Job Opportunities in Canada for Indians: Let The Job Hunt Begin
Raj Abhisar Agarwal
Overview
Getting Canadian work experience is crucial to paving the pathway to permanent residence. The comprehensive ranking system applied by Canada Immigration to Express Entry Profiling places a lot of emphasis on Canadian work experience. The Canadian job market is also renowned for its stability and excellent work culture, so it becomes much easier to go the distance once you’re in.
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Overview
Getting Canadian work experience is crucial to paving the pathway to permanent residence. The comprehensive ranking system applied by Canada Immigration to Express Entry Profiling places a lot of emphasis on Canadian work experience. The Canadian job market is also renowned for its stability and excellent work culture, so it becomes much easier to go the distance once you’re in.
Raj Abhisar Agarwal
One Step Closer
You’re in Canada, almost done with your course, and the hunt for that all-important Canadian job has begun. Calling friends, relatives, and the people you worked with from your internships and emailing your resume to countless companies in the search for job opportunities in Canada. “How to get a job in Canada” is usually on the minds of every international student in Canada who wants to start working towards their PR.
Let’s understand more about this transitionary period from student life to being a working professional and how you can make the most out of jobs in Canada for foreigners.
POV: Indian International Students in Canada
“Hi, I’m Rahul, and I’m from India. I will soon graduate with a master’s degree in business analytics from Seneca College in Toronto, Ontario. The course was two years long, so I can apply for a three-year Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) during which I can work and live in Canada. As the course winds down, my next challenge is to find work opportunities in Canada. I’ve reached out to a bunch of people and emailed or Whatsapped my resume for referrals at least a hundred times by now and even got a LinkedIn Premium subscription to boost my chances. The campus placements will be coming soon, but I feel I have a much better chance if I start making the effort early. Job opportunities in Canada are very competitive, and I don’t want to wait in line if I can help. The idea of getting a job and settling in this wonderful country is so exciting to me, and I can’t wait to make it happen.”
Most Indian international students looking to settle in Canada will relate to Rahul’s story. Making the best use of your Post Graduate Work Permit to find work opportunities in Canada goes a long way toward getting a PR.
The quality of jobs in Canada for foreigners is one of the many reasons the Indian international student community highly seek a post-graduate education in Canada. It improves your chances of securing high-paying job opportunities in Canada and ensures you have the work permit to gain the experience you need. Most colleges offering industry-oriented courses have a strong network for placements to help find jobs in Canada for foreigners after they are done with their study programs. After all, most students come to study in Canada to become a part of the Canadian workforce.
Canada is a very welcoming country with a lot of diversity, to the point that they allow non-Canadians to apply for Government of Canada jobs. This is because, over the last few decades, there has been an influx of skilled immigrants who have made their mark on Canada professionally. This demonstrates the availability of jobs in Canada for foreigners and their ability to integrate with the Canadian work culture and bring out the positives of a diverse workforce.
After completing postgraduate studies, the jobs for students in Canada come with an average salary package of 35,000 CAD – 70,000 CAD (₹21L – ₹43L), depending on the field and the available roles. You can search for part-time, full-time, and even remote jobs Canada‘s employers are offering with your PGWP. This is a great start and allows students to recover the cost of their education while also getting valuable work experience in their desired fields.
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Settling Down in Canada After Graduation
As graduation gets nearer, the same thing is on every Indian international student’s mind. How to get a job in Canada and get one step closer to settling down with a PR. There are so many benefits to getting to Canada as a student before finding work experience. Many people have tried to apply for visa sponsorship jobs in an effort to become permanent residents and were forced to wait in uncertainty for long periods, only to be rejected. However, jobs for students in Canada are much easier to find since you have access to many resources in Canada and the exposure to network and find your place as a professional. In fact, students may have a much easier time landing visa sponsorship jobs in Canada as freshly qualified professionals.
A chance at PR is not the only thing that makes your Canadian education worth it. You get higher education from world-class institutions that employ state-of-the-art education practices while you study. You are also exposed to a multitude of cultures through people and places. There are even opportunities to take up Government of Canada jobs for international students. If you can find jobs in Toronto for students, you can live in one of the greatest cities in the world. You could say that international students in Canada are set up for victory in every aspect of life.
The PG work permits you get afterwards also allow you to take up job opportunities in Canada to pay off student loans or recover the money you invested in your education. If your course lasts more than two years, you are eligible for a 3-year Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP), and if the course duration is less than two years, you are eligible for a 1-year PGWP. You can also do more than one course to achieve the 2-year duration during your study period.
The importance of the PGWP lies in the fact that Canada Immigration gives greater weightage to candidates with Canadian work experience when they consider inviting people to apply for Permanent Residency.
