As a professional HR who have worked in Senior HR roles in many countries, and now as an Immigration Consultant, I often have the pleasure of interviewing candidates from all over the world.
I noticed that in an attempt to obtain a job, many candidates would say, “I can do anything!” or “Anything you want me to do, I can do it! Trust me!” Or they have a list of everything and anything that they can perform in their CV!
Now, having lived and worked in many countries other than Canada, I have observed that this can be very true in these countries. One can be a book-keeper, an accountant, a CFO and a Cost Accountant at the same time! Or a marketing person can be a Marketing Director, a Sales Director, an Advertising Executive, a Wordsmith – all at the same time.
So, when a candidate claims the person can do everything – I must say there is definitely an element of truth in the statement.
When I first came to Canada, having worked in several Senior HR positions prior, I was confident that I was capable of handling all the functions of HR. However, I soon discovered that this ‘claim’ did not go down well with the Canadian recruiters. In fact, there was always this particular glint of disbelief in their eyes whenever I said I could handle any HR function.
Realizing that, I started to reflect on what I would like to focus on, in order to get a job. I looked at all the functions of human resources and studied the Canadian market. I concluded that I am a HR Change Management. And that was what I put in my CV. I received a job offer a month after and I never looked back.
Over the years, I have advised many new immigrants and applicants who wanted to join the Canadian market – do your research, and say you can do only 1 or 2 jobs VERY WELL! Canadian market in general, do not accept a person who is a jack of all trade because the belief is that if you can do everything, this means you only have a very superficial idea of the function and you cannot perform at a deeper level. For example, I have discovered that many Internationally Trained Professional Administrators could not handle the very complicated photocopiers in Canada! And I must honestly say: these copiers are certainly complicated indeed!
If you have any questions regarding the job market, getting a job in Canada or even writing a good CV (North American style), contact us at bpsmigration@hotmail or call +1 647 785 5648. We can help!
