Employment

Hello Reader,

Today I am going to share my experience about the job search and work experience in Canada.

I came to Canada in 2016. I have experience of 9 years of banking and finance and qualified as an accountant in 2006, this is equivalent to a CPA degree and I got this high education because of my parents blessings and support. It was a very big decision to migrate to a new country which is very far from my home country India.

I have been working as a Trade Finance Manager position in ICICI Bank, New Delhi since November 2007. I had learned and used my expertise and knowledge during that job and had learnt so many skills. In February 2016, I resigned from that job because we got the PR Visa from Canada, it was a very challenging decision at that time because me and my husband both were well settled there, still we took the chance and thought it would be a good opportunity for our child and finally we decided to move.

We landed here on March 31, 2016. This is a totally new and unique feeling, we don't know anybody here, new people, new culture and values, different kinds of homes and food, even styles of buying food and travelling is also totally new.

As we landed here, our saved money started to finish. It flowed like water, because we had to pay everything in Canadian dollars. Now pressure came on how to manage expenses and get a job quickly. We had joined one class which helped us how to apply and prepare for an interview in Canada. It is organized by the service of Ontario, it took nearly 15-20 days to complete the classes but we ended up with no results. Because what we have learned there we already knew. This was a major drawback. This is a common situation many newcomers face: to start a job we need Canadian experience, but without first having a chance, how we can start a job, somebody has to give us the first chance.

During this situation for managing our household expenses, I had started to work in Tim Hortons, and I worked on weekends and chose to take a day off on weekdays so that during the weekday I can go for a job interview if I get any interview call. It is my first job in Canada and while working in Tim’s, I learned what people eat and drink. I noticed there are a lot of different kinds of coffees and food choices. So in this way, I learnt how people talk and order and I got the chance to speak with people because I was working as a front staff member.

During Tim's job, I used to send my resume to accountants and applied to many jobs on Indeed (a website for jobseekers). While applying to many jobs online and not receiving many call backs, I had thought. I should meet with people personally for the job, this would help me break down this wall. I had visited so many bank branches and accountant offices for the purpose of finding a job.

In October 2016, I got a call from a CPA firm for the job and I joined that office and that was my first office job in Canada. Later, after a few months I joined another CPA firm, because I got laid off from my previous office because of a shortage of work. In my second job, I have learnt so much practical accounting experience. From taxation to T4 and T3 concepts. However, the major drawback is that there is no time boundary for work, and at that time my child was very small and I used to come back after 8 pm and did not get sufficient time for him, so I decided to change my job.

Again after a few weeks' efforts, I got a call from the construction company for Project Accountant. I would say that is my turning point, I got the chance and learnt so many professional ethics and handled all projects independently and learned so many new skills. Before this company, I had only bookish knowledge, but now I finally got hands-on experience from this job. But due to the COVID-19 situation that company is shut down and they have given lay off to everyone last year.

Fortunately, I have applied for one job on Indeed and I got a call from HR last year and after a few interviews, I got the offer of a contractual position. This is my current job and working with Canadian people and experiencing a new working environment.

This is my belief and experience. If you are persistent and don’t give up on yourself then you will get a good chance of work. Don’t give up and keep looking.