Express Entry How to Find a Job in Canada - Immigration.ca

Welcome to the immigration.ca live stream series

My name is Andrea and I'm here with immigration lawyer Colin Singer

Colin is managing partner of immigration.ca. Colin is also managing partner of Global Recruiters of Montreal, our in-house employment search

consulting enterprise. Our main topic today is going to be how to find a job in Canada

Thank you very much for bearing with us. We just had a small technical error so we're going to continue right now

So before we get started, we'll quickly mention express entry draws. The last express entry draw was on March 1st so the CRS score was 434

So we do anticipate another express entry draw shortly. So Colin, I mean..

Yeah, we've been obviously a three-week period since the last draw. We've seen healthy numbers in each draw for the beginning of the year, declining CRS score

so our fingers are crossed. Maybe there'll be a draw today. It's happened before where the government has held a draw on a Thursday or even a Friday

So we've got a couple of hours left in the week and we'll be watching and waiting

So let's head in to today's topic which is how to find a job from outside Canada, a big

challenge for many individuals, obviously. Right. So I mean, those applying under express entry, there's two main classes, the federal skilled

worker program as well as the skilled trades program. So obviously... Well, I mean, those are the two bigger categories that we obviously want to cover

We're certainly... What we're going to talk about today also includes individuals applying under provincial

nomination programs under express entry or the Canadian experience class. So I mean, if you're in the Canadian experience class, you're hopefully working in Canada

and this has a limited application for you. But the broad categories of federal skilled worker, talk to our viewers on recap what

we've talked about during our last live stream. What are the main categories

How does the system work in terms of coding your occupation? Okay

So one of the ways... Well, to qualify under express entry, you need to have one year full-time work experience

under a qualifying occupation. So in order to determine if you have a qualifying occupation, you need to go to the NOC code

which is a National Occupational Classification. So there's A, B, and 0 that qualify

So NOC 0 occupations are, for example, managerial occupations. NOC A, that would be those occupations requiring university degrees. Right

And then there's NOC B. So those would be occupations that require

for example, a college degree. Right. In a summary sense, for a layman's description, the A occupations are more or less the professional

positions, lawyers, accountants, doctors, architects, engineers, and other professional types requiring a degree of education

And then there's the B occupations, again, are the technical and skilled trades

So anyone who's going in the skilled trades category, their occupation would be coded

under one of the larger B categories of occupations. You can find all of this under a really great tool that we use

It's the tool that we referred to in our last live stream

We're going to include a link in our today's presentation. Once it's uploaded, we will include a link on YouTube and I think on Facebook as well

So you'll have access to a wonderful tool that gives you an overview of the descriptions

of the various occupations. Again, when you're applying for express entry immigration to Canada and you're going in

under either the federal skilled or the trades occupations, really, you know, it doesn't

preclude you from looking for positions that are slightly different than your background

You're not bound to finding a job that is going to exactly replicate the application

that you're submitting under express entry. What we're talking about is how to practically find a job

Obviously, it has to be related to what you're going to be submitting your application under

because that's what you're most employable under. So what we're doing is we're giving people some perspective on the number of occupations

that are covered in this broad category, 347, and how to go about actually looking for the

description on what it takes to get employed, the education you generally need

But when you're actually putting practice into operation, you don't need to be worried

that you're only looking for positions that match the application that you've uploaded

to the express entry system or that you're going to plan to upload

So it doesn't need to be so rigidly tied because when you go into the system, the tool that

we've been referring to, there's many suboccupations that are classified. You can go and look in many of the various suboccupations

So we don't want people to be so rigidly tied to the application description that they're preparing

They can enlarge the scope of occupations that they're going to try to consider for

employment purposes. Let's talk about one of the most important parts of this process

So that would be your CV, your resume. So both your digital one as well as the physical copy that you'll be creating that you could

obviously send a scanned copy by email. One doesn't ... They both are important

So when you're looking for a great application, you want to have, of course, a LinkedIn profile

We often refer to the digital online version really by your LinkedIn profile

And there's some fabulous tools out there. These publications called dummy guides, they're a great publication

And you can find an excellent product for how to make a LinkedIn online persona

And there's an excellent dummy guide specifically for your LinkedIn profile. We refer people to that

Of course, when we're preparing digital applications and online versions and written, we also prepare

a LinkedIn profile for all our applicant clients. So just summarizing really the important elements of the written version

Let's talk about the important elements, what goes on top of a CV

That would be your name and your contact details. It's important to include the contact details

Many people just put their name, an email address, and a telephone number

You don't need your civic city address or wherever you're living. You don't need to put that on the top, but you surely want to have your email ID

Let's talk to them about an important email ID consideration. Just make sure your email ID is short, concise, and then obviously don't put too many numbers

at the end. If you can make it your name, that would be great

But obviously make sure that an employer is going to...that's the first thing they're

going to see. So make sure that it's something that... Something appropriate. Yeah

