Dear Desi Folks,
After working in London for the past 2.5 years, last month I decided to migrate to Vancouver . I have migrated to Canada only for Vancouver because I love it for its scenic beauty. I was in a great confusion before leaving my permanent, cool job in London. Even today I am not sure if it was right decision or not.
I had been searching jobs on the net for the past few months but hadn't got any reply which could be due to the reason that the companies advertising on the net generally want the positions to be filled immediately and the foreign addresses generally put them off.
When I was thinking whether to make a move or not, I was not sure of how IT market was going on in Vancouver especially the Microsoft skills: VB, ASP, VB.Net/ASP,net, MS SQL Server 2000.
In January I began responding to all the posts on the job sites. I told the companies that I would be available from Feb 1st onwards.
Fortunately I got a couple of good responses from the companies that wanted to hear from me after I had arrived.
Out of the five, I contacted the two in the first week. I personally feel that declining the offers after the selection is not a good practice because you not only let down the employer but also in future if you are jobless then you cannot approach the company whose offer you have already refused.
Of the two companies I contacted, one emailed me and called me on Fri, Feb 4th.
The HR Manager of the other scanned me over the phone and asked me to come for the techincal interview on Feb 4th. I told him that I had an appointment with someone on Feb 4th, if he could arrange it on Monday Fen 8th. Since the second job was my preference, I also thought of not attending the interview of the first one and so I told the Manager that if it cannot be arranged on Monday then I would cancel my appointment and would come on Friday only. But the Manager was very nice. He asked me to come on Monday.
On friday I went for the first ever interview of my life.
So I was a bit nervous which was natural because in my five years of career as a Software Engineer, so far I have worked in two companies: one in India one in India and one in UK. Both the jobs I had got thru some refrences and without interview.

When I was preparing for my move from London, I prepared myself for techincal questions. But fortunately from some sites that also includes canadiandesi.com, I discovered that it is very likely to be asked personality related questions. Initially when I found that I was a bit dissapointed, I decided to again give a thought to my migration plans. Is it worth jumping from permanent settled job into an unknown world just for sceninc beauty. By nature, I am an introvert person. So I was not confident that I would cross this barrier of "personality interview" or whatever you call it.
But the will was very strong. I was already fed up with my life in London. I don't like the hustle and bustle of UK. London is too congested, the cost of living is very high...... http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum" rel="nofollow">LINK is a good site to find about the differnce between vancouver and London. It is like canadiandesi.com. the only difference is that the people on that site are mainly Brits migrating from UK to vancouver.
I prepared a list of around twenty questions after searching from the net. It took me a week to type answer to those questions. I took a print out of those and in the ten hour journey from Lon-Van, I read those a couple of times.
On friday I went to the interview with a feeling that it would prepare me for the future interviews. I was also a bit surprised for being called in the interview as experience on MTS/COM+ was a key requirement besides ASP, Visual Basic and MS SQL Server.
I don't have MTS/COM+ on my Resume. So I was wondering why I had been invited. Anyhow I went there in the suit that I wore on my marriage and the tie that I recently bought especially for the interviews.

The interviewer asked me if I had seen on the website about the products they were developing. I said yes. I explained him my understanding of the work they were doing. Once again thanx to those postings on this site from where I had read that one should always go with an understanding about the company's business.
He very nicely explained my about the functionality of the project. I asked him a couple of questions to show my interest. He asked me about my experience. He was only interested in knowing what I can do and what I can't. I honsetly answered. I told that although I was fluent in VB, ASP, SQL Server , I have only theoritcal understanding of COM+. I said that given a chance I would not take much time to learn and would cope up very easily. He did not go into the tecincal details.
He asked me the personality related questions. Because I was prepared, I did not have any problem in answering those.
Rather I was surprised as the words and sentences came from mouth. I recalled the slang of my graduation days: Abey phattey peil raha hai.
He asked me about my salary expectations. I said I leave it to him. He said in the application I had filled 50,000 CAD$. I was a bit confused to hear that because I did not rememeber that. In a slight confusion I said that after arriving in Vancouver, I have seen that there are other expenses about which I had not thought of sitting in London. But still 50K is acceptable to me, I said. He asked me if I was married. I said yes. Any kid? one.
He asked me if I had any questions. Just for the sake of asking, I asked something and then i asked if the position was temporary or permanent. He said permanent. He asked what would I prefer, I said permanent.
The interviewer said he was pleased to meet me and would let me know about his decision as he is still interviewing the candidates. He asked me to email one reference.
I left the place with an impression that I had achieved it. But from my experience, I also know that : labh pey aatey aatey hothon sey sahil chhoot jaataa hai....

