It’s always been in my agenda to cover one of the more important topics to tackle in this blog post – finding work when it’s your first time to step into the country. You see back in 2015, I had a successful job search, it only took me 2 months before I was able to find work with no previous Canadian experience. But now I feel this is no longer relevant as I just had a most recent experience of finding work during the time of pandemic. One would think that surely this time, finding another work would be easier as I have Canadian experience already – right? WRONG! For 6 months, my work became finding work. Below were the things I have done, some of which I recommend you follow and some for you to avoid doing.
- I set a target quota everyday. From Mondays to Fridays I would search the following job sites: LinkedIn, Indeed, Workopolis and try to apply on a fixed number of applications. Back in May, June, July I could only find a small number of job openings and could send to about 2 to 3 applications per day. But September onwards, my target has grown from 5 to 8 applications per day. I do not stop until I send about 5 applications at the minimum.
- I customized my resume everytime. I customized my resume and cover letter for every single job application. If they used the word “QA” and I used “tester” in my resume, I would update my resume to change this to “QA”. I try to make my cover letter answer what they are looking for.
- I experienced the most number rejections in my entire life. Apart from the usual silent applications where I never received any feedback, I received countless rejection emails. There were weeks where everything was silent, my phone was not ringing nor did I get any new emails from a recruiter or HR personnel. Some weeks would be better, I would get simultaneous inquiries from HR or from recruitment agencies, get to be interviewed by them only to find out later on that I didn’t even get shortlisted by the actual hiring managers. It was a rollercoaster ride to say the least! There were days I was crying feeling completely helpless.
- I compared myself with others and felt bad about myself. I left work mid-March, and I started applying last week of April. Then in June, a former colleague of mine told me that his contract was terminated. So we started checking up on each other. After 1 month, he was able to get a job!!! I felt sick to my stomach and that was the first breakdown (one in many instances hehe). How could he get a replacement right away? I asked him what else he did, he said key was networking – and I didn’t do any of that.
- I tried networking & it’s not for me. That successful former colleague told me he contacted all of his network on LinkedIn one by one and that opened up opportunities for him that led him to his new job. You see, I am naturally shy and a bit of an introvert so when I learned what he had done, I was disappointed. I couldn’t possibly do that but somehow, I did partially do it, I checked my LinkedIn network and managed to message some that I feel comfortable with to approach. I do not know the reason for my hesitation whether it’s ego and just extreme shyness – I’m guessing it’s both.
- I applied to any job that might be of interest to me. Looking for other jobs gave me a new perspective, what other jobs was I dreaming of wanting to do? This was my chance. So i applied for other jobs that was of interest to me – even if i only have partial to zero experience.
- I sent to recruiting companies and emailed previous recruiters that reached out to me in 2015. I sent to all the recruiting companies I know and searched for new ones. I also applied to companies I liked and submitted my resume to their job bank.
- I took up a side hustle. If you’re not familiar with User Testing, you should be! This is a legitimate testing site where all you need to do is test a website, give your opinion on on specific topics (ie new products, new online feature) and get paid at the minimum $10USD per completed testing. This is really a great great site to earn money and it’s actually fun to provide your opinion and see prototypes of websites many companies are building. A $10USD payment takes about only 5 to 30 minutes of testing. A note though that it’s not everyday where you can complete a test as it all depends if you’re the right respondent they’re looking for. Having said that, I cannot emphasize enough what a great side hustle this is all in the comfort of your home.
- I prayed, meditated, read inspiring books. If there is anything that I gained in the last 6 months, I became more aware of my inner self. I prayed several Novenas, I practiced meditation whenever I am in the mood, and read all these inner self books such as Untethered Soul. This is a life changing book and has given me a different perspective in life, I’m debating whether to send it as gifts to my friends this Christmas. I highly recommend it to everyone.
My realizations. The bottomline? Do not give up! I told myself that any rejection is not at all connected to my future applications. Whenever I get rejected, it’s one step closer to my next job. As I continued to apply, I get excited at potential new jobs I came across with and was glad that I’m still available during that time. I know it’s difficult but do not compare yourself to others – we each have our own journey to take. If it’s meant to be yours – it will find you. This experience taught me the lesson of patience and persistence! It’s one I will look back and use to remind myself to never give up if something similar happens to me in the future.
How did I get my new job? I applied for a job in LinkedIn to which the recruiter handling that placement told me I was not totally qualified for. A day later informed me that she knew of another job where I can be a good fit. Had I not applied for that job in LinkedIn, the recruiter wouldn’t have found me. The rest is history – in a matter of 4 days the hiring manager already called me for a job offer. I cried and this time it was tears of joy.
Memoirs of a Maple Leaf 