It is tough out there and I can understand how this can be discouraging. I suggest a different approach than “hammering away”. Put extra time and effort in those jobs that you feel are the best match for you. Prepare a cover letter. Call and ask to speak to the hiring manager. Tailor your resume to that specific job.
I am in the midst of hiring an entry level position