找工进行时：我的亲身经经历

来加拿大已经1个多月了, 总算又开始工作了. 虽然我的背景和大多数新移民不太一样, 因为我有在美国2年读书, 3年工作, 所以语言对我不是问题, 但是对于其他一些Interview相关的问题, 我还是有一些了解的. 想把经验介绍给大家, 希望有些帮助, 说的不对, 敬请板砖, 西红柿招呼..:)

1. 一份attractive的CV是找工作的第一步, 而且可能不只一份, 需要几份. 尤其你的经验特别extensive. 比如你C/C++, Java都精通, 可以准备两份, 在professional experience中可以根据重点的不同, 适当的调整顺序. 另外, 就是简历要控制在1-2页, NO EXCEPTION! 你的简历可能只被HR的人看几秒中, 如果重点不突出, 不可能有机会被选中.
2. 有了一份好的简历, 去哪里找到job posting呢? 我推荐下面几个地方, www.monster.ca, www.workapolis.com 和 tor.jobs的newgroup.
3. 发现合适的job posting, 把简历寄给公司, 如果有可能最好要follow up. 有的公司会写, email your resume to abc@cde.com, or call abc at 111-111-1111. 这样的case最好, 你可以email resume, 然后过10分钟就打电话. 我几个月前在boston找工作的时候, 曾经当天就搞定一个interview.
4. 有了interview, 下面就是考验你英文能力的时候了. 去interview, 如果你发现你手上都没有一个FAQ List, 那你等着fail吧. 对于一些基本问题, 尤其是在你休息了很长时间以后, 可能本来很熟悉的东西, 回答起来都可能完全没有条理. 每次interview回来, 好好回想一下都有过什么问题, 你怎么回答的, 如果可能和有经验的人问问, 你自己的答案是否正确.
5. 在去interview之前, 最好能和HR的人联系一下, 看看能不能拿到interview的agenda, 看看你都要见什么人, 以及每个人的title. 一定要知道每个人interview你的目的是什么, 谁是真正的decision maker. 一般来讲manager见你就是要了解你的attitude, personality, profession-alism. 有的人见了manager, 可能觉得好象manager问的问题简单, 没什么technical内容, 其实不然, manager见你就是要了解你这个人到底怎么样, 所以有trick的question可能会比较多, be cautious! 如果是programmer postion, 其他见的一般都是technical people, 你技术是不是过硬就用在这喽..
6. Interview是个非常emotional的过程, 试想如果你是manager, 面对这几十份简历, 也许更多, 然后好几天的interview, 不烦也烦了. 那么在面试的时候, 一些轻松的对话非常有必要, 我每次interview都有1/3的时间在和对方聊一些和工作无关的事情, 比如toronto的traffic没有boston坏啊, 公司的location怎么怎么好啊, 或者不好, blah..blah..make it easy going. 有了轻松的面试环境, 成功的概率也大一些.
7. 你一定要take the lead during interview, 不要被对方牵着鼻子走. 不要他们问什么你就回答什么. 每个人都有自己的强项和弱项, 如果你被他们牵着鼻子走, 那么肯定不可能让对方满意. 要尽量开始多问问题, 比如这个工作的detailed responsbility是什么, join之后是不是有immediate project要做,什么样的project. 有了一些context, 面试时候你也好有的放矢. 比如, 有一次一个architect让我写一段C的code, reverse text string. 因为我apply的是senior position, 如果我花时间在写code上, 那么势必浪费了很多时间而且不会让他满意(说句实话, 我当时要写也写不出来, 都1年多没怎么写程序了..:P) 所以, 我说我回答你这个问题之前, 能不能让他介绍一下这个工作以后的responsbility, 过程中我发现他们现在作法的一些问题, 然后就开始讨论project resolution了, 最后30分钟都不够用的, 只好提前结束, 但是他们觉得我非常qualify. 把interview尽量变成是你的presentation.
乱七八糟写了一堆, 也没什么太多条理, 毕竟不是要出书, 老少爷们, 姐姐妹妹们凑合着看。

A Guide for Chinese Job Seekers
— From possibilitiesproject.com
Over 100,000 Chinese newcomers have made Canada their home in the past three years, but the process of finding employment can be frustrating. Where to begin?

