Hi,

I re landed in Canada after 3 years on 15th August 2006. I am an IT guy having 6 years experience. Was cautious from day 1 . Relaxed and acclimatized to Toronto for the first 2 weeks settling down changing initial places as I feel living settlement only can lead to a composed job search.

Have been studying Monster and Workopolis for the past 4 months. And of course Canadian Desi. RESUME is your ace card . Prepare it well , analyze and re analyze with friends as each gives his own input which only betters the result. Study the articles in this regard on Workopilis and Monster and CD. I followed the above while readying my resume which took 7- 8 days , highlighting the information I wanted to be put up and keeping in the lmit of 3 pages. Please remember your resume is your 3 page opportunity to impress your prospective employer. It should be clear , precise , unambiguous and laterally thought from your Employers perspective. Prepare more than one if needed for more than one job posiitons so as to highlight desired points.Do not put the stereotyped abstract qualities like 'excellent communication or able team member ' they waste space plus the Employer will asssess that upon meeting you .Be quantitative with facts in your resume.

And your cover note is more important than your resume. I placed 10 points on my cover informing the Employer what benefit he would have in hiring me .

It takes time to perfectionise a resume but thats half battle won . Look into the job descriptions of your area and pluck out the oft repeated terms and plug them into your resume. Learn that the Employer also uses these key words to filter your resume.

I received 2-3 calls per day for the next 3 weeks . Did have 3-4 interviews 2 of which were flukes. May be wrong but desis are slightly un professional then goras in conducting interviews and feel that since another desi is there , he can be taken for a ride and do not treat you at par with others .Sad and I wish my observation is myopic . Then there are desi mamas calling from the US , ready to exploit you from the word go.... Be professional , and set your goals and principles . They ask you for an hourly rate and a monthly rate ... keep deadlines in mind but be flexible enough.

One of the Employers worked smoothly interviewing me behaviourally , then technicallly then checking with the references provided .And before long I had an offer letter . And yet there were others who were dilly dallying the affairs . There are direct employers and recruiters . Remember never to get yourself represented by more then 1 recruiter for the same position or your resume would be dumped for legal issues .Always confirm with a recruiter before submitting your resume.

In 15 days time I had an offer letter and have joined this Company with in 2 months of my landing though I had to move to Nova Scotia. I had already made my mind not to even think of odd jobs and end up in a vicious cycle. I think desis coming from India are quite susceptible as you spend heavily in initial days as per Indian standards .But rememebr what you are spending you will earn back more if you adopt the correct strategy and land in the right job .

Having said that , lets bear this in mind that my job is in IT .

Another important and very important thing I d like to add is about communication .For sure there s a lot of difference between our accents and the way we speak as compared to the natives / english speaking . But trust me if you speak clearly , slowly and SENSIBLY they would understand it much better.More important than how you say it is - what you say and whether it is being understood. To overcome the accent handicap an ever potent advise is to speak slowly and clearly rather than trying to build a false accent.

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Fido.

Thank Fido for sharing this with all!

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Denge wahi jo paayenge is jahaan se hum !!

Thanks GG for your comments . The fact is that this site has been instrumental into my attaining this goal and I have just added my bit .

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Fido.

Quote:

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To overcome the accent handicap an ever potent advise is to speak slowly and clearly rather than trying to build a false accent.

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A Proud Indian Canadian

Yes quite true ,

Communication is a two way process. What we communicate should be understood clearly by the other party and acknowledged failing which it is incomplete .

Accent , body manners , confidence , logicality all are parts of it and work together . Most important is confidence which stems out from our belief in our statements . If we believe in what we say there s no need to feel inferior due to our accent which is like our skin color and the other person comprehends this well. What we wish to say should be understood and accent can be countered by speaking slowly, clearly and correctly .

Ever heard Amitabh Bacchan speaking ?? I drool upon that and I know I am not the only one .

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Fido.

I wish to add some advice I had emailed a friend of mine - relates to IT jobs :


There are 3 categories of vacancies posted on Monster an Workopolis. Workopolis is the older one so has more ads but Monster is better regulated and has less unwanted and repetitive postings.

1. The Consultants like $#%&# and all which just post to fill in their database and there are no real opportunities . After some regular browsing thru Monster and Workoplois u can easily identify these .Post your resume with them initially but not much as they post in fake jobs .

2. The consultants who sub contract u . Organisations here prefer to sub contract rather than employ full time as it reduces their liability . So sub contractors consultants are the ones who post jobs when they can represent u to some bigger Organization . They know the best hourly rates for the job and will advise you likewise. They get a cut of 30 % of ur rate . DO NOT get represented by more than one suconsultant as then you risk ur resume being dumped for legal reasons. Always ask and if you have already applied for that Company through some other consultant excuse yourself.


3. Then there are the direct hires from companies who need to fill in vacancies. these are the best as there is no 3rd party involved . These ads are posted only when such vacancy arises and the processing takes some time as the Company itself has to screen all the resumes and do the recruiting . If you watch both the sites regularly you can spot these and my advice is do not miss posting your resume on these .

Don't waste your time on the 1st category . Look out for the 3rd category. More often than not if you ve posted your resume on these sites the 2nd category will get to u sonner than later . Post more than one resumes depending upon the job requirement .

I would suggest do look out and mail in your resume for the 3rd category as these take time in processing . Its better if you start early with these as they advertise only upon need .

Check out Monster and Workopolis regularly with keywords 'java oracle (your own field) ' You will know the response and which category above the posting belongs to ...... try and mock it for a few days and u will learn the trick .

Be confident - you are worth it . Try and realise all that you have ganed over the years NOW . Those guys in the US are no better than us - they just got an opportunity in the US while we were working elsewhere.

As for the resume please NOTE that in N America only one standard format holds good and they are so much used to see the same everywhere that automatically the sight goes at specific places only to find more ... so remain to that format and dont change that .Info such as age , nationality , passport , marital status is considered both private and irrelevant to the job and is not put ever on the resumes .

Please go throught he articles on Workopolis and Monster wrt the resume and cover notes . Your first thing is resume . 2nd is applying correctly and then comes the Interview . For interview go through the CD threads as well as articles on Monster & Workopolis.

You may prefer a location which gives you more probability of switch overs in career such as Van / Cal / tor . Be confident -- ur confidence matters to them .......and to ur ownself. Dont be afraid of any gray areas .... take it with a +ve note. ...... integrity means a lot here .

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Fido.