Five tips for landing your first job in Canada after graduating as an international student

Breaking into the Canadian job market can be challenging for the many international student graduates seeking employment on their post-graduation work permits (PGWPs).

Finding a job upon graduation is challenging even for native-born Canadians, let alone international students, many of whom lack skilled Canadian work experience and may not possess as extensive professional networks among Canadian employers.

CIC News has compiled the top tips for success for your job search, whether you are beginning your search after graduating, are currently in a study program, or are about to start a study program and wish to set yourself up for success later.

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Job tips after graduation

Target a specific role

All too often, recent graduates seek a job without having a specific role in mind. Their thought process may be that they’re willing to do anything, they need a job, and they don’t want to narrow their options.

Unfortunately, this approach often backfires. Job seekers who cannot list a specific role immediately lose credibility with the professionals, decision-makers, and hiring managers they encounter.

Just as a consumer is unlikely to purchase a product with an unspecified purpose or “that can do anything,” so too will a hiring manager almost certainly pass on a job seeker who positions themselves as “willing to do anything” or “open to all opportunities.”

Take time to do research and determine the specific role(s) you are interested in, and tell your professional contacts the specific role(s) and/or titles you are targeting.

Have a pay range in mind

If you ask a professional or recruiter for help in your job search, one of the first things they will typically ask, after asking for your desired roles, is how much you would expect to be paid.

Here, too, saying that “you’re flexible” immediately undermines your credibility and prevents the contact from helping you.

Before anyone can refer you to a role or recommend you to a hiring manager, they need to know the pay range you have in mind—otherwise, referring you risks making them look like an idiot and wasting everyone’s time.

Furthermore, if you’re successful in the interview process, you will need to consider a job offer and potentially negotiate salary.

Take the time to do market research on your role, so when someone asks you the pay you’re looking for or expecting, you can confidently respond with a pay range that makes sense.

Perfect your elevator pitch

Everyone has a limited attention span and a limited ability to absorb and retain information, even people who really want to help you.

If someone asks you “what do you want to do,” “what kind of role are you looking for,” or “what skills do you bring to the table,” and you respond with a vague, non-committal answer or by rambling on for five minutes, you’ve immediately torpedoed your credibility.

Take the time to think about the skills you bring as a candidate to your desired role, what you like doing, and what you excel at. Write an elevator pitch of 30 seconds maximum, and memorize and practice that pitch until you can deliver it effortlessly at the drop of a hat.

Your pitch should give the listener an idea of the value you can bring as a professional; it does not have to be a hard sell or a flamboyant encomium claiming that you walk on water. Over-the-top elevator pitches are often off-putting and can undermine your credibility.

Experienced professionals often state their credentials and achievements with quiet confidence and natural self-assurance, making this style of delivery a good target for pretty much any candidate who doesn’t naturally possess a genuinely flamboyant personality.

Conduct informational interviews

In terms of bang for your buck, one of the best activities to spend your time on during the job search is requesting, scheduling, conducting, and following up on informational interviews.

Although the term “informational interview” may sound stuffy and intimidating, such an interview is really just a conversation you have with another professional in your field in which you politely and respectfully seek their input and their advice.

When you take part in an informational interview as a job seeker, you are the interviewer, not the one being interviewed.

As such, it’s your place to reach out, request, and schedule these discussions with professionals in your field, as well as to prepare thoughtful questions in advance and to take notes during the interview.

Informational interviews provide you with opportunities both to learn more about your field and your industry, and to expand your network through referrals to other contacts, including potential hiring managers.

Tell everyone you know

All too often, job seekers neglect one of the easiest potential actions with the highest potential payoffs: telling everyone they know about their job search.

Some may be concerned about bothering their friends or acquaintances, or about being perceived as desperate, or being embarrassed on account of being unemployed, or on account of the length of the job search.

It’s worth keeping in mind that lots of people actually want to help you, and many will appreciate your telling them so that they have the opportunity to do so.

Getting a job requires being in the right place at the right time, and the more people you tell, the greater your chances of getting in front of the right decision maker at the right moment.

Even if most of your friends, family members, and acquaintances are not connected to your specific industry, you can never predict whom someone will know or what opportunities any given person might learn about.

Telling everyone you know that you’re looking for a job, and what kind of role you’re looking for, has a high potential upside and a very low opportunity cost.

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