History — The Dragon Spirit

This excerpt from The Dragon Spirit in Canadian Entrepreneurship by E.T. (Mitch) Lenko, Director, Centre of Entrepreneurship Centennial College captures the spirit that has given Chinese Canadians a prominent place in Canadian culture and economy.

The Dragon Spirit lives in Canadian history and traces its origins to periods before Confederation. The first Chinese settlers arrived in Canada in 1788. They were a party of skilled artisans who went on to build a trading post on Canada’s west coast. Much larger numbers came in the 1880s to help build the Canadian Pacific Railway from Port Moody to the Pacific Ocean. The Dragon Spirit of these early immigrants was visible almost immediately. They demonstrated a strong work ethic, and a deep commitment to the successful completion of whatever task was asked of them. Com-mitment is essential to Entrepreneurship and appears at the heart of the Dragon Spirit.

Today, there are more foreign-born Chinese Canadians involved in self-employment than any other foreign-born Canadians combined. Statistical data accumulated in 1991 revealed that 12% of for-eign-born Chinese Canadians operated their own businesses. This compared with only 10% of all other Canadians who were foreign born. More recent data suggests that Chinese Canadian business owners are moving away from the food service and retail sectors into the more prestigious profes-sional services and high-tech industries.

The Dragon Spirit has had a profound effect on the Canadian economy and the lifestyles of its Chinese Canadians. Today 78% of Chinese in Canada own their own homes compared to 70% of other Canadians. 60% live in dwellings worth more than $200,000. While only 23% of other Canadians share that distinction. Chinese Canadians have also achieved educational levels higher than others. 21% of Chinese Canadians have a university education compared with approximately 11% of the rest of the population.

What of the future of the Dragon Spirit in Canada? Its foundation, based on commitment and per-severance, will allow its businesses to flourish. Its insistence on maintaining family ties and rela-tionships will build stronger commercial and social communities. Its high regard for social values will build an even better Canadian social structure. Its insistence on higher education will provide more prestigious places for Chinese Canadians in our society; and its free market business practices will allow it to overcome the challenges of the new global economy. This will result in prosperity, happiness and good fortune!

Prosperity — Your Skills are the Key

Stephen Ma, program director of employment services and ESL training at the Centre for Information & Community Services (CICS), says that many Chinese newcomers have adapted to the reality that jobs in their field aren’t always easy to come by:

“There are no major taboos for Chinese workers. Labour is not a problem. Even someone with high education will go into a factory workers job. It’s a first step. It’s often tough for local employers to accept a newcomer , because they want somebody perfect right away. But the baby boomers are going to retire and now they have to look past that.”

Your first job may not be your ultimate career goal, but consider it a step toward that goal. Nancy Jin came to Canada ten years ago and now has her own business, Chinese Recruiting Services, a Toronto job placement service. Jin says:

“Many Chinese newcomers have highly transferable work skills, math and analytical skills, but those are often unrecognized by potential employers.”

It’s important to take a personal inventory, including your education and life experience, and or-ganizational, time management and leadership skills. Many of these attributes come from lived experience, such as parenting or the experience of going to university, so don’t discount any of your skills or talents.

Even highly educated and skilled job seekers find that there are barriers that make it difficult for them to sell themselves to employers. Stephen Ma says:

“English is the barrier to employment in Toronto. Another barrier, especially in a tight job market, is a lack of Canadian work experience.”

Language skills training is key to unlocking transferable skills. English as a Second Language (ESL) courses are available online and at various agencies such as the Centre for Information & Community Services.

Toronto is home to job markets where having a Chinese language as your first language can be an asset. Both Jin and Ma agree that it is mainly in the manufacturing industry that a job seeker with minimal English can find an environment in which to work, but the reality is that basic Eng-lish-as-a-Second Language is required for almost all employment opportunities in Toronto. “A factory worker may not have to be very good in English, but in most positions it’s important,” says Ma.

