As a newcomer, one of the major concerns is finding a new job, moving to a country that is miles away, and calling it a new home comes in between the way of career development. A lot of newcomers come to Canada for a job hunt and to make their lives embrace a better standard of living. Many search for jobs that would do justice to their professional career. At the end of the day, it is about managing finances and being able to sustain themselves in a foreign land. Newcomers looking for an employment opportunity that will provide them with enough financial stability that they can depend on their livelihood. Until then they look for jobs and get paid to sustain their living. Career exploration is necessary.
The main purpose for a newcomer to find a job in Canada is to generate finances and income. All newcomers who come to Canada engage themselves in job-hunting in the first few weeks of coming to Canada. They apply for openings in online jobs on job boards and websites that have job listings. However, one must also be aware of the job scams that the fake recruiters deploy making the immigrants as the easy target.
Being new to Canada, it is not always possible that an immigrant gets a job very easily. There are certain factors that affect the job-hunting scenario too. For instance, applying for jobs and landing a job shall depend upon the level of entry, nature of the labor industry, qualification of the candidate, competition in the job industry, living expenses and so much more. To overcome these new immigrants who come to Canada often start from rock bottom by taking up marginal or survival jobs.
The article highlights the advantages, disadvantages, explainers so that you know everything about the job market for a newcomer in Canada.
Survival jobs? What are they?
As the name tells, these are occupations that will help you cover your basic expenses like bills, housing, amenities while you continue your desired career path. They can also be called flexjobs. If you take up a survival job as a newcomer you will be able to reach out to others, find good referrals for yourself, practice your language skills and grow your network. These are the type of occupations that are perfect for a first job experience and do not require an educational degree or professional work experience.
Some of the examples for these types of jobs are Driver, warehouse worker, factory employee, cashiers, barista, sales associate, food delivery person, an associate at telemarketing, cleaner, washers, and also restaurant service staffing.
The survival job can be of many kinds depending upon its nature: Part-time, Full-time, and Temporary.
Reasons why you should take up Canadian survival jobs
- Remote jobs that pay the bills: Have a job that will help you generate income that suffices the payment of your bills and day-to-day expenses. On the other hand, it will also help you to provide your landlord with documents of income and an employment letter when you look for a place to rent. By Canadian law, no recruiter can give an employee less than the minimum wage decided by the province. Also in other jobs, there are ways to earn tips that are not accounted for in the base salary.
- Expose yourself to the Canadian experience: The true essence of a local job is that it blunts you down to the Canadian experience. Search for a job that will localize you with the culture of Canada thus giving you a better opportunity to blend in with the country. If you are concerned that landing a job for survival shall not add grandeur to your resume, you can choose to not add it to your LinkedIn profile or CV. No experience of a job in Canada shall go in vain.
- Helps in practicing language fluency: A lot of immigrants actually do not belong to English-speaking countries and thus do not have English as their first language. You can brush up on your communication skills while doing the occupation and it will also help you for an interview to get a job later.
- Enhance your networking: You will be able to find a lot of job leads in Canada through networking. Find a job that will help you to interact with people and expand your network in Canada. You might also find some good friends and build relationships that could open up potential doors for many countless job opportunities in the future.
Consequences of Disadvantages of taking up a survival job in Canada
- Searching for the job would be limited: Finding a job for survival is challenging. It requires a lot of time and effort and that could distract you to look for a career-centered job. It can limit your time for hunting jobs and finding a job-on-job search sites. It will also not give you enough time to research in the job search engine.
- Taking out time for interviews: Survival jobs adds additional responsibility and take up your time. If you are finding employment or looking for a career change it may be difficult for you to carry out the job search strategies and even schedule an interview with the recruiter.
- Complacency is a big threat: A lot of times immigrants refuse to leave the comfort of the survival job and the constant income it provides. This is not good for the newcomer as they deviated from their original line of career and their education goes void. Remote jobs are not suggested for the long run.
Methods to hunt for a survival job in Canada?
It is true that looking for a survival job is easier than finding a full-time occupation in Canada. Job searching for a full-time position should match your experience and education that is your career center.
- Job Websites: Searching for jobs is easy with the help of these job posting sites. There are a lot of career websites that will help you find a survival job. Examples- Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, etc.
- Contact local businesses and stores: You can look for job postings in your neighborhood. Restaurants, grocery stores, mall retailers could be your survival job search help.
- Seek help from immigration agencies as they offer assistance in job hunting and give career advice to the immigrants. You will also get help in the job leads.
- Canada has a hidden job market, which means the job vacancies aren’t posted online as advertisements for the public. Therefore, for getting the perfect employment opportunity building up networks are crucial.