Setting Up For A Successful Job Hunt
Getting ahead of the competition means starting early and putting in the effort where it matters. The most key resource available to you in your search for job opportunities in Canada is the career services department of the college/university you are studying at, which helps find jobs for students in Canada. Talk to the department and find out how to get a job in Canada, how to make yourself stand out as an ideal candidate, what roles will be available and what skills the companies might be interested in. You can also search for the companies and their employees on LinkedIn and start trying to make connections.
LinkedIn is a great way to apply for jobs in bulk. You can search for work opportunities in Canada by roles and the skills required, making it easy to cast a wide net in your job hunt. For example, you can filter by location, filtering out only jobs in Toronto for students. There may also be visa sponsorship jobs in Canada from employers looking for international talent.
You can also try applying on other job search portals such as Robert Half, Glassdoor, Indeed, etc.
Make sure to connect with your alums, professors and any connections in Canada. Try getting skill endorsements on LinkedIn from working professionals so your profile stands out more. If you want to up the ante, a LinkedIn premium subscription greatly boosts your ability to find job opportunities in Canada. It is full of resources to help you approach the right people and ask the right questions on how to get a job in Canada.
Suppose you have worked in any Canada summer jobs, Government of Canada jobs, internships or study through a co-op program. In that case, you have a strong position, having already connected with working professionals. Leverage those connections and try to find referrals and endorsements through them. Ask people from your community if they know of any visa sponsorship jobs in Canada since a majority of immigrants use that route to get their PR. Another way to network would be to volunteer for Canada summer jobs that give you practical experience, some extra credibility, and connections.
Looking for a job in Canada? Reach out to the other Indians and international students and alums through our Niyo Community.
Build Your Resume
The first things Canadian employers look for on your resume are Canadian education, work experience (internships or co-op) and volunteer work. All of these play a huge part in getting work opportunities in Canada and an organisation’s decision to hire you. So, if you’ve volunteered at any Canada summer jobs, make sure these aspects of your resume stand out more than anything else.
When building a resume to apply for job opportunities in Canada, it is worth checking out resume builder websites like jobbank.gc.ca or zety.com, which can help you craft your resume in a matter of minutes. You should also consider hiring a professional resume writer. Using chatGPT might seem like a great idea, but the problem with this approach is that the systems that filter your resume will reject it or give it a low priority.
Pro Tip: Customise your resume to ATS format to increase the chances for it to land in front of a hiring manager.
After you’ve highlighted the important points of your experiences in Canada, the next priority is the skills you’ve acquired during your study. Qualities like critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving are essential skills that will help you land job opportunities in Canada. Highlight any group projects you’ve worked in, research papers, or academic awards you’ve received and make sure they are in your resume and be prepared to explain them in detail.
Finally, prepare a cover letter format that you can customise when applying for work opportunities in Canada. A good cover letter tells a prospective employer why you want to work for them, what you have to offer and why you think they’d be making the right choice by hiring you. You can even talk about how you’ve heard that the company offers the best jobs in Toronto for students. The key purpose of a cover letter is to make a customised appeal to a company or its hiring manager. A cool trick to make yourself stand out a bit more is to message the hiring manager on LinkedIn, asking a unique and specific question. Referencing that interaction on the cover letter will make you much more memorable.
Another important point to note about cover letters is that they are aimed at your future in an organisation. While resumes reflect your past performances and accomplishments, cover letters tell prospective employers what you intend to do in the future as a part of their team. So avoid putting too much of the same information in your cover letter as you would in your resume. The cover letter should focus on selling your unique selling points and not just be a resume in a different format.
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Road to PR: Pathways for International Graduates
There are a few different pathways that you can take towards a Canadian PR. The most common route is through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC). Another popular pathway is through Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP).
Let’s have a look at how both these work and how landing job opportunities in Canada can help you benefit from them.
1. Canadian Experience Class (CEC)
To be eligible for express entry through the Canadian Experience class, you need to accumulate a full year’s worth of Canadian skilled work experience as a temporary resident with permission to work. One year of skilled work experience is calculated as 1,560 working hours (30 hours a week for 12 months). You can accomplish this by working full-time or part-time jobs and even the remote jobs Canada employers have to offer. In the past, qualified professionals who were in demand would take visa sponsorship jobs in Canada to become a part of the CEC before being invited to apply for a PR.
2. Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP)
The nomination is for skilled workers who wish to live in a particular province and want to become permanent residents of Canada. Suppose you apply to be a provincial nominee from a province and can prove that you can positively impact the province’s economy. In that case, you may be nominated and eligible for express or non-express entry through the province. So, if you like the idea of living and working in Ontario, find jobs in Toronto for students, and once you’re settled in, you can look at applying for the PNP.
Skilled work experience is defined by the Canadian National Occupation Classification (NOC) as work experience in 4 TEER (Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibility) categories. Jobs in Canada for foreigners usually fall into TEER 2 and TEER 3 categories. This experience is very helpful in your pathway to PR as it establishes that you know how to work in Canada.
