants that come that are not qualified for alot of jobs due to being denied educational oppurtunities in their home country due to money issue or conflict, or education not transfering over to Canada, and end up doing manuel labour jobs and warehouses and stuff like that. So alot of employeers seem to think this means most immigrants are not qualified unless their resume is ridiculously obviously well qualified.
This may not be the case everywhere, but in my experience of helping new immigrants, degree or not, this seems to be an issues.
The same thing I told them, put EXTRA effort into how you present yourself. Present yourself so well, that any preconcieved idea's or doubts they might have had, go right out the window. Dress well in a nice pair of dress pants and a button up dress shirt and tie. Be very confident and on top of things in the way you speak. Obtain knowledge of the company before you do anything, drop your resume off in person and ask to speak to management. Shake their hand, give them the resume in person and share a brief speech of your desire for the position, and a few ways you feel you would be a asset to the company. Nothing to rehearsed sounding, and don't over do it in how much of their time you take up. Its an introduction to you that will cause them to look a bit harder at your resume.
I've gained some amazing jobs by doing just this. I always drop of resumes in person, I always ask to speak to the person doing the hiring to introduce myself. I generally make it a rule to not just drop off a resume and leave it. If I do, do that, I come back to introduce myself when the manager is there. I also call after a reasonable amount of time to ask if the manager has had a chance to look at the resume and if the job is still open, and I express my continued interest.
I've run a successful business before, and when I hired people, I would get plenty of qualified people. So to pick who I wanted to hire, I focused on the ones that showed that extra interest. I knew someone who took the time to really fight for the job would be not only an asset to the company, but also someone who would do their work properly with pride, and could be entrusted with their duties.Because realistically when someone is looking for a job they hand out a whole heap of resumes, it doesn't mean they have a personal interest in any particular job, they just want a job. So as an employeer you don't really want someone whose just looking for " a job", you want someone who is looking for " this job". It makes a difference in their job performance believe me!
I don't know if this helps, and I hope nobody takes this the wrong way. Its just my opinion as someone who is married to a soon to be immigrant and has helped many settle into Canada in the past!!