I decided to forget this interview and to focus on the Monday interview.
Before I began about the Monday expereince let me brief about the telephonic conversation with the HR Manager. He asked me all personality related questions.
I answered with slight nervousness. I had done a detailed survey about the company and showed my interest in it. I wanted to grab this opportunity because it matches exactly my skill set. So despite my litttle nervousness, i tried to give a good impression. I think I was successful as a few hours after that the Manager invited for the personal interview. Also he asked about my salary expectations, I said I leave this to him. But he wanted me to give him an idea. I said that a professionaly company like his knows how to value a professional.. bla bla..He said they plan to pay something in the range of 52-55K. I said if I get 5K per month, it would be excellent. If not, I would happily accept what I am offered. Then he explained me that this is a permanent position. the company offers regulary bonuses, increments, health plans etc..
On Moday I arrived there in the same suit and tie- I can't afford to buy new suits right now. The techincal interviewer in a very friendly manner asked me about my techincal background. Like the previous interviewer, he did not go into the details. he was just interested in what I can do and what I can't. that's great, that's good, that's fair enough.. was his general response.
In the end, he said it was his pleasure to meet me. He said the HR Manager would let me know the decision in a weeks time. I said if I get an opportuninty to work in such a professional organization it would be a dream come true. He said he would keep this in mind while taking the decision.
I returned back with a slight dissapointment that resulted from the feeling that I was still jobless. I had thought that I would be told the same day about the decison. What is my next step? Should I wait and see? Should I continue my job search and keep attending interviews? Much as I love technology, I hate interviews.

From my lack of experience in job search, I don't understand how to interpret the response of the interviewers. Is this how the interviewers, respond normally?
Do they say: Nice to meet you. Will let you know in a couple of days..., even if they don't like a person?
I am just thinking about all this the whole day.

Let us see, how the fate turns.

To relieve myself, I am sharing on this forum. I have migrated here with my wife and kid. I have got very little savings with me. If nothing turns up in a month or two, I could end up in a big problem. I calm myself down with:

Tum kya layeye they jo tumney kho diyaaa.. as written in Gita.

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shanti shanti

Quote:

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I said that a professionaly company like his knows how to value a professional.. bla bla..He said they plan to pay something in the range of 52-55K. I said if I get 5K per month, it would be excellent. If not, I would happily accept what I am offered.

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Have patience. You'll get it.
All the best!!

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Sanjeev Manocha, MBA
Real Estate Sales Representative
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)

Re/Max West Realty Inc, Brokerage
96, Rexdale Blvd., Toronto

Mobile: 416-843-7600
Office: 416-745-2300
http://www.manocharealty.com" rel="nofollow">LINK

Coolayer, as an IT Recruiter I give you a big thumbs up for both interviews. I think you did a great job - both in terms of preparing and then doing the final interview. The way you describe it, I think you did both of them very professionally.

To answer your questions: yes, after interview, the company will tell you that they will get back to you in a couple of days or a week or so. This is neither positive nor negative - they do need to evaluate other candidates. Even if there are none, they need to figure out how you will fit in their structure, the skills you bring to the table, and the role and responsibilities you will be able to take on the project. I know it is a big decision for you, but it is also a big decision for the company, because if they hire a wrong person, they will have all sorts of problems further down the road affecting their project schedules. Therefore on a permanent position companies do tend to take a longer time to decide, on a contract role they may have a shorter turnaround because if you dont work out, firing is a lot easier.

I read the first interview as a little more positive because they asked for reference - that means that you satisfied them and they want to hear from your managers about your performance. I would suggest you stay in touch with your reference, you could call him or drop him an email and let him know that somebody from company X might be calling and once they do he could let you know.

To the second company you can drop them an email saying that you really liked interviewing with them and summarise briefly how you would be able to contribute to them. In fact this is something that should be done after every interview.

Keep your fingers crossed, and good luck.

coolayer,

That was some good input about the Interview process to help people like me who are yet to start the process. As a person who has sat on both ends of the Interview table I can say you did a good job and be patient Canadians are a litte bit slow in making decisions compared to their counterparts in US . Hang on out there and keep attending interviews .
Good Luck

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Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Dear Folks,
Here is today's update.
The first interviewer has contacted my previous employer to check my reference. My employer was not available. So he left a message for him. The interviewer then emailed me saying that he is waiting to hear from him.
From my lack of expereince in Job Search I never knew the importance of reference. My employer was not happy when I left him because he wanted me to continue with him. With big frowns on his face and a big sigh he said : Go ahead if that's what you want.

Today when I read the email, I immediately contacted the employer and asked him to reply to the interviewer. Initially he tried to avoid me but then he said he would give his reference. Tonight during the UK working hours I would again chase him but he is highly unorganised like his company. The company is highly unstructured. There is no team spirit. Most of the projects in our company are just one-man shows (at the most two). When I left the company, I understood that this was a major drawback in my profile and could pose a serious problems in my job search in Vancouver. Now after I have left, my employer is upset that in the absence of any documentation or backup he has no option but to contact me when in trouble.

I don't know if giving his reference was a wise step or not. But now the bullet has left the gun. I think he fairly understands the complication of not giving a good reference which is not to say that I have some bad intentions.

The interviewer also said in the email that he has to take a decision in a day or two.
Chasing my employer in UK is very tough.

Now I am praying with my every breath hoping for the positive outcome, although I am prepared for the worst.

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shanti shanti

Another update.
The second one, I have lost. The HR guy refused politely. He emailed me that in the opinion of HR guy although I have excellent skill set, I have not worked in large team based environments. He further said that should there be a closer match in the future, they would get back to me.
This is quite fair of them, I believe.
To the First Interviewer, my employer has sent the reference on his email with cc to me.
So Fingers cross on the First one!

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shanti shanti