7 ways to prepare for career challenges before you immigrate
Credit to Author: Canadian Immigrant| Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:30:55 +0000
A checklist for skilled immigrants to establish their career before they arrive in Canada
Here are seven things to consider when planning for your career transition in Canada.
- Research the Canadian job market and what industries have a need for employees. Is your industry in demand? Do you have skills you could transfer to one of the areas that is experiencing labour gaps?
- Determine if your profession is licensed or unlicensed in Canada. Note that this can differ between provinces, depending on the profession. Professions are regulated by provincial bodies.
- If licensed, find out what is the regulatory body that governs your profession in your province of choice. Find out whether they have a bridging program to help newcomers like yourself achieve their Canadian licence to practise swiftly. See a list of bridging programs here.
- If unlicensed, consider whether to do some additional training or professional development. Although not mandatory, adding some Canadian educational credentials to your resumé can be helpful when applying for work.
- Sign up for one of several pre-arrival training programs offered by Canadian organizations overseas. Several are funded by the Canadian government to help would-be immigrants be prepared for their transition to Canada.
READ MORE: List of pre-arrival immigrant services
- Start trying to make networking contacts with Canadians in your industry. Social media tools such as LinkedIn are the best for this long-distance activity.
- Ask yourself honestly; how good is your English or French? Will you be able to cope in the Canadian job market with the command of English you have now? Remember that you will be competing with native-English speakers. Is your oral and written communication competitive here? Consider taking some extra language classes in your homeland to improve your English (or French) to help you better achieve success when you land in Canada.