A typical home office where people work for a living in the urban cities.

As working in Sri Lanka is not based on an hourly rate one may say that we are quite use to working beyond the 6pm timeline. That may come handy here in Canada as you may be required to do some volunteer work in order to bag those important credits to prove you have the answer ready when your potential employer throws that multi million dollar question: Have you got Canadian experience?

Here’s the story of an immigrant who managed to get employed in one of the top banks in Canada as she was willing to volunteer and did her part by networking with Sri Lankans in Canada. This friend of mine migrated from Dubai.

She had a good paying job at a golf course in Dubai (so she says) and since many were migrating to Canada she thought she’ll give it a shot. In the days that followed she completed the required paper work and submitted them to the Canadian Embassy. To her amazement she found herself with a Visa in her hand to enter Canada and suddenly she’s faced with reality. Now, she had to decide on making a significant change to her life style as she would need to find a job and start the whole settling process in a new country, Canada.

Since she is great with customers she thought it will not be a problem to get some work in a golf club or a similar high end club in Canada. But everything looked so different once she landed in Canada.

When she first found employment in Dubai she had gone through an employment agency and she didn’t have the worries of finding a job. She only had to get use to the new environment and that included her staff quarters, co-workers, Managements, customers, etc. But Canada was just the opposite. Apart from finding work she was faced with the effects of a cold bitter winter as she landed in the country in the month of February, at the height of its winter season.

After months of job hunting and finally realizing that getting work in the Canadian work place was not going to be an easy task she decided to get any kind of job to help her pay her bills. After several months of doing a survival job by using the public transport system to get to work, etc, she also decided to network with other Sri Lankans to get a better understanding on what the job market in Canada contains.

Finally with the help of the networking that was in place she was offered to come on a voluntary (no pay) basis to serve at a bank. She started as a trainee teller. Because she was extremely good with customers she quickly found herself in the banks payroll as the management hired her on a part time basis with a nominal pay. She kept on proving herself to management and this one time volunteer ended up being the Assistant Manager for one of Canada’s Top 6 Banks.

Canadasrilanka.com is proud of her achievements and wish you learnt something of her story to better your chances as you venture into a job market that will demand Canadian experience. The rule is to know that you got to keep on going until you find your dream job. Do not give up and take the time to network. Not all Sri Lankans would support you and I am sure you’re well aware of that! Make sure that your Sri Lankan network car doesn’t stall in the middle of the road. But a good majority would certainly help you or give you tips that would be quite useful. Good Luck!