Success to me is a milestone and not a destination.

I wish to share with all my friends @ Canadiandesi what it took to be successful here in Canada.

Our preparations started in May 2003 when we got our landing papers. We decided that we shall be land in September the same year and that was a good three months before the big day would come.

June 2003:

Surf the net. My wife stopped watching Kyonki Saas and started concentrating on websites where they gave all information on Canada, jobs, culture, climate etc. Important pages were bookmarked. In fact we kept a small diary of things which later on helped us to correlate information on Canada. We still have that diary with us and wonder that we never used that information fully.

July 2003:

We (My wife and I) surf the net and use it to make one of the best Resumes I ever made. We started applying for jobs –and in the next two months the number of applications sent out - 500 – but remember they were all in relevant fields and custom made. We were spending close to 10-12 hrs jointly surfing the net every day. We knew a lot about Canada and the events here than we did about India during these months.

Aug 2003:

Tickets arrive. Seek help from relatives in Canada – they turn cold. Meet an immigration consultant for Post Landing Services (their services are of ill repute.) Promises to give job. We discount that 100% and just engage them for lodging and post landing services. Surf the website – happen to read Canadiandesi. Depressing! Stopped reading Canadiandesi. Call up Manpower consultants in Canada and leave messages on their voice mail. Tell them about my immigrating to Canada and request for an appointment. Get two appointments with manpower consultants and one from an organization in my own field – just come and meet us – no promises of hiring you for a job – kind of a meeting.

Sept 2003:

Day 1:
Land in Toronto. Picked up and dropped in an apartment where the environment is depressing, guys doing labor jobs, struggling to get going. Was prepared for the shock and knew the going would be tough. Overall gloomy. Morale was high and believed in myself. Was sharing the apartment with 3 families. What we had was an old Pentium I 250, telephone and no fax machine as surfing gadgets and communication essentials. They have MBO’s in Management and I gave myself a month. Preparation was the key.
While others struggled to keep pace with what was happening, we knew what we were doing.
Day 2:
Did not attend the Settlement session at the immigration consultant. Did my SIN and Bank account formalities. Went for a Walk in Interview in Inside Sales with a US$ 3 bn company in Downtown Toronto. Went through three rounds of interviews. Got selected and the only formality was an approval from the President.
Day 3:
Got a call from the HR manager mentioning that the President thinks I am overqualified and hence not selected. Meet other Manpower consultants and they mention that they need Canadian experience.
Day 4:
Call a Manpower Consultant and mention that I have what it takes to fill the vacancy but she says that the position is already filled up.
Day 5:
With hopes fast fading out, I worked harder and surfed the web in the wee hours of the morning. I used to sleep at midnight and get up at 3:00 am in the morning. Sending resumes – electronically, faxing and then calling up to check if they have received it.
Day 6&7:
Weekend – while others are out shopping and meeting friends, I surf the net, and after careful assessment change my strategy and approach. Everyone says – buy a pair of steel boots and start labor or do trucking.
Day 8:
Kick off the new strategy and put together a new game plan. Befriend the Librarian at Brampton Library and show her my resume. I win accolades and praises from her. Knew I am getting somewhere.
Day 9:
Called up a company whom I had contacted from India. Asked to come for an informal meeting. I know it is either make or break. I am dressed for the occasion. Meet the National Sales Manager – Likes me. Says next week meet the President.
Day 10:
Manpower consultant met on Day 4 says that she wishes to meet me. Catch a bus and walk down to her office. I know she is impressed on meeting me and asks me to go and meet her client.
Day 11:
Meet another Manpower consultant and tell him about my experience and he says there are no openings that match the profile.
Day 12:
Meet Day 4 Consultants Client. I know that he is impressed. Makes me a job offer on the spot. I am not happy with the offer.
Day 13 & 14
Weekend again. Oh my God! Two more weeks and I am done. I play hard.
Day 15:
Day 4 consultant calls and asks for what my offer would be. I mention that it has to be good and at the same time “attract and retain talent”.
Day 16:
Met the President of the company met last week. Is impressed. Makes me an offer. Yahoo!!!
Day 17:
Got an offer from Day 4 consultant
Day 18:
Another walk in and another Appointment letter.
Day 19:
Got another interview call from another Fortune 500 company. Don’t know what do to?
Man this week – was awesome. I had to travel between Markham, Rexdale and Toronto all in the same day for interviews and collection of appointment letters.
Day 20 & 21
- Celebration time. (Weekend). Decide not to buy steel boots.
Day 22-
Attend another set of interviews and get appointment letters. I do not know whom to go for.
Day 23
– I am asked by an interviewer to make a Sales Strategy Presentation. I email him the presentation. Man o Man he is impressed and asks me to come down and meet his General Manager.
Day 24:
Another appointment letter. All letters were for full time employment.
Day 25:
Telephonic Interview with Day 23 Company Group Vice President. Interview lasts a good forty five minutes. I know I have clinched the interview.
Day 26:
Get a call from General Manager saying I have been chosen. Perks are good salary is good and da da da…. I accept the offer.
Day 27& 28:
Weekend again and now its party time and decide whom to join.
Day 29:
Meet Librarian at Brampton, thank her. Also thank others who had given me offers. Quite a few made counter offers but I declined it.
Day 45:
Joined the company, where I am now.

