http://www.apeg.bc.ca/services/employmentcentre/jobseekers.php
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90% of finding a job is preparation. Your preparation
includes LMI research, self-assessment, and career development. The
remainder is job-search. In many cases, your preparation and your
job-search will overlap. For example, you may begin your job-search
while you are upgrading your skills. You may also find that you get a
job through an information interview. However, the more prepared you
are, the more likely you are to have success in your job-search.
There are thousands of websites to provide you with the
job-search information and skills you need. Pay close attention to the
advice and work hard on:
- Cover Letter: Make sure it is well-written and is
customized to the employer. It should tell the employer why he or she
should hire you.
- Resume: Customize your resume to what the employer is
looking for. Stick to two pages - it is an introduction only and does
not have to provide all of the details of your career.
- Business Card: Give everyone you meet a business card. You never know when your card might fall into the right hands.
- Portfolio: Employers like to see actual work you have
done. A portfolio is particularly helpful if your English is not very
good.
- Self-marketing: In completing the Career Development
and Job Search Plan, you have identified the skills that you are very
good at. Make sure you tell employers that you are good at these skills.
- Networking: It is a fact that most people get jobs
through networking. Build your network and stay in touch with the people
you meet.
- Dropping in and Cold Calling: Make sure you speak with
the person that is responsible for hiring; this is not usually the
human resources staff person. Know a lot about the company and make sure
it is a good fit for you before you make contact.
- Interview and Meeting Skills: Employers make decisions
based on meeting you. This is your opportunity to show them what you
have to offer.
Your job-search is your opportunity to impress a
potential employer. Use the tools above to show potential employers that
you have the technical, professional practice, cultural, employability
and communication skills, confidence and positive attitude they are
looking for. Here are a few websites to get you started on preparing the
tools and developing the skills you will need for a successful
job-search:
Your LMI research skills will point you to potential
employers. When you look for employment opportunities, don't forget to
check the Employment Center on APEGBC's website.
Your best resources for help are your fellow engineers
and geoscientists, networks of internationally trained engineers and
geoscientists and career counsellors. APEGBC provides some resources
which may be helpful. These have been mentioned throughout these
webpages and include such things as posting job openings, offering
courses and publishing Innovation magazine. However, APEGBC's mandate
does not include providing guidance on career development and
job-search. Instead, APEGBC's resources are focused on protecting public
health, welfare and safety by providing its core services of licensing,
professional practice support, and discipline and enforcement. At this
time, APEGBC is devoting significant resources to ensuring that
licensure is accessible to ITEGs through a review of its policies and
procedures and participation in the national project "From Consideration to Integration".
You do not have to be working in engineering or
geoscience to feel like an engineer or geoscientist and fully
participate in the community. As you work your way through your career
development and job-search, become immersed in your profession. Get
involved. Learn everything you can about engineering and geoscience in
BC. Go to networking events and attend seminars. Join technical
associations and networks of other internationally trained engineers and
geoscientists. Talk to every engineer and geoscientist you meet. In
short, build your passion for your profession. An engineering or
geoscience employer will recognize your knowledge, skills and passion
and offer you your first engineering or geoscience job in BC.
APEGBC staff and members wish you every success. Welcome to BC and good luck!
- Entry-level positions are rarely advertised but companies are always looking for talented people.
- Engineering firms are not
interested in advertising these positions because the most important
attributes that they are looking for are best exemplified if they
[job-seekers] market themselves, meet employers while networking or
drop-in on a company unannounced.
- Companies will not normally
send a letter or e-mail acknowledging that they have received your
resume. Sometimes, companies will send a form letter stating that they
will keep your resume on file. In this case, do not think that you will
get an interview later. You will not normally hear from the employer
again unless you follow up and stay in contact.
- It's the combination of skills - technical, non-technical 'soft' and business - that ITEs need to work as engineers in Canada.
- Be willing to travel and work on sites.
- Demonstrate initiative,
motivation and interest in meeting people. Employers prefer that you
drop in at a company office or meet engineer employers at networking
meetings.
- Engineers should not assume
they would be able to get back into engineering through a drafting or
other technical job that uses some of their engineering skills and
knowledge.
- There are many potential
job opportunities for people with AutoCAD skills (e.g. a manufacturing
warehouse that uses AutoCAD Land Desktop to make revisions; a furniture
warehouse that uses CAD for layout work).
- Employers will look for
someone who will be loyal and stay with the company for at least three
or five years. The first year on the job requires training the
employee. An employer doesn't make money from a new employee, so they
will be very careful of who they will invest their time and effort in.
- Develop your network. Become established in the engineering circle, find out what is happening and take an interest in it.
- When you go to a job interview, take your references and your portfolio with you.
- Consulting companies like people with hands-on experience (e.g. in construction).
- Find out what a company
does before making contact. Most internationally trained engineers do
not research the companies they approach.
- Develop high quality
resumes and use cover letters that are custom designed with appropriate
information for each company and well presented.
- Always send a cover letter with your resume. The letter should be one page and the resume should be two pages at the most.
- Do not include every
project or job in your resume. Use the resume to summarize and
highlight your experience. Most resumes repeat the same information
(e.g. five 20 story buildings are listed but only one needs to be
mentioned). State how you were involved in the project and what your
responsibilities/achievements were.
- The resume should clearly
state the position you are seeking. For example, if you are applying
for a structural engineering job, do not state civil engineering as your
career objective - state structural engineering.
- Construction is a
strong sector. There is a demand for construction safety officers,
foreman, estimators, project coordinators, project managers and
superintendents.
- Municipalities and
other government offices usually like to hire experienced engineers.
Some offices will only hire a person with previous local experience.
- There are some opportunities for technician jobs in municipalities.
- Employers have said the right person does not have to be a registered professional engineer (P.Eng.).
- Most engineering companies hire people in the spring. They do not hire in November and December.
- People coming from other countries need to market themselves better.
- You are judged by how you dress. Wear business clothes to an interview (e.g. suit/jacket and tie).
- Get whatever job you can
get within a large organization where opportunities exist and work your
way up. [Tip: You will have a chance to prove your abilities if you
take a related technical job rather than taking any position]
- Customize your resume to
match the job requirements. [Tip: Include specific skills and
qualities that the employer is looking for]
- Be creative and flexible in marketing your skills.
- Pick up the phone and call people.
- Go to construction companies or job sites first thing in the morning and ask to meet with the project manager.
- Do not wait for a personal
letter or reply to a job inquiry. Call or visit the company office to
find out the status of your job application or resume submission.
[Tip: Do not wait more than two weeks]
- Be willing to accept short-term contract work.
- The "Drop in" procedure sounds OK if you have the "door to door" salesman spirit. It is going to be hard.
- The telephone never rings; you have to call.
Open your Career Development and Job-Search Document and
go to the LMI Worksheet. Using the information and links provided here
and elsewhere, answer the questions in the LMI-SKILL AREA "Job-Search
Skills" section.
Next, go to the Skills Self-Assessment Worksheet and rate
your ability in the "Job-Search Skills " section. It is essential that
you are honest with yourself when completing this self-assessment. If
you are not honest in answering these questions, your Career Development
and Job-Search Plan will not be a useful tool for you.
Finally, go to the Skills Summary Worksheet and follow the instructions there. Complete the "Job-Search Skills" section.
Do not forget to work on the Potential Employers Worksheet If you have not already started to do so. |
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