Hi CD Guys,
It's nice to be back on CD after a gap of 3 months....and yes that’s what it took me to get a Canadian job after landing in September. By gods grace I now have a job.....even better, it’s a permanent one and I didn’t have to do any labor/call centre stints even though I was psychologically ready to do them. I'm now looking forward to moving into an apartment from my current basement dwelling. The landing and immigration was all complete in 30 minutes. The staff were friendly and courteous (with the exception of one ‘desi origin' young chappy who had no expressions at all as he went on narrating the newcomer instruction as a pre-recorded message !!! ). Since then, boy! It’s been one of the most challenging 3 months. I sincerely thank all CD members who provided so much input on this site. It’s these postings that helped me to get prepared for the tough beginning and I encourage all potential new comers to have a look at this site. I agree when most of the readers say that this site gives a gloomy and negative picture for new comers but believe me it’s the hard truth and it helped me to be even more prepared for the challenge. And since I've got so much input from this website I would like to share a few pointers that might help future new comers some of which are discussed at great length on this forum.

1) Never sacrifice on those necessities e.g. one of the first things I did was to get an internet connection which was a must for my job search. My job hunt was 100% thru the net. The second thing was to get a phone line. The last thing was to get a G2 driving license which was not a necessity but I realized I rather finish is now when I had lots of time.

2) Importance of Communication - Sorry to say but 'desi English' has not many fans out there in the Canadian work force (no insult to those die hard desi lingua fans). Apart from your technical ability your communicating skills are equally important for a Canadian employer. Guys with vernacular background please invest in this language skill.

3) First impression - Always look professional. Invest in a couple of good suits. I had instances where I was the only candidate in suit and I felt good. Believe me it helps and it makes you stand apart from the crowd. One recruiter even went back in and returned in a blazer once he saw I was in suit at the reception.

4) Practice some of the standard interview questions. 'Tell me something about your self', 'how do handle an irate customer?', 'What was the best/worst thing you liked about your last job?', 'which was your most satisfying accomplishment in you career', 'Why should I hire you?’ These are pretty standard questions I encountered in almost all my interviews. Now, when I think back on these answers in my initial interviews I really feel that the practice makes you perfect.

5) The last 3 months were the most challenging months of my life. Yes I did have those depressing shoulder-drooping moments where I wondered why I left such a nice job in the Middle East and came here. At these moments my wife was always there beside me to cheer me up. I guess having you family with you during this phase is very helpful as oppose to those who say that you should come single, settle down and then bring your family.

That’s all guys…..always remember ‘BE POSSITIVE & FOCUSSED– Canada is a lovely place to settle and I, for one believe it has a place for all you aspiring desis’

Congratulations, erebello! A job well done and some very good points.

Its great to hear success stories anyways, but its the best to hear from guys who've followed the forum, kept in touch and used the resources here to their benefit. Makes it all worthwhile.

Although personally I'm aware of your line of work since you emailed me once, I'm sure others would like to know. So here's a few questions

1) What's your line of work?
2) After sending resumes via the net, what were the responses like? What percentage of resumes got a response?
3) What are some tips you'd give others to canadianize their resume?
4) How are you handling the below zero temperatures?
5) What age group do you belong to?

Please reply when you get a chance.

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Hi BL,
Yes, it's great to be back on CD. Nice to see you guys still doing a great job on this forum. I'll be glad to answer any queries.

1)My line of work is IT....hey wait a sec, there is nothing great about this field anymore. It’s not the way it used to be 5-10 years ago and is competitive just like any other technical jobs. My only advantage was that I had 10 years of experience doing a little bit of everything and not just limiting myself to specific area. In the current IT market I guess one has to have an ‘out of the box’ approach.

2)The percentage of replies to my online application was less then 5%. However I applied for jobs which were even a slight match for my qualification hence such a low response. My primary aim was to give as many screenings/interviews as possible. If I compare my very first interview with the last one, I realize how much I’ve gained in confidence.