And Now :
Day 366:

I have completed a year now in Canada and things are good here. I am helping people in their endeavours. God is Great.

To Summarize:

Before Immigrating:

Do your homework properly. Don’t say we shall think about it later. Procrastination is one of the biggest killers.
Know yourself and what makes you an USP ( Unique Selling Proposition) here in Canada.
Do not believe in what others have to say. If you want it you will get it. Believe in yourself.
I used to listen to Mariah Carrey’s : Hero – a good song that still inspires me. And also to Celine Dion – When you wanted the most!!
A good resume is a key and your resume must outshine others. It took us a good five days to unwrite, write and rewrite our resume.
Practice interview skills, learn local lingo and anecdotes.
Sell yourself.
You have to give it the best you can – you shall never get a second chance to impress someone.
Read a lot on Canada. Remember this helps one in understanding and acclimatizing. It is like a warm up before a sprint.

After Landing:

Believe in yourself. Don’t go by hearsay. Work Hard. Work Smart. Do not go about Sight seeing in Toronto. Toronto is here to stay and you are going to here for a long time.

You would meet good people and not so good people everyday in life. Learn from mistakes and follies you have made. Do not curse yourself. Do not go by what others have to say.

Do not ask for a job. When called for an interview, tell them what you can do the company and how they stand to benefit by hiring you.

English, English and English – work on that department. I have seen quite a few people use regional language words like Nahin, Mane, and Kyunki etc while speaking.

Use local lingo and remember you have to be accepted into the system and not the other way round. You need Canada and not the other way around.
Be Courteous to people and good to them. You never know when you would need them.

Networking works but not that I have benefited out of it.

Lastly, believe in yourself and not in your relatives. I did not benefit from a single one when I landed.

Thats how I shall end my story of Success.

Good post. I live the way you put the time-line.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
A Proud Indian Canadian

Hi there GodisGreat,

Nice post indeed! Would you be able to tell us a bit about your background education-wise and what age group you belong to for the benefit of others? May give others a better perspective of the story.

Thanks.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you there?

BL and Garvo,

Thanks for the compliment.

Well, I am in the 35-40 age group and have done my Engineering from A top notch Engineering college in India and subsequently Marketing Management from a premier business school in India.

Some more questions by Chandresh

---------------------------


I had been thinking of staying out of this thread since it was developing into something undesireable (from my point of view), but have decided to come back to post a few questions. If GiG does not want to answer, it will not matter, but if he does, it might help me and some others - perhaps. So here are my questions:

1. He has written he came from premier institutes - I would like to know which ones is he talking about - so that I will know that employers in Canada do know those institutes, and give due weightage to them?

2. What fields was/is he in which are a direct offshoot of his education? Like I have seen quite a few Mechanical engineers doing extremely well in the IT field, which was not their original education. This would have a direct link to the education and its recognition by employers here. In case the professional field he is in is not the same as his basic education, how could the employers make a connection between his premier institutes and his field of work?

