I thought since many people keep asking questions on Job tips, I would post some of my experience. Note: Its not like I have had many jobs, but from my past 4 yr experience in Canada I can say the following:

JOB SITES: http://www.monster.ca" rel="nofollow">LINK, http://www.workopolis.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

TIPS: (I havent organized the sections below properly, but I guess GG can have a JOB TIPS post somwhere )

- Head hunters are mainly a pain in the a$$, go try to contact the companies themselves.

- Good English (or French in Quebec) is a MUST. Improve your communication skills. Watch TV sitcoms and learn. You DONT need to change you accent, but your English should be right. Learn to use the right terms (Soccer not football, Ketchup not sauce, trunk not boot, pass not overtake etc). Some pronounciations are different here so learn them e.g. route is RA-OUT not ROOT. Garage is GAAAA-RAJ, not gay-rage etc.

- Dress smart. Spend money and buy a good coat in the winter. Don't wear loud red ugly winter jackets to job interviews. Look sharp. Wear a suit that looks good on you, not one that is a size small or looks borrowed.

- Your RESUME should be brief to the point. Look at EVERY LINE in your resume. Then ask yourself "Does this line help me or not". If not delete it. If yes ask yourself the same question a few more times. KEEP YOUR RESUME SHORT. NO ONE WANTS TO LOOK AT A WORDY RESUME. Always highlight Experience over Education. I dont care if you know C++... what have you done with it?. Always state your OBJECTIVE in a resume very clearly. Think about what your objective truly is and then write it down. REMEMBER: YOUR RESUME SHOULD NOT BE WRITTEN TO GET YOU A JOB, YOUR RESUME SHOULD BE WRITTEN TO GET YOU AN INTERVIEW .. spark an interest, don't spark it and kill it in the same breath.

- Be CONFIDENT. Most employers look for this. The Indian habit of being humble will get you NOWHERE. When you go for an interview, go with the attitude "THAT THEY NEED YOU, YOU DO NOT NEED THEM". Having said that, there is a fine line between being Confident and being a pompous bragger. Always STATE your plus points in an interview. Make sure you highlight your extra-curicullar activities like sports, and organizing things. (THey look for a well developed personality, not one-track minds).

- Learn Canadian culture. Be polite and courteous. Open doors for people, say thank you, dont sit down before the employer - wait for them to offer you a seat, compliment ("office is really well decorated", don't be afraid to add humour to your interview (shows intelligence) .. obvioulsy should be in context. Not like your employer is talking and you say "have you heard of the Irish, american and Russian?"

- I personally believe email-resumes have sort of died out. So print out your resumes on good paper. Hand-sign them and send them to companies. Even send your resumes to companies not looking. IF you can hand-write a cover-letter, I personally believe that will definitely create an impression .. though don't hold me on that one.



MORE TO COME.

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some good pointers shrek, thanks

YW

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see reply to Canadian Style resume posted byme. It may help

Hi,

This thread is very informative . Plz other desi's also share their views & experiences. so that it helps newcomers.

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Some more tips:

- IN addition to sending your resumes to Human resources, try sending them to the boss who would be actually hiring you e.g. when you send a resume out of the blue to a company and you are a programmer, send your resume say to the "R& D Manager" or "Software Architect". Human resources just file your stuff.

- Keep updating your resume on job sites especially on sites like monster and workopolis. Employers search the site by "resumes modified in the last x days". So go and keep changing a word or so to keep your resume on their search hits.

- If you are not getting interview calls, start calling up the company. Even randomly call companies not hiring and ask to speak to the person hiring (some manager etc.) and tell them you are interested in working for the company (after doing research on the company of course). Some guys will get pissed, but what can they do? .. they can't fire you if they haven't hired you

- Make your resume sound less Indian and more canadian .. for example don't say "passed 12th Standard with 80%" .. instead say something like "graduated high school with top rank". Especially for ppl with Indian experience, do not use abbreviations that are only understood in India .. in India there is a habit of abbreviating nearly everthing e.g. many ppl here do not know CSE means Computer Science & Eng, since there is no degree like that here (its either CS or Comp. Eng)

MOre to come.

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Also an important tidbit I heard. If anybody has used this tip please let us know.
Instead of sending out a hundred resumes. Short list 20 companies that you want to work for and devote your time to getting contacts/interviews and learning only about those short-listed companies.

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