Welcome to the OCISO Video Blog Series on
job search strategies for immigrants in the
Canadian workplace.
This series is an initiative of the Career
Mentorship Program at OCISO.
We will be presenting short videos with guest
speakers over the next few weeks to provide
useful information to you on a wide range
of job search tips you can use every day.
The Series is called �Managing Your Career-On
Purpose.
My name is Dr. Linda Manning.
There will be several topics covered in this
series--all focused on elements of the job
search.
In the next few sessions, the topic will be
something called Career Convergence.
Career Convergence is an approach to job search
that targets more than just your next job.
Dr. John Paul Hatala has created a step-by-step
methodology that leads to greater success
in your career path.
In this session I will give you a brief overview
of the methodology and in later sessions you
w�ll learn about several elements that you
will find useful every day.
In your job search there are several forces
at play.
They interact with each other and the success
of each depends on the others.
Dr. Hatala says that the job seeker must keep
an eye on Motivation, activities in the job
search and the realities of the job search.
Activity: Activity must be ongoing.
All the things you do related to job search,
such as, networking, research, choosing jobs
to apply for, applying for a position, customizing
your resume and volunteering all constitute
activities you must be engaged in.
In fact, you may not be doing all of these
and maybe you need some help in developing
some skills in doing some of these.
Some of the sessions that will be coming up
in this series will help you do that.
Reality is also something we have to consider
if we're going to make sure our motivation
stays high and our activity level remains
high.
By reality, Dr. Hatala means making sure that
your being realistic when you're applying
for a job.
And also that you're mindful and watching
what the economic realities out there are,
what the job search realities are--such as
what are the skills needed for a particular
position?
And also you have to maintain that motivation
because that's your willingness to continue
down your job search path.
And if you can control and manage these job
search forces, you'll be more likely to be
successful.
The typical job search strategy, no matter
who you are, is to start by thinking about
a job you'd really like to have, looking for
job openings in that field or that profession,
at that level--you know, things that meet
your idea of a dream job.
You apply for them, and wait.
In Canada, only those who will be invited
for an interview will be contacted by the
employer.
You often do not understand why you do not
get an interview.
And often your response, the employee's response,
the candidate's response is to assume that
you require either more skills or that you
need to send out more resumes.
That may not be the case.
There are about four categories of types of
jobs that I'd like to talk to you about.
Any one of these can happen at any time in
your job search.
Survival jobs are the least appealing.
Those are the ones you take just to put food
on the table--just to survive.
They are the least preferred jobs because
they do not pay well, they are typically low
skilled, and they do not use many of your
skills and abilities.
They are usually not even in your field.
The next type of job, is what I call Sticky
Floor Jobs.
They may be in your field--you may actually
get your foot in the door.
They may use some of your skills, but again
they tend to be low wage, low skilled jobs.
I call them sticky because you may not be
given the opportunity to demonstrate your
competencies and skills in these jobs, and
so you get stuck in a low paying, low skilled
job.
Some people will recommend that you take a
job like this because it gives you a foot
in the door.
But there again may be another way to go.
And that's where Career Convergence Jobs come
in.
They are something a little bit different,
and something a little more successful for
you if you use this methodology.
I'm going to explain that in just a minute
so I'm not going to talk about it here.
And then there are your ideal jobs that you
would ultimately like to get.
Now let me explain the process of career convergence
as it was developed by Dr. Hatala.
The first thing you do is you want to identify
that ideal job.
Let's call that job, Job A, just to label
it.
Then you need to identify the skills that
are needed to qualify for Job A. Now again
this is where being realistic is really important.
And you need to do some research to find out
what skills these are.
Don't assume that you know.
Then identify what your skills are.
Again, realism is very important here, because
the purpose of this activity is to identify
the gaps in your skills.
And there are likely to be some.
And before you do this analysis you may not
really understand what those gaps are.
But once you've got your skills and you know
what your gaps are, but particularly with
your skills,then you want to identify other
professions that require the skills that you
have.
You start looking for those jobs.
Let us call those jobs, Job B.
There are two criteria for choosing a Job
B. First you have the skills for the job,
so they match your skills.
And 2, in this job you can develop, strengthen
or demonstrate skills that you are missing
for Job A.
So you use your job search to get the skills
you are missing.
You don't go back to school to get them--you
use work to get them.
At the same time, you are earning income,
getting valuable Canadian workplace experience,
and learning how to work in a Canadian organization.
You will continue this process until you reach
your ideal job, and this is called career
convergence.
Dr. Hatala has developed this methodology
and also has a step-by-step online course
available.
In future sessions of this series, you will
be given access to this course free of charge.
In the meantime, I hope you will follow this
series to learn more about this and other
job search tips.
As I said in the beginning, we will start
with a few sessions on career convergence.
The next few sessions we will talk about include
activities and job search realities.
Before I go, I want to give you two tips.
In this session, we talked about the career
convergence strategy.
I mentioned that you need to do research to
find out what skills are necessary for your
ideal job, and what other professions require
the skills you already have.
We have provided two links here to get you
started.
These links will also appear below this video
so you can click on them and get access to
them quickly.
The first is a US site that is extremely helpful
in identifying job requirements and identifying
jobs that fit your skills.
This site is not for finding job because of
course you are not looking for work in the
US, but it is a useful tool for doing this
analysis very very quickly.
The second is a Canadian site that also gives
you some information on skills and jobs in
Canada.
I also recommend that you build a network
to help you understand the skills needed in
your ideal job and how your skills fit other
jobs.
One suggestion.
On LinkedIn, make sure you have a complete
and compelling profile, and then connect with
experts in your field.
Ask them about the top 3 skills in your field.
They will often be delighted to answer questions
like this, and at the same time you can build
a long term relationship that can help you
throughout your career.
In a later session, Shizu Murayama will be
our guest, and she will give you some tips
on using LinkedIn as part of a successful
career strategy.
Thanks for tuning in to this first episode
of the OCISO Career Mentoring Program Video
Blog Series titled Managing Your Career--On
Purpose.
See you next time!
