Are you thinking to move to Canada or doing your job search for Canada? If you are a newcomer, you need to know that employers in Canada probably ask you about “Canadian experience”. You may think that your years of job experience and appropriate credentials from your home country are enough to secure a job in Canada. But you should know that they may not be sufficient to satisfy Canadian employers and they will ask you for “Canadian experience”. Let's first know what exactly the Canadian experience is.
What is the Canadian experience?
There is no single definition of the Canadian experience and people often explain it differently. It would be easy to understand if we began with what the Canadian experience is not, so it doesn’t mean having work experience in Canada. Canadian experience includes
- Soft skills (which we often got from different experiences in life instead of classroom or academic learning
- The local experiences in Canada including volunteer duties in organizations in Canada, taking bridging programs or completing education in Canada, or doing survival jobs, part-time, or temporary jobs in Canada.
Lack of Canadian experience is a hurdle to find the right job in Canada
Currently, the Canadian immigration policy promotes and supports the immigration of foreigners with high skills and former job experience to Canada as permanent citizens. But many of these immigrants after reaching Canada, face serious challenges regarding finding a job in Canada even with many government-sponsored services working for the settlement of immigrants including employment services. Lack of Canadian experience is one of the major reasons for not finding the right job.
How to get Canadian experience?
We talked about the importance of the Canadian experience, now let's come towards how to get the Canadian experience. While living abroad, you may not be able to have in-depth knowledge of Canadian culture but there are some things you can do to get started with building a Canadian experience. Here are the things you can do:
Volunteering
Volunteering is a great opportunity to meet and build connections with professionals from all walks of life. You will be able to learn about various traditions and cultures, refine your language skills, and grip diversity. Based on the kind of volunteering position you select, it can be a chance for you to use skills related to your occupation.
Networking
To receive knowledge about market trends and local Canadian culture, you can use networking application s such as LinkedIn to connect Canadian nationals. Conversation with professionals will help you get useful information like if any license or certificate is necessary to get your relevant job. Attend workshops, conferences and other networking events will improve your understanding of local culture.
Virtual learning
Try to learn about Canadian culture using blogs, online firms, and newspapers to know the latest news and trends in your relevant industry in Canada. Watching the news on TV is a great way to polish your language skills, learn pronunciation and current activities in politics, sports, etc. All this knowledge will help make small talks while connecting.
Bridging programs
Bridging programs allow new immigrants to bridge their international experience and training by helping them connect with industry experts and local professional peers to gain career guidance. These sessions are either in-person or virtual that is arranged by educational institutions as well as many government-sponsored settlement companies throughout Canada.
Newcomers or new immigrants carry powerful technical capabilities and strong job experience from their home countries. When recruiters or employers look for applicants with Canadian experience, they usually look for contenders who have skills to adjust and merge with their teams along with their familiarity with the Canadian culture and life.