- TEER 0 – Management Experience
- TEER 1 – Occupations that require a university degree
- TEER 2 – Occupations that require a college diploma or two or more years of apprenticeship training or supervisory occupations
- TEER 3 – Occupations that require a college diploma, two years of apprenticeship training, or more than six months of on-the-job training
In both these pathways, most graduating international students attempt to apply through express entry. Canadian work experience’s benefit is strongly reflected in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), where candidates are assessed based on their age, education, language skills, and work experience. Candidates who are ranked higher are more likely to be invited to apply for permanent residency since they already know how to work in Canada.
Techniques, Tools, And Tips To Get The Job You Want
Once you’ve created your resume and researched the job roles available, it is time to search for job opportunities in Canada. You can rely on college placements, but waiting means losing precious time that could be used to apply for job listings, which can be good practice for interviews and negotiations.
Looking for Canada summer jobs and job listings online is the simplest way to start. Many websites like Indeed, LinkedIn, and Monster Canada have auto-apply options, allowing you to send your application through in just a few clicks. Once you have everything set up, you only need to spend around 20 minutes a day filtering and applying to jobs in Toronto for students one day and then moving on to another city like Montreal.
You may want to keep handy a few variations of your resumes to suit different job opportunities in Canada. Customisation can be very helpful to increase your chances, and all your customised resumes can be uploaded so you can use the quick-apply feature with different resumes.
Make full use of the facilities in your college or university. Career advisors, alums, visiting faculty, and even the occasional guest speaker who you were able to approach will be able to give you advice on how to get a job in Canada. All of them will have connections built over several generations of students who are now working professionals. Ask if they would be willing to mentor you and help you find work after your education is completed.
You can also apply for Government of Canada jobs through the Federal Student Work Experience Program. Although preference for the Government of Canada jobs is given to Canadian students and students with a PR, you can still apply and get some valuable work experience that could show employers that you know how to work in Canada.
Find Your Footing With Canada's Work Culture
Should you address someone by their first name or last name? Here in India, we’re very used to referring to people by their first names. However, from all the TV shows and movies we’ve seen, we know that there is an emphasis on the use of last name in many foreign cultures. So, what is that like in Canada?
Luckily, as a very inclusive and accepting society, Canadian professionals are very polite and understanding. We’ve listed out a few widely accepted standard etiquettes which should be more than enough to get through most situations.
- Be well-dressed in professional-looking clothes that fit you correctly. If you have to shop for this, make sure you do it well in advance so that you are not forced to choose something that’s not what you want or need.
- Practice a firm but friendly handshake with your friends back at college so that you get it right when you meet your interviewer.
- Practice maintaining eye contact during a conversation and keeping a good posture so you can do it effortlessly in an interview.
- Remember to smile so that the interviewer finds you friendly and enthusiastic.
“Communication is key” is a very tired, overused phrase, but it applies to your journey in Canada just as much as it does anywhere. Asking for advice from Canadian professionals about their difficulties while engaging in a diverse workplace can help you avoid the same problems. There are several soft skills training programs for Indian international students looking to join the Canadian workforce. You could also consider taking an online Business communication training program to learn about the finer points of how to work in Canada. If you feel like your language skills (English or French) need more work to keep up with the native speakers in Canada, take up an online course to sharpen them.
Some companies are very well versed in the difficulties international employees face when joining a diverse workforce. There are company resources for soft skills and communications training that can teach you how to work in Canada‘s diverse and multicultural workplaces. When your interviewer asks if you have any questions, you can ask if any of these programs are available. A genuine intent to communicate clearly and respect the diversity in the company will have a positive impact.
Networking with the company’s employees on LinkedIn will also give you a better sense of their jobs and a closer look at the company’s work. Looking through company reviews on the Glassdoor website can help you understand how the employees feel about the company’s work culture.
Wrapping it up
If you’re an Indian international student, you have many job opportunities in Canada waiting for you at the end of your course, thanks to the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) you are eligible for. To that end, Network Network Network and network some more to get ahead in the race to find a job. By the time the campus placements begin, jobs for students in Canada will have a surge of applicants from different colleges and courses, making it difficult for you to stand out to prospective employers.
Canadian employers always look for skilled international workers with a Canadian education. So make sure you put your best foot forward for full-time, part-time, and even remote jobs Canada‘s job market has to offer. You never know when a vacancy needs to be filled urgently, and your profile matches the requirements perfectly. It is better to be early than on time in this situation. So, give yourself the best chance at success by taking training programs and courses to prepare you for professional life in Canada.
Once you get the job you want, you’ll experience growth in your professional capacity and global network. These benefits stack up neatly on the improved quality of life you got a small taste of during your student life. Canadian work experience also gives you a much better chance of gaining express entry and an invitation to apply for permanent residency in Canada. The time, money, and energy you invest will pay off several times over once you land PR.