3. Does he have any special experience which is in shortage in Canada (like in Finance field, it is relatively much easy to get good jobs if one has implentation /functional knowledge of Oracle 11i)?

4. We all know (but I can't prove it with any statistics or newpaper articles) that it is very difficult, but not impossible, for any employee to get in direct touch with Presidents/CEOs of companies, more so for a new immigrant who is not even an emplyee. With over 15 years of experience of working directly with/under the Owners/Chairman/MDs of companies, I have found it easy to be able to talk to CEOs and Presidents of many companies - but at that time I was myself in good positions. I have not been able to do that here in Canada (not often, sometimes yes). My request to GiG is to share with us the methodology adopted by him which put him in direct contact with persons of that level and they also agreed to interview him directly, instead of thru the normal HR dept route. This perhaps can be a great lesson for all of us.

5. As written earlier, is it possible to see his resume (he can remove all the proper nouns and addresses from there). This will give us an insight for a really attractive resume.

6. It might sound funny, but did he send his resume by e-mail, fax or snail mail or by all three as some do. I have been told e-mail is easy to delete, faxes get lost in piles of paper and normal hard copy (of a resume) is usually sent to the HR dept by the secretary/mail opener even if addressed to the President of the organisation (or should I say, specially if addressed to the high management - not necessarily if it is addressed to middle management). Reply to this question will tell me what is the best method for putting forward your resume.

7. A very important question for me personally - though may not apply to many others -Did GiG find it difficult to pen down his achievements and experience in just two pages as is hammered into you by any Canadian resume consultant, or did he not bother about it and went on for a longer resume describing his various accolades? I personally find it very difficult to squeeze in my experience and achievements in two pages since I have experience of more things than a normal accountant would have.

8. His reasons to migrate to Canada from two points of view:

a) the thought of even migrating - what could have prompted him to do it? More money, better lifestyle, freedom, pollution of India, family ties, to get away from family (yes, some do that too - thought they might have everything in India). The reason to ask this question is what really prompts such highly educated and intelligent, well to do professional to come out of India, a growing economy and hopefully a superpower of the next decade.

b) why Canada, and not say USA, Germany, UK, Australia or New Zealand?

9. Though not asking for his identity, because that would not help me in any manner whatsoever, his reasons to remain ananomous. May be we could learn something from his reasons.

10. And lastly, but most importantly, having reached such a senior status in his profession in Canada, is he willing to help other desis, ofcourse the deserving but not so lucky ones, in getting ahead in their careers? This could be done by mentoring, helping on resumes, recommanding to persons known to him etc. etc.

If anyone finds any of my questions offensive, I aplogise and would withdraw the same immediately. But in my view, the answers to some of the questions would directly help me, and the others will definitely help the forum members.

Chandresh

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you there?

Reply by God is Great


---------------------

Chandresh,

I expected this to happen. I shall try answering your questions as many as I can.

He has written he came from premier institutes - I would like to know which ones is he talking about - so that I will know that employers in Canada do know those institutes, and give due weightage to them?
____________________________________________________________

It does not matter. IITs do matter South of the border. That’s why I never mentioned my educational background in the first place. In Canada it is gada goda barabar. All what matters is how you portray yourself.
____________________________________________________________

2. What fields was/is he in which are a direct offshoot of his education? Like I have seen quite a few Mechanical engineers doing extremely well in the IT field, which was not their original education. This would have a direct link to the education and its recognition by employers here. In case the professional field he is in is not the same as his basic education, how could the employers make a connection between his premier institutes and his field of work?
___________________________________________________________
My work has a bit to do with engineering and management but not much. I am into Industrial selling.
__________________________________________________________

3. Does he have any special experience which is in shortage in Canada (like in Finance field, it is relatively much easy to get good jobs if one has implentation /functional
knowledge of Oracle 11i)?

