For a large number of aspiring International Experience Canada (IEC) participants, visiting Canada on a Working Holiday Program for the 2021 IEC season became more complex when Canada made the announcement of a new requirement for Working Holiday participants to be able to land a job offer before receiving the invitation to apply for a fresh work permit.
Because of this recent development, a large number of IEC hopefuls are now frantically looking for a job. Finding a job in this climate has been quite difficult, especially for those who reside outside Canada and don’t have any access to Canadian employers.
Being aware of a few important things pertaining to this program will go a long way in helping candidates find the right job for themselves. With an objective to guide Working Holiday Program candidates, we have put together a list of tips that can help them crack the 2021 job offer requirement process.
(a) Work Hard on Your Cover Letter and Resume
One of the first things you need to check while applying for a job in Canada is that whether you have the requisite documents or not. Having a resume and a cover letter, that would resonate with and be in sync with the expectations of Canadian employers, is very important. It would be advisable to speak to some individuals working in Canada for a while and request them to help you out in preparing an effective Canada-style resume. Before you start sharing your resume with companies, make sure that it is devoid of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors.
A cover letter happens to be a one-page letter that an applicant would be asked to provide along with their job application. It should contain relevant information about your skills, accomplishments and suitability as an applicant. While not all kinds of jobs or positions ask for a cover letter to be produced, keeping one ready will have you get an edge over the other applicants. Though a cover letter is just one-page long, a lot of thought and careful consideration must go into preparing it.
(b) Get Better at Virtual Meetings
Since you will be applying for a job in Canada while living in another country, you should be ready to go through multiple interviews on Zoom and other video conferencing apps. Appearing for a job interview virtually is both similar and different from an in-person job interview. There are many individuals who, despite appearing for multiple in-person job interviews, fumble or feel nervous while appearing for a virtual job interview.
To get better at virtual job interviews, you can practice speaking to people on Zoom meetings. You can even get in touch with some industry professionals and seek advice from them regarding representing yourself properly and doing well in virtual job interviews. You can look for a career mentor and ask them to conduct demo or mock interviews with you virtually. With a little bit of practice, you will get over your nervousness of appearing for virtual job interviews.