Please can you share what happened and what airline , i am considering the excess luggage although not much about the food stuff.

Liz019:
CARGO OOOO!!! I MADE THE MISTAKE OF SETTLING FOR EXTRA LUGGAGE. I'm still regretting that decision.

this was a great read ..please any one with girst hand information or experience of facility management profession in canada ?

guitarlife2:
Alot has been said already about carrying oil, bribing customs, beautiful landscapes, I do think the real reason most leave the comfort of their own Country is to get a decent job in Canada.
And to me this is the prayer of many including myself so I am not gonna bore you with what airlines I took or what we ate on the plane, that has been overflogged already.

I am gonna focus mostly on what I think is the best approach to getting a job as soon as possible based on my own experience. I do think IT practitioners would benefit most from this post but I believe there would be some take home for everyone regardless of which is your profession.

I was just about a year and some months into IT before I left Naija, Although I had written CCNA more than 10 years ago which eventually proved extremely pivotal in getting this wonderful role with a great company. To put things in proper perspective, my experience was very superficial and extremely disjointed. I could not claim to be a database admin, or network expert, or security professional or infrastructure guru.
So I claimed to be a service desk/helpdesk/desktop professional.

Point 1 : If you have atleast 1 year experience in IT your best route is to look towards the Servicedesk/Technical support /Enduser support role to get a lee way into the world of IT in Canada, If you have considerable experience in IT I'd advise you do a certification in that area to give you some credibility in the eye of the employers.

So how does this affect all the other professions or what can other professions too take away from this. I have a friend a physiotherapist in Naija but her profession will require some exams before she could practice. What happens is that even if she eventually passess the exam she would still be overqualified for most entry level roles and Canadians don't usually throw people without Canadian experience into managerial positions except in very rare cases. Rather than just wait for months to get into a particular role, you could plan to get into a role that is related into your targeted role even if the pay is not much. The idea is to hang around the corridor of the career you wanna do long term.

For health professionals, I'd advise you do a First aid / Aed course first week of landing and start looking out for Personal Support Worker jobs or something related to that. For people in Engineering, you could do a 3 month plc programming course in Naija and edit your resume as a technician instead of an Engineer to give you an edge. This brings me to my next point..

Point 2 : Most jobs in Canada do not require an MSC so please loose the MSC and put ur BSC

This point has already generated enough debate, but I stand on my premise. You will miss out on many job opportunities by putting MSC on your resume. I have experienced it. This is because Canadians do not accumulate degrees. Majority are content with a college degree and diploma.
HOw do you want an organisation to hire you if you have an MSC when your prospective supervisor only has a college diploma. It will be better if you put certifications on your resume.
More than 90% of jobs advertised in Canada require no more than a BSC, that should tell you how superfluous a MSC will be.
This is pretty straight forward, you put a MSC on your resume you already overqualified yourself. Except for roles like Senior Business Analysts and Data Scientists .
But if you are targeting entry level roles/intermediate level roles, please a BSC is just enough. They will not tell you they are not hiring you because of your MSC, except the job is requesting for a MSC please leave it at BSC.

Point 3: Your resume is the key to your happiness


Point 4 : Whatever you plan to do long term and regardless of how much money you carried try get into any kind of job at most 3 months but make sure your survival job will give you chance for interviews and job fairs.
I see alot of Nigerians with their arrogance and entitled mindset about not wanting to do survival jobs. My mindset changed the day I saw a chinese lady driving a 2018 model Toyota CRV car and still working at Walmart. She probably has another great job but has some days off and decided to work walmart. My own job is 4 days on and 3 days off, What am I supposed to be doing for 3 days that I am off ? Lounging or playing Candy Crush ? I have a unifrom now, yes ! A security guard uNIform well fitting sef lol. So I work 4 days work 2 days as a security guard and rest for 1 day.
Atleast for the first 2 years I believe an immigrant should be in hustle mode . There is nothing shameful in working survival job. Just dont let your work hours prevent you from going for proper interviews. YOu can learn to drive forklift in 1 day for about 160 Cad. You can apply to 7-11 stores etc.


