Even Canadian-born citizens treat the problem of finding suitable employment very seriously. Career planning is very popular in Canada, which is not only seeking a certain position on the labour market but mainly understanding of one’s niche on that market.

Though your profession might be on the list of jobs in demand in Canada, in reality it is not easy to find employment. There are several reasons: lack of Canadian experience; psychological factors such as lack of knowledge where to begin and apply, lack of language skills.

First, you should prepare your professional resume — history of your employment, which is a main document in finding a job. Search for employment can be divided into two stages: your own efforts, such as applying directly to companies; and through employment agencies.

Take a telephone directory (Yellow Pages) and look for companies which might need specialists in your field. Call each of them and ask to talk to Human Resources officer. It is useless to discuss the matter of employment with a receptionist. All you can ask a receptionist is the name of the Human Resources officer or: “Who is responsible for hiring?”. You can also ask for the company’s fax number. After that you can send your professional resume by fax to that company. You must attach to your resume a cover letter with a brief outline of your qualifications. The cover letter should be addressed to the person responsible for hiring in that company.

Statistically, if you get 3-4 responses for every 100 sent faxes, it is considered a good result. Accordingly, the higher the number of faxes the more responses you will get.

Beside Yellow Pages, you can also use Thomas Directory which is easily found in any library. This is a multi-volume directory listing the information about all companies that exist in North America, including the type of their activities, addresses, etc.

Buy local newspapers or subscribe to them and look for available positions advertised. In addition to your own efforts, apply for assistance to employment agencies. Their phone numbers and addresses can be found as described above. Their services are free for employees because they are being paid by the employers. If an agency demands you pay them, do not deal with them, it is just a waste of time and money.

The most popular aid in your search for employment is the Internet, particularly two largest web-sites: www.workopolis.com and www.monster.com. You can place your resumes on these web-sites and employers will contact you directly. This service is free.

If after long and hard efforts you come to the conclusion that you cannot find a position in your profession, you might think about getting a new profession or starting your own business.

Unfortunately, not everyone is able to conduct business. In this case you may find new prospects in attending a college, institute or university. They are abundant in Canada and they offer a variety of night courses, diplomas or certificates. You may find a lot of private schools offering courses in various specialties: bank teller, secretary, legal assistant, etc., with guaranteed employment. The cost of a course might be as high as $6,000. You should first consider all aspects before you apply for an easily obtained loan. It is better to attend an orientation session, get a booklet with a detailed description of the course. Ask for a precise name of the profession offered and then check the range of salaries by a handbook. You may be employed indeed, but it may turn out that you will work side by side with a recent immigrant who obtained this job through some organization free of charge.

You should pay more attention to free courses offered by the government. The thing is that it is more profitable to the government to pay for your courses than for your social assistance.

At least, before you make any decision, study the labour market and do not hesitate to consult people who have lived in Canada longer than you. First, you should make a correct choice of the filed of study, which may be close to your former profession or may be something absolutely different, but it must be in demand. You can have an idea about professions in demand through newspapers and databases which you can find in any government employment center.

The review “You and the Labour Market” prepared by the Human Resources Canada sets out that there are more possibilities for employment in the private sector, which employs 8 out of 10 people seeking for a job. The most number of vacancies are in services where 7 out of 10 employees work. Professionals, engineers and technicians, have less opportunities.

It is also noted that the present labour market in Canada is characterized by a growing number of temporary and contract jobs.

Useful information

• Canada has wonderful free language schools with different levels of study including zero level.
• Libraries are also free. They offer books, discs, video and audio cassettes which help a lot in language studies. You will also find a section Career Planning in your local library.

1. Service Canada (former Human Resources and Skills Development Canada HRSDC), Social Insurance Number (SIN)

The main body regulating labour relations is Service Canada, former Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). Upon your arrival you will get a list of addresses of HRSDC offices or you can find them in Blue Pages. You must apply to a HRSDC office for your Social Insurance Number which is issued on the basis of your passport and immigration visa. You will get a plastic SIN card in mail in several weeks but you are entitled to work from the very first day in Canada.

HRSDC also provides assistance in job search and deals with unemployment benefits payment. They can provide you with the following assistance:

• information about job openings
• information about English courses
• information about new programs for immigrants
• addresses of employment agencies specializing in new immigrants
• information about official translation of your documents.

Every HRSDC office is equipped with computers with job search databases.