Linda Ryan; National Program Manager for
BCCA-Integrating Newcomers
As a skilled newcomer to Canada often the biggest shock to your career trajectory is the realization that it takes time to secure work in your area of expertise when you’re new to the country. My advice is to fasten your proverbial seat belt, hunker down and budget to be out of work for up to six months. Then before you opt for that survival job (a job that pays the bills but doesn’t relate to your career dreams and/or existing education, qualifications and industry experience) take a deep breath and consider all your options and the associated positive and negative consequences of each. Only when you have given yourself the gift of considering all impacts of a decision, should you take action.
Here’s some of the survival job truths shared by my clients…
- Survival jobs are just that. They meet only basic requirements to self-sustain (financially) and self-actualise (professionally).
- They can be more of a hindrance than a help for career-building because they cannibalize the energy you have for networking, job hunting, professional development and interviewing.
- Most newcomers will admit (afterwards) they didn’t like their survival jobs. This negatively effected their productivity, performance, and mental health. It also led them to be reactive rather than proactive when making important life, settlement, and career decisions in their first years in Canada.
- In cases where productivity and performance wasn’t satisfactory in a survival job, newcomers found it hard to secure or request an employer reference. So the time spent in the job became an embarrassing gap in a resume.
- Survival jobs pay lower, creating a negative cycle of ‘no time’ (because you must work longer hours to earn enough money or you're not able to take time off for a dream job interview) and ‘no energy’ (to go home after a shift and invest in your career, pastimes or family). This negative cycle leaves newcomers asking, ‘What did I come to Canada for?’
- These days, the reality of COVID19 means a significant number of survival jobs in the retail, service and hospitality sectors are either gone or on-hold. So, for recently landed newcomers looking to survival jobs as an earning option, they now face more competition for roles that they’ve no industry experience for.
At the end of the day, it is all about perspectives and priorities.
A great trick is to take time to articulate what you would love (long term) versus what you can put up with (short term).
And as a newcomer looking for your first role in Canada, remember that the sooner you make it look like you have ‘Canadian experience’ (e.g., through career-relevant credentials, memberships of local professional associations, building your network, taking more junior roles that will lead to your dream job), the sooner you’ll be considered equal to Canadian educated and experienced job candidates. This will allow you to get your foot in the career door faster and once you’re in, your career is already building momentum to be back on track!
Linda Ryan is the National Program Manager with BCCA-Integrating Newcomers, a government funded, Canada-wide, free, pre-arrival career coaching service for high skilled construction professionals immigrating to Canada (*BCCA-IN).