What we want you to take away from this particular short descriptive is don't put inappropriate

email IDs as part of your application process. If you have an email ID that is what we will call inappropriate, it's not a good way to

start off your job search. So ditch email IDs that are inappropriate, and you can go online and find out what is

an appropriate email ID and what is not. Make it really simple

Have it tied to your name if possible, your name and perhaps a year of birth, whatever

the situation might hold. And again, at the top of your resume, your contact details really clearly laid out

Some of the resumes that we prepare have an opening statement, a profile

We call it a profile. What you have done and what you can do for the employer

Now for every job you're going to apply for, you're going to tailor make your profile to

that particular position. Basically you're going to have a range of positions that you're looking to apply for

and you're going to want to tailor make your profile opening statement

It's not mandatory, but we often do include a nice short profile

From there, you've got your education, obviously with your most current accomplishments, then

followed by your work experience. We use the chronological. Or the reverse

So your most recent at the top, and then follow it. So from most recent to least recent

So again, short descriptions of your work experience. Very important to use forceful verb descriptions

So use one word, start off each sentence, we like to do this, where you start off each

description with an impactful verb. Managed. You know, all of these types of description where you're using a verb that describes what

you've done. You begin each sentence. Again, what we just talked about earlier, very briefly, you want to tailor make, it's

not one resume for every single position. Exactly. So it needs to be tailored to each job you're applying for

Because obviously that shows that you've gone through and you've researched the company

you've researched the position, and you took the time to tailor your experiences accordingly

to the job. Right. In terms of going about the types of positions that you'll be looking for, we look to research

companies by broad industry. So there's a number of tools in Canada where you can identify broad industries, and you

want to be approaching companies in your industry. Now each company, you want to put the time, look at the hiring trends that your particular

employer that you're looking to approach has been undergoing. You'll get a sense of where they're headed sometimes

There's a lot of useful information on a company's website. You'll be able to see positions that might be currently open

You'll be able to take a look at perhaps an industry direction, where they're headed

and you'll be able to gauge whether this is an up-and-coming potential employment opportunity

Let's talk about hiring managers. Again, it's not good to direct your messages and your applications to the personnel department

That generally doesn't go very far. So if you can identify a hiring manager, this is a bit more strategic

It's a bit more direct because the person who's going to be ultimately making a decision

is who you want to be contacting. What we like to do, and I certainly emphasize this with our search consultants, is that

you want to contact phone by phone wherever possible. More difficult, how do you maximize your chances to reach a hiring manager by phone

You want to do this early in the day, earliest part of your day

Some hiring managers, many people are in the office by 7 o'clock, 7.30, 8 o'clock

That's the time you want to try to get through the phone, get into their personal phone mail

call them, and if you're lucky to reach them, that's golden. And the key is a 40-second introduction conversation

Whatever you want to convey, you need to practice this, prepare a script, and you need to be

able to summarize everything you're looking to achieve in a 40-second phone call

If you reach the hiring manager, and that's golden if you can do that

It does happen occasionally. You want to be able to reach them and give a very concise 40-second message

People don't have two, three minutes to listen to what you have to say, so you want to prep

them, why you're calling them, what you're looking to achieve, and you're going to give

them a follow-up in your discussion. You're going to be able to tell them what they can look for

And that's really, if you can accomplish all of that, that's a successful phone call

Now, if you can't reach them by phone, email is second best

What do they need to do with email? Obviously, as Colin mentioned, you need to keep it concise as well

So 40 seconds for a phone call, but for an email, maybe three to four sentences

Obviously, in the subject line, you can include your name and the position that you're looking

to apply to, for example. And obviously, tailor those three to four sentences

Keep them concise. You know that this person's getting tons of emails, so you want to be able to stand out

Another important point that I'd like to emphasize, and we again encourage all our clients who

are looking for work, again, it's difficult when you're outside Canada, focus on outlying cities

Everybody wants to work in the major cities. Of course, Toronto is the major recipient of applicants applying for immigration to Canada

So instead of focusing your efforts on the Toronto or Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal, you'll

find the success rate is significantly higher. If you're looking for companies that are really in the outlying areas, what does that imply

Well, it means in some instances, first of all, you're going to find employers who are

much more receptive to you, and it means ultimately you're going to be looking at this as a two-step

process because if you're successful in finding an employer in an outlying area, and ultimately

your goal was to settle in a Toronto or a Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, well

you'll be able to do that later on if perhaps the initial position that you were lucky to

succeed in may not be ultimately where you want to settle. Again, we don't have restrictions in mobility in Canada

You can move around without any formality. So for many individuals, the pathway to Canada on finding a job from overseas is doing this

in a two-step process, meaning focus on the outlying areas. You will see a much different response than if you're contacting employers in the major cities

So you're researching companies by industry. You're looking for websites. You're looking for companies who are in outlying areas

Go and look at the area code, the telephone numbers, where you'll be able to determine

exactly where these companies are located. We like to tell people to visit Canada, right

