Kari Karlsbjerg's "Canadian Employment Culture" column reports every Wednesday (local time) in the Korea IT Times. First, the four-part coverage of the serial column for 'Month Two' is as follows.
1. Finding Your Tribe: Professional IT Associations Source for Jobs
2. Linked-In is the Sure Way to Connect and Find Work
3. Self-Service to Full-Service Job Hunting
4. KOTRA and KMOVE Connect Jobseekers with Canadian Employers
Professional Associations
From reading the first four articles of our Working in Canada series, you know the initial preparation required before looking for an IT position in Canada. We highlighted the red-hot IT job market in Canada that urgently needs international IT professionals to meet their growing needs. Furthermore, we recommended having your education and professional credentials officially evaluated and sharpening your verbal English communication skills as two important strategies for a smooth transition to successfully working in Canada. For the next four articles in our series, we turn our attention to the all-important question of where to find IT job postings in Canada.
Most professions have a professional association that provides their members with an opportunity to connect with each other for professional development and networking. Some organizations are also responsible for the official certification of their members, such as engineers, before they can practice in Canada. They provide their members with information about job openings through job posting boards on their websites and at educational and networking events.
Finding your tribe means reaching out to the specific professional organization for your specialty in Canada. Making a connection with these groups is an effective way to discover your peers and start building your network needed for job hunting. There are associations for every level of IT and engineering work in Canada: from groups for developers to associations for IT Executives and Chief Information Officers (CIO). Here is a small sample of organizations that you can investigate:
• Engineer Here
Engineers Canada is the professional association responsible for upholding the high standards and regulation of engineering practices in Canada. To encourage internationally trained engineers to consider working in Canada, they have put together a website dedicated to providing the important information newcomers need to know about the professional requirements to work in Canada.
• Canada’s Association of Information Technology Professionals (CIPS)
CIPS establishes standards and shares best practices for the benefit of individual IT professionals and the sector as a whole. In addition to networking opportunities and professional certification, they also have an IT Job and encourage on-going professional development through their provincial chapters.
• The CIO Association of Canada
The CIO Association of Canada (CIOCAN) represents IT Executives and CIOs in Canada. CIOCAN represents CIOs and IT executives facilitates networking, sharing of best practices and executive development, and collaborates on issues facing CIOs/IT Executives.
Kari Karlsbjerg and Elaine Chu are authors of the best-selling bilingual guidebook, Everyday Vancouver, which contains all the practical cultural information and resources Korean newcomers need for life in Vancouver, Canada.