Point 5 : Job fairs are critical

Point 6 : Connect with a NIgerian in your intended profession and if only to have them share their Resume with you
I was in Calgary for about 3 weeks and I did not get any interviews, I was lucky to reach out to a Nairalander who shared his resume with me. I modified my resume after his own resume and interviews started flying in.

Point 7 : Understand that your technical skills are less than 50% of the reasons you will be hired. Employers here want to see how conversational, relatable and confident you are . So look them in the eye, present a firm handshake and smile always. When you are answering any questions, be confident about it, even if you are saying rubbish smile with confidence and dont be shy to let the interviewer know you do not have answer to a question . They will appreciate your candour.

Point 8 : If you have multiple resumes which is pretty likely in the early days of hunting for jobs, please delete all information from your LINKEDIN account.
I remember applying for some business analysis positions with a very strong resume and I wondered why I did not get any feedback. Shortly after that I checked my linkedin account and realised most of those I applied to had checked my linkedin profile . Unfortunately my linkedin profile was designed at the time to highlight my Application Support experience and not business analysis.
Please do not make this mistake. If you are applying to different jobs with very different resumes, please delete information from your linkedin profile because the recruiters will look you up on linkedin.

Point 9 : If you are in Calgary and have banking experience please consider the BOW Valley college CRTP programme. I have heard good testimonies about that programme.


Point 10 : Create a compelling professional profile on INdeed, glassdor and monster with your location . Hiring managers will contact you from searching these platforms for potential fit staying around the job location.

Point 11 : Please apply for jobs in different cities or regions but put just Canada as your location on your resume. If your resume shows that you are not physically present in the location of the job you are applying to, most recruiters will not pursue you as they will not want to pay for relocation especially if the job is entry level.



[b]Point 12 : Respect the ATS as it throws out 95% of applications. Go on Indeed and glassdoor and identify the tools, processess and methodologies that your intended role demands in Canada. There is something called the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) which will screen out your application if these exact words do not reflect on your resume. 95% of applications are screened out using the application tracking system, for example as an IT person you would have worked with a customized IT service desk platform but the popular one in Canada is either ServiceNow or Remedy, it works exactly the same as our regular service desk so instead of putting another name for Service Desk tool that you can use, go on youtube, watch videos on Service now and REmedy for incident management and problem management (edureka channel on youtube has some lovely videos on this) then put that in your resume.

Here are some great links to look up if you are planning to land in Calgary. THese programmes are competitive and there is living allowance paid during the programme. Please apply early if you plan to attend to ensure you are selected.

For production workers and supply chain/industrial engineers
https://momentum.org/what-we-offer/get-a-good-job/trades-training-2/
http://www.motiveaction.com/
For IT people planning to switch to IT
https://momentum.org/what-we-offer/get-a-good-job/tech-plus-networking-and-cloud-technology-training/
For transitioning to supply chain roles
https://www.lifemark.ca/supply-chain


to be continued............

This was indeed a great read and informative. Please anyone in house with information on Facility management profession in canada

please id like to join the whats app group for ITA gotten yesterday .. is there any please ?

Good day

i am filling EE profile , in work experience section " when you first became qualified to practice this occupation" what year should i put .
my education is different from my current work experience which , Do i fill in the day i started my job as the day i became qualified ?

Thanks

Good day ,
Please i need Some advise.
i have a sibling who got his PR ,he landed in canada,did the needful and got his Social insurance number but had to move to the US . can i use him to gain sibling points in EE or do you advise against it.
what is required to show proof that one has a sibling in canada.
please help, trying to complete my EE form

Good day House

Please can someone advise.

During my studies , i was working and the work experience falls under NOC A ,B, O and matches with what i studied.

However, my current job which i have been at for 3 years doesn't apply under N.O C.

will this be an issue when it comes to work experience , being that i haven't been active on the work experience acceptable under NOC

Please , help clarify.