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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

"The fact is that sitting back home, everyone, including me, had an image of Canada being like the US of A - full of opportunities, sunny, bright (from movies shot in Florida and California!) where the ordinary people made big fortunes. We should realise that those who made fortunes here in Canada, were mostly labour class, uneducated, and many a times, absolutelyu useless to India. Very few professionals came to Canada as professional and made their mark here as one - just because CANADA DOES NOT GIVE THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY TO A PROFESSIONAL -they still want labour class (one of the major reasons for dropping the eligibility points to 67 from 75 after announcing a year back that they want educated immigrants.)

What is needed to be successful in Canada is not education and dedication - but street smartness."
Is indeed what I agree with
And PLEASE PLEASE
This thread is about why people struggle. Please avoid personal atacks and irrelevent discussions. Everyone is entitled to his opinion, may be smash had bad experiences one after the other.
BUT please please stick to the thread for the sake of relevency.

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DIE HARD !

This is a fairly complex issue and it runs on every immigrant's mind at some point or the other, especially those who are subjected to menial jobs despite their high qualifications.

However, it seems that these days people are more eager to blame the system and the government. But that's not the case. For every job posting, a company recieves at least 300 resumes. Now why would you hire someone whose qualification you are not sure about and whose references cannot be confirmed/checked easily - I am referring to an immigrant's application in this case. In other words, you need to be better (educated/experienced) or prove to your employer that they are getting more for their money. This is not easy.

When immigrants arrive, the first thing they do is work on their resume - Canadianise it. But you will be amazed at what employers want, they want you to speak their language. In other words, Canadianse yourself along with your resume.
Work hard on your accent and try to loose it or at least sound close.
Use the right lingo - I am referring to Canadian lingo, Flashlight in place of torch, Sidewalk in place of footpath and Traffic lights in place of signal lights.. these are just some examples. Also, improve on your grammar. I have met so many South East Asians who speak English but make a number of grammatical mistakes while being unaware of it. You will be surprised how much of a difference this makes. I have been in the Canadian industry for a long time and I know what biases work against new immigrants.

Also, a number of you lament on how your degrees and qualifications are not recognised. Well there are solutions, you can evaluate your existing qualifications to see how it measures against the Canadian system. In this way, you can state the equivalency in your resume. Furthermore, emphasize on your transferrable skills. Don't think about what industry you have worked in but think about what you have learnt as a result of your work experience. Employers are looking for transferrable skills.. the skills that you have and can put in immediate use. Don't quote what types of projects you accomplished but how you accomplised them and what you learnt. For examples.. negotiation skills, presentation skills, project management skills. It really does not matter which industry you worked in.. you have managed to learn a number of transferrable skills and they are the most important asset of yours.

Another important thing is think out of the box. Look at areas that are different or non-traditional. For example.. a number of English language graduates try to look for employment in schools and newspapers. But there are a whole bunch of new industries looking for them.. software companies are looking for people to write instruction manuals in plain language, company policies and simplifying legal documents. So think out of the box.. what other types of industries could you work in or bring your skills to.

Lastly, enrol is some type of course, no matter how small. This shows commitment on your part and willingness to learn. It tells your prospective employer that you are flexible, eager and willing to learn. Ideally, I would recommend that you enrol in some certification but I understand that some of you have families and need to support them. However, there are a number of courses that are not expensive and they are worth the investment.

I am confident that if you were to implement these suggestions, you will acheive your career goals in no time. Best of luck to all of you.

Quote:

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Orginally posted by Kal

Work hard on your accent and try to loose it or at least sound close.

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Accent plays an important role if a newly landed desi is looking for "odd" jobs, phone customer service in particular. Most of the telemarketing companies and inbound call centres prefer to hire agents without any accent and they find enough of local population to do these kind of jobs now a days due to tons of layoff and bad job market. Under these circumstances, a desi needs to have a clear accent so that a RED NECK sitting in Alberta, Manitoba or Arizona could figure out what this immigrant is talking about!!!

Communication skills vary from person to person. Some develop a clear thin accent in no time. on other hand, a desi who's been in N.America for a decade may still be fumbling and is always short of words due to poor vocabulary. If you are running a corner store, you don't need the above. Best example if the chinese businessmen in toronto. But if you are hunting for job like a mad dog, your accent should be good enough to avoid getting nailed down. You don't want the employer to shut doors on you the moment you open your mouth!!!

Bottom line is you cannot get the local accent overnight but atleast try to be clear in pronounciations.

Kal and GC's comments are indeed note worthy.
I have been in sales in Canada and as well as India for sevral years.
The first thing I noticed here within a week of landing was desis don't stand a chance in jobs that require cutomer interface. If you are a programmer and will sit whole day on a chair in corner, you can mke it with some accent but customer rep in a bank.....forget it.
But accent is just one of important pre requisite. There are so many others.

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DIE HARD !

accent, vocabulary and communication skills are not interchangeable!
They mean different things. Accent should not be confused with clarity and diction. I do not think there is any such thing as 'Clear thin accent'. There is something as clear pronunciation however.

the definitions of
1) accent:A characteristic pronunciation, especially:
One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker.
One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native language carried over to his or her use of another language

2)Clarity: clearness

3)diction:Choice and use of words in speech or writing.
Degree of clarity and distinctness of pronunciation in speech or singing; enunciation.

It is possible to have clarity and good diction albeit with an Indian accent. For immigrants on their job search, there is no need to work on the 1st point. There is, however, need to work on the other two.

I say this from experience. For the past 5 years I have been, in Montreal, supporting a leading 3d animation sw on the phone. My clients include film production studios from across the world. Almost every one who cares, knows that I am from India due to my accent (however bastardised, the Indianness still comes through). It has not been an issue as long as I am able to communicate clearly. Considering that I have always been the only immigrant (and visible minority) on this team and have survived 3 layoffs, it seems to point to the fact that my accent is not a problem. I would like to mention that it took me 10 interviews with 10 different individuals (on the same day) inorder to get this job. None of the 10, as it turns out, could care less about my accent. My accent was more Indian then, than it is now. Also, I do occassionally get calls from redneck (according to some) territories like Arkansas. If their accent is good enough for me then mine should be for them too.
Often wondered why Indians think that their accent is something to be ashamed of.
BTW: has anybody noticed how South Indians and the Irish have similar pronunciations for the same words. Also the Swedes. Find many similarities in the accents of these peoples.

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