That makes a big difference. And if they can time their visit to Canada, when you're on the phone with a particular

employer, if you could get through to an employer, or if you're relegating to a second-best email

communication, it's always best to try to visit Canada and time your visits to coincide

with your employment search. So at least you can be, you know, you're standing out from others who are applying for a job

but you're actually saying to an employer, I'm going to be in your area during the week of

This is very impacting. And it really makes a difference on the success rate

If you can coincide your application, your communications with employers, with an actual

planned visit to Canada. Now, you know, try these particular suggestions. You will see it makes a very big difference on the overall success rate

There's another interesting strategy that many of our clients can follow. And that's, of course, you've got job fairs in Canada, where you'll have employers

We've been, you know, just last week, we were at a major job fair in Montreal

We get to, we are often requested to attend fairs, and we attended one at one of the local

universities here. It was a really well-attended fair. But you'll see job fairs, employers are on hand looking for potential candidates

So if you can identify the job fairs that are taking place during the year, interestingly

enough, many of the provinces are conducting job fairs overseas. So take a look at the various provincial sites

Take a look at their immigration programs, and you'll see there's a lot of recruitment

efforts taking place in Europe, in Asia, in the Philippines, for example

Major job fairs take place there. Obviously, it's periodically done during the year

But if you can attend a job fair, which are provincial-sponsored, many employers take

part in these job fairs at the invitation of a provincial immigration program

So it's sometimes you'll be able to benefit from perfect timing where you're going to

actually be able to meet a particular employer. You know, from a general perspective, the job search process, finding a job from outside

Canada, obviously a difficult task. So we want to give people general tips in terms of creating daily goals

It's easy to get discouraged. And you can't expect to find a job on the first go

So this might take hold over many sessions, many hours of work. Persistence

Persistence is key. It's very important. I mean, don't give up. You need to just keep sending out your applications

You just need to keep trying. And you need to follow up with employers on a regular basis

So you've got to be very structured, very organized in terms of creating daily goals

Once you've set out, you know, you might want to contact many hundreds of employers that

you've identified in your industry. So you want to be able to follow up with those employers

What you don't want to do is just say, I've made these applications

I haven't heard back. I guess there's no jobs available. That would be the most short-sighted and, you know, incorrect way of going about the

job search. Just because you haven't heard back from a particular employer on a positive level doesn't

mean there isn't a job available. It means they're either busy or the timing isn't right

So it's a question of timing. And you need to be persistent in maintaining contact

If you can establish an email communication with a particular hiring manager, you know

it may not be opportune when you're contacting, but, you know, it helps you stand out for

later on should you be in a position to actually visit Canada

And then you can follow up. So these are, you know, from our point of view, it's easy to give up

It's easy to get discouraged. But, you know, being persistent and following up on a regular basis is really, it's crucial

Let's talk to our viewers on what we do for all of our clients at immigration.ca. Okay

Well, so we provide our clients with a Canadian-style resume, a cover letter, as well as a database

of at least 500 potential hiring employers in their field. So the database of potential hiring employers is tailored to each client

So obviously we look at their credential, we communicate with our client to see what

industries obviously they're interested in as well, and we create a tailor-made database

for them. We also include videos, tutorials, tips, and basically we want to help our clients stand

out from the crowd. We want them to maximize their chances to come to Canada

That's the key, is we really have an effective and extensive knowledge and experience in

helping you stand out from others who are applying for jobs. You know, in addition to being what we would consider skilled immigration lawyers and skilled

immigration professionals, we're quite knowledgeable and skilled in how to go about finding work

in Canada. We're often working with employers. We get contacted on a frequent basis by employers who are looking for candidates

We often were able to match up existing candidates in our database with potential employers

but we're often recruiting, going out and actively looking for employers. So what we're sharing with you today is really what we see as how to maximize your chances

and really how to stand out. You know, we often have employers contacting us and then we're working with candidates

to really, you know, nail the interview. How do you nail that interview

So there's really great tools and we've got excellent videos in our products that we share

with all of our clients. So I think you'll find the material quite useful

Again, it's not a science and you need to have good conditions converging all together

in order to succeed. But overall, I think viewers will find that our products are really insightful and in

many cases quite useful and successful. Did we cover everything? I believe, yes, we've covered everything

So I mean, if you're interested in coming to Canada, please go to our website, immigration.ca

and complete our free online evaluation form. We'll then get back to you with regards to your options

And obviously if you want to stay up to date with the latest developments in the Canadian immigration news, you can always follow us and like us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

And you can watch our, we do have our previous live streams on our Facebook and our YouTube

page if you'd like to watch those as well. So we're going to watch out for the next Express Entry draw, hopefully today, maybe tomorrow

But I would gather to say surely another draw this month. We're going to have our next live stream in approximately two weeks

Stay tuned for that. We'll let everyone know. And well. That's it

Well, thank you very much. So thank you very much for joining us. Thanks for joining us. Have a great day and look forward to seeing you again soon