Accessing the Hidden Job Market after Immigration to Canada

Canada as an immigration country is looked upon as the place that is full of opportunities, but it is hard to find the desirable jobs in one’s own areas of interest. The basic reason behind this is that the maximum jobs are never advertised upon the various Medias. The market of jobs prevailing in the country is of hidden nature, with very less number of jobs brought in the eyes of the people having immigration to the country. This leads to the less paid jobs to be chosen by the people having immigration to Canada. The people with the motive of settling in Canada have to find the ways to access the hidden job markets to find the highly paid jobs.

The news and information about a particular job is circulated in the market through the network of the manager of the company. The manager of the company tries to advertise the needs of the work in his own network of friends and relatives. Thus, very less information is left for the foreigners reaching in the country through immigration.

You aim should be to build up a network for accessing jobs. People, who have the aim of settling in Canada have developed a wonderful strategy to access the jobs that are hardly advertised on the print or electronic media. The name of the solution is networking that consists of building a powerful network of the people, who may help you to know about the job requirements in a company. Building up of a network is an most efficient way to tell a lot of people that you are looking for work.

In a recent survey, 50% of Canadian employers indicated that Canadian work experience "is either a requirement for employment in their organization or that foreign work experience is not necessarily considered equal to Canadian experience. Canadian work experience is seen as important because it proves that immigrants are able to work in the Canadian work environment (32 percent), that they are able to meet Canadian standards (14 percent) and because it lowers the risk of hiring employees who do not fit into the culture of the organization (11 percent). Employers who hire mostly regulated professionals are much less likely than other employers with no regulated professionals to say that foreign experience is accepted on par with Canadian experience."

These findings suggest that employers are aware that they are not hiring immigrants at levels consistent with their foreign qualifications and work experience.

That is one perspective of Canadian experience. Others define Canadian experience as understanding and doing things the “Canadian way”: "(i.e., learning how to adjust and adapt to Canadian customs and organizations)." Some newcomers find that a lack of knowledge of Canadian norms and values are a barrier to realizing their full potential. Some acknowledge that it takes time to adapt to a culture, to learn to interact effectively with potential employers and to perform well in their jobs.

And, for others, Canadian experience is a convenient way to discriminate against newcomers. While all this is going on, employers do consider that it is important to better integrate immigrants into the workforce.

In some professions such as law or architecture, there is a perception that knowledge of Canadian laws, building codes etc. can only come with Canadian experience or education. You have to be able to show that you know Canadian legislation or codes or ways of doing things.

That's what you're up against. An immigration system that is somewhat disconnected from employers and provincial labour markets. Again, it is a good idea to prepare yourself for it before you arrive.