Job Search challenges in Engineering profession with no Canadian experience
I came back to Canada after working overseas with multinational managed local Company Since I was well educated , skilled had a good experience I was initially very excited in my Job search but slowly it drags down as I found out my education,skills and experience are not recognized and needs to be upgraded .I was losing my self-esteem as I was so confident that I will find my way based on my education,skills, and experience.resulting depression ,anxiety and demoralization
I applied for a lot of engineering jobs and got few replies stating that my education,skills are valuable but we had hired candidate meeting our requirement and will keep your C.V in our files and visit our career board site for future opportunities . Most of the recruiter did not bothers to reply and respond to cold calls
Challenges and solution I did some soul searching and try to find the solution and develop roadmap as there was no short term solution
Challenges
The Engineering degree is not from Accredited university
The Previous experience (ME) is irrelevant
Can not call yourself Engineer or practice engineering without professional certification from local engineering Council
The Experience needs to be more in Engineering design rather than project /Construction management
Need professional certification (Peng ,C.E,T) from local professional organization to practice engineering
No Canadian experience is the biggest challenge in Job search
Not familiar with Candian codes of Engineering
Depression,anxiety,disillusioned, loss of self-esteem
Recommendations -Solution-Lesson Learned
Be positive and flexible while searching for job or upgrading the Skills
Thinks of job as building small bridges filling the gap between previous and current skills
Take some bridging programs offered to international educated engineers through local community colleges Check for Prerequisite
Check the trend in industry you want to work ( education,skills,experience)
Take the First job opportunity which might not be as per your Skill level to keep moving and getting experience
Take part-time jobs,summer jobs and volunteer jobs
Start the certification process in your trades and take the technical and other exam required to get the professional certification
Consult with Your friends,former colleague who are employed in same industry Have some informational interview as hey had gone through the same scenario
Be active on social websites ( LINKEDIN—) and publish the posts based on previous projects or research and try to emphasize how you applied your engineering skills .
Take some part time courses to Enhance skills in your required fields
Enhance your Autocad Skills
Participate in Job fairs and tailor your resume as per employer requirement
Resume must be reflection of what you can contribute to future employee in similar position
Do not apply for every job please screen the requirement carefully
Take even entry level position in your related field as it will be the best opportunity to build the network and Candian experience
Attend Your Alumni meetings and do brief presentation and be active and offer volunteer work to handle day to day work
Your profession might be Obsolete think of changing careers which meet your goals and new jobs requirement
Enhance your hand on Skills if it’s your passions and pursue tradesman license as Canada got high demand of handyman and the other option is becoming entrepreneurs (Service Provider with tool/Van)
Roadmap
I did lot of research and developed road map for myself
Following were hot jobs in Electrical engineering
1) Electrical design Engineer
2) Estimation Engineers
3) Testing/Commissioning engineers
4) Automation Engineers
5) Project managers
6) Planning Engineer
7) Coach/Mentor/Trainer
Action Plan
1) Become Estimation engineer
We need certification for all except Estimation Engineer you need to master estimation software and AutoCAD skills as There is high demand of junior and senior estimation engineer in all ongoing and new projects at every level You can also become certified estimator but requirement is not as stringent as compared to other professions
2) Plan to take project manager PMP exam and get PMP certification as it will lead to getting work in project/Construction management
3) Planning Engineer :
Get primavera and MS works certification and looks for Planning engineers jobs
4) Had pursued Professional certification and got Provisional license and needs to work for 12 months under Peng
5) Become Entrepreneur and be service provider for Electrical work after getting certification (Peng )
6) There are lots of opportunities in Training but you need certification
Recommendation to Candian Recruiters for internationally educated engineers
Most of the recruiters reject the C.V upfront without thorough review
The international trained engineers must be given a chance for an interview as he is more experience and could be trained in minimum time
The new Engineer will more loyal and dedicated as he needs Canadian experience
The Canadian Global EPC’s must prefers international educated engineers as they can contribute lot in engineering and project management cycle of the project
The Local professional organization must generate bridging programme in local community college for familiarization of Candian codes, design of project based on codes,through instructor who has professional engineer certification rather than 12 Month experience under Professional engineer in engineering company The local authorized licensure can conduct review of the project done in Community college as Finding job with no Canadian experience is tough to overcome
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