3)Yes it’s important to canadize you resume as it drastically different to what we use back home. They say your resume should not be more than 2 pages however my resume was never less then 3 pages and it worked quite well. Secondly you should have different sets of resume customized for different positions. Here is a doc file that will help desis in canadising their resume http://www.pixelsmith.net/RB.doc

4)Yes the climate is extreme at times however one can manage if you are thoroughly dressed. Fortunately my job hunting days were in autumn. I must say the public transport is great in Toronto. However we still walk it to the supermarket twice a week.

5)I’m 33, married for 3 years and have a sweet daughter of 18 months. With gods grace and a bit of luck I now have a job paying 2800/month in a highly reputed Canadian company with lots of potential to grow.

Hope this helps
Thankx and best of luck to all you desis.

Thanks very much for the detailed answers ER. And wish you continued success in your career here.

I will post more questions/comments as I receive them from other users.

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Hi ER

Here's the PM that Chandresh has sent me. Could you please respond to his queries when you get a chance?

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By Chandresh
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First a comment - a very nice post indeed and actually tells a reader what this person actually did, and how he did it, as well as what were the results in what time frame.

Now a few questions:

1. What exactly were the reasons for a young guy like you to migrate from middle east to Canada? that would directly reflect his ambitions, desires, capabilities etc.

2. What does your wife intend to do, and how? If she does not want to go in for a career, why not, and if she does, as most of the people in Canada have to, how does she plan to balance between work and family, specially with a young daughter.

3. What is your own educational / professional background and did you study in 'English medium schools' or local vernacular schools. If in local schools, how did you improve his English, because there are tons of people who come from schools where English was a subject and not the medium of instructions (and so if he was raised up in English medium schools, he already has a upper hand when compared to other desis who did not get a chance to go to such schools). Your advice for brushing up on one's English is correct, but what someone would like to know is, how you practically did it.

4. We would not ask you to tell us the exact amount you brought with yourself - but you should let us know in your opinion, how long could your have lasted on his savings had you not got a job. This becomes a big factor in many immigrants' 'majboori' to take up labour jobs, and then the spiral effect starts once a person has been in a labour job.

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Hi Chandresh,
I'll be glad to answer your queries……

Your Q 1. What exactly were the reasons for a young guy like you to migrate from middle east to Canada? that would directly reflect his ambitions, desires, capabilities etc.
Ans: The same reason why I left India and went to the middle east……to earn some money to provide me and my family a better life. Having done that for 10 years in the Gulf the option of going back to India one fine day was not very relishing. I for one believe no matter how much the Indian economy is booming there’ll always be wide disparity in the living standards between the ‘have’ and the ‘have not’. I agree if you have money you can live a pretty good life in India itself but then what is the fun to live in a comfy apartment while you can see the have not’s sleeping on the pavement across the street.

Your Q 2. What does your wife intend to do, and how? If she does not want to go in for a career, why not, and if she does, as most of the people in Canada have to, how does she plan to balance between work and family, specially with a young daughter
Ans: I’m glad I wont have much problem with that. My wife has been more of a career oriented working woman than a full-time house wife. We’ll wait till baby is 2 years and then she’ll be looking for a job. Banking being her background she would be doing a part time job initially while studying for her CSC which I understand is the stepping stone for job in the financial sector.

Your Q 3. What is your own educational / professional background and did you study in 'English medium schools' or local vernacular schools
Ans: Yes I and my wife both come from an English medium background (thanks to the wisdom of our parents). The easiest way to get a non-vernacular English accent would be speaking it as much as you can, including home. I understand most of our desi friends speak in their native language at home and use English only at workplace. I use English most of the time including home. I don’t care if my kid doesn’t know my native language, she does’nt have to - in the present context.

Your Q 4. We would not ask you to tell us the exact amount you brought with yourself - but you should let us know in your opinion, how long could your have lasted on his savings had you not got a job. This becomes a big factor in many immigrants' 'majboori' to take up labour jobs, and then the spiral effect starts once a person has been in a labour job.
Ans: In the last 3 months I ended up spending around 6500 cad (for a family of 3). This is a very good question. Most of our desi friends come with only the bare minimum funds and once it starts shrinking, panic sets in which forces them into labour jobs. With my funds, I was looking for a 6-8 months before getting into labour jobs.

Hope I answered all your questions Chandresh
Thanks
ER