___________________________________________________________
No.
_________________________________________________________
4. We all know (but I can't prove it with any statistics or newpaper articles) that it is very difficult, but not impossible, for any employee to get in direct touch with Presidents/CEOs of companies, more so for a new immigrant who is not even an emplyee. With over 15 years of experience of working directly with/under the Owners/Chairman/MDs of companies, I have found it easy to be able to talk to CEOs and Presidents of many companies - but at that time I was myself in good positions. I have not been able to do that here in Canada (not often, sometimes yes). My request to GiG is to share with us the methodology adopted by him which put him in direct contact with persons of that level and they also agreed to interview him directly, instead of thru the normal HR dept route. This perhaps can be a great lesson for all of us.
_________________________________________________________

There are no specific strategies for this step and not everything that was done can be penned because it would take a while. By the way, when did I say that I approached President directly?. Well, lets assume, even if I had to( for argument sake), one of the ways I would do was to contact companys’ distributors, retailers and find out who the president was, the job opportunities, and ask them if I could use them as reference. Then call up the organization, ask him by his name, use reference and there you are talking to the person whom you want to. You may not be lucky always but chances are fair. Secretary and the receptionist are filters and are meant to remove chaff from grain.

__________________________________________________________
5. As written earlier, is it possible to see his resume (he can remove all the proper nouns and addresses from there). This will give us an insight for a really attractive resume.
___________________________________________________________

As it has been close to a year, I do not have soft copies of the resume and the covering letter. So all I can do is mail you a hard copy by post. Remember the covering letter is equally important. Send me your postal address and I would have it mailed to you.
__________________________________________________________
6. It might sound funny, but did he send his resume by e-mail, fax or snail mail or by all three as some do. I have been told e-mail is easy to delete, faxes get lost in piles of paper and normal hard copy (of a resume) is usually sent to the HR dept by the secretary/mail opener even if addressed to the President of the organisation (or should I say, specially if addressed to the high management - not necessarily if it is addressed to middle management). Reply to this question will tell me what is the best method for putting forward your resume.
___________________________________________________________

There is a subject called as reliability engineering. If plan A fails, B must support it else C must take over etc…. in other words build as many channels as possible. More the number of channels more the reliability. When I sent my resume by email and then by fax the reliability of it been noticed goes almost twice up and if I call up and speak to the HR or the person concerned, I have lent a voice to the paper that has been faxed or emailed, plus I get to know who I am talking to. . Hence this method surely works better than just sending in an email alone. Snail mail does not work much here.
__________________________________________________________

7. A very important question for me personally - though may not apply to many others -Did GiG find it difficult to pen down his achievements and experience in just two pages as is hammered into you by any Canadian resume consultant, or did he not bother about it and went on for a longer resume describing his various accolades? I personally find it very difficult to squeeze in my experience and achievements in two pages since I have experience of more things than a normal accountant would have.
____________________________________________________________

Very important - Covering letter. Must be half a page to one page. Even more important - Resume - two pages. Remember the key word: Retain ones span and keep him / her excited. When I was called for an interview, I offered to leave behind an attachment which listed down the achievements and accolades I had in my academics as well as in my work life. Honestly no one reads through all the attachments.
____________________________________________________________

8. His reasons to migrate to Canada from two points of view:

a) the thought of even migrating - what could have prompted him to do it? More money, better lifestyle, freedom, pollution of India, family ties, to get away from family (yes, some do that too - thought they might have everything in India). The reason to ask this question is what really prompts such highly educated and intelligent, well to do professional to come out of India, a growing economy and hopefully a superpower of the next decade.

b) why Canada, and not say USA, Germany, UK, Australia or New Zealand?

____________________________________________________________
On 8a) above, I am flattered. Well, I did miss the boat some time back of getting into States. Did not want to lose now. Age is all encompassing and somewhere you have to make a beginning. First Canada and then States. It is for the money and a better lifestyle etc.

b) Canada was a better choice to UK, Australia and NZ. Did not hear good about them.
____________________________________________________________

9. Though not asking for his identity, because that would not help me in any manner whatsoever, his reasons to remain ananomous. May be we could learn something from his reasons.

10. And lastly, but most importantly, having reached such a senior status in his profession in Canada, is he willing to help other desis, ofcourse the deserving but not so lucky ones, in getting ahead in their careers? This could be done by mentoring, helping on resumes, recommanding to persons known to him etc. etc.
___________________________________________________________

Of course I am willing to help other desis as well. There are quite a few people on this CD forum who have benefited out of this. I can tell you that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Are you there?