While there are many ESL programs available in the city, those with a focus on industry specific language are very popular. Currently CICS offers job related training aimed at those with technical skills who have a mother tongue other than English. The organization also offers jobseekers access to computers, fax machines and career counselling.

The good news is that when English literacy is complemented by fluency in a Chinese language, a broad spectrum of work opens up. The job board at CICS has many positions geared specifically to those with the ability to speak Mandarin or Cantonese, as well as English. Type the word Chinese into the keyword searches of larger job boards like Workopolis or Monster and listings requiring a second language show the benefits of bilingualism. Translation and interpretation are also excellent places to look for work.

Happiness — Getting the Job

According to Nancy Jin, another barrier newcomers face is a lack of experience in chasing a job:

“While Chinese newcomers have highly transferable work skills, they are not really recognized, partly due to language skills and a lack of job search skills. They may not know how to write a resume or express themselves in an interview. They need to pick up technical lingo, not simply daily ESL.”

Simply getting your foot in the door is the first step. This is especially challenging for newcomers who have little Canadian experience. According to Jack Jia, editor of Chinese News, a Chinese language weekly newspaper, many employers in the city employ an experienced work force. This can make employers reluctant to offer a position to someone newly arrived in the country. Jia says,

“It is important to have a sense of Canadian context when applying for jobs.”

Chinese News provides Toronto’s Chinese community with a Chinese language paper that covers municipal issues that affect all of Toronto, not just the Chinese community. To do that, Jia says he looks for staff that have excellent English skills, but also those who understand what’s happening politically and economically in Toronto.

The easiest way to become familiar with Toronto is to immerse yourself in it. And since most pri-oritize keeping a roof over our heads, the most lucrative way to do that is to enter the work world. Chinese News offers a weekly advice column written by Nancy Jin for Chinese job seekers looking to do just that.

Realizing the importance of landing that first job, Ma says

“CICS also focuses on job search skills, such as how to write a resume, go to an interview, find the hidden job market.”

The hidden job market is crucial for those looking for employment. Using connections made through community centers, Chinese professional associations or service providers like CICS and University Settlement (416-977-8325) can offer clients access to a number of unadvertised posi-tions through job boards and partnerships with Chinese business owners.

Good Fortune — Gaining Valuable Work Experience

You can make your own good fortune! Gain the work experience you need through government sponsored programs that have a work experience component or by volunteering with a nonprofit organization in a way that will help you build the experience you need.

Here are some programs for newcomers:

Job Search Workshops are free short workshops offering an excellent overview of the labour mar-ket and job searching to newcomers
Job Connect offers Job Development Placement Support for eligible people seeking work referred from various sites around Toronto.
Several employment programs assisting foreign trained professionals have a work trial component.
JobStart offers Career Action for Newcomers (CAN),and an IT mentoring program for foreign trained professionals (Margarite Pyron 416-231-2295).
People who have received Employment Insurance can obtain some on-the-job training through the On-Site program (416-599-4567).
Look for more programs on the following web sites:

ACTEW — Looking for Training?
http://www.onestep.on.ca/training/
actew/index.cfm?sea=full

Settlement.org
http://settlement.org/site/organizations/home.asp

Volunteering is another excellent way to gain Canadian experience. While this may seem contrary to the job search, especially for those with limited incomes, volunteering benefits you and the vol-unteer organization. Most employers view volunteer experience as on-the-job training, and it shows community spirit, self-motivation and familiarity with Canadian culture. CICS’s Stephen Ma says,

“It’s quite important for newcomers to get Canadian experience. One answer is volunteering, espe-cially for those looking for reception or office administration positions.”

There are many organizations that are dedicated to helping Chinese Canadians in their job search and enriching other aspects of life in Canada. For full detailed listings visit findhelpToronto.ca and type “Chinese” or “Chinese Employment” in the quick search.