So, you are a foreign student looking at moving to Canada but you are a fresh graduate?
You are probably having a lot of thoughts running through your head about moving to Canada as a graduate.
Questions like “Will I be able to find a job for my degree?”
“What are some useful tips for me to quickly land a job as a foreign graduate?” We will try to answer these questions in this article.
Below, we will be dishing out some very useful tips for graduates that are moving to Canada. Let’s check them out below;
1. Find some work as an intern first
In order to be able to complete an internship, you will need to secure yourself a work permit or work visas. An internship allows you to develop the relevant skills needed for your profession, add quality value to your CV, and lets you get used to the Canadian work culture.
Once you have worked as an intern for a while, say 6 months or a year, you will find that you are better informed in ways to find a real well paying job in your area. You can visit www.bunac.org for useful links to internships available at Vancouver for at least 6 months. If you plan to stay in Vancouver, you can try them.
2. Assessment of your credentials
If you studied a profession that requires a lot of regulations, then you will need to have your credentials assessed by the regulatory bodies in your province or territory. If your career does not have regulation, then your employer will be the one to assess your qualifications.
If you did not have your higher education in Canada or a related one like the UK, it might be a little hard for your employers to understand your qualifications.
You should visit www.cicic.ca which is the Canadian information centre for International credentials for more information.
3. What’s the working life in Canada like?
As a graduate moving to Canada, you probably don’t really have an idea of how work life tends to go in the maple leaf country. Well, a few points for you.
- The minimum wage is usually set by the provinces.
- The average salary in Canada is $55,000 CAD so you get a picture
- You will be required to work for 40 hours every week from Monday to Friday on the average.
- All workers have access to nine paid public holidays in one year.
- After one year of working in the company, the worker has access to 2 weeks of paid leave.
- There is a tax system in Canada that mainly benefits the lower earning workers.
4. Adapt your resume to Canadian format
If you are still job hunting, you should avoid making the silly mistake of submitting a Canadian unfriendly resume. No Canadian employer will want to offer you a job with that. That is why you should make your resume in the standard Canadian format before you apply for any job.
A Canadian style resume emphasizes the value you can offer to the company rather than the job prescription. There are many formats of Canadian resume on the Internet.
A quick Google search of one sample will bring up many samples that you can edit and format to become your own.
5. Network, Socialise, Connect and tell everybody you are looking for a job
When looking for a job, the one thing you must not do is to keep quiet. Social media networks have made networking so much easier. LinkedIn.com is a very good example of an online social platform where you can connect with many potential employers in your field band update your Bio with all your skills and qualifications. You can even submit applications through LinkedIn.
Also, you should arrange Informational Interviews. What this means, you get the contact of someone in your Industry and arrange to meet up with them and discuss your industry casually. You will need to do a lot of researching to do this but it’s worth it.
There is no limit to the kind of opportunities you could open for yourself by using the Informational Interview job search. Don’t give up. Familiarize yourself with the Canadian environment and don’t forget to put yourself out there.
With all the useful tips given about, you should be able to start your career as a graduate in Canada on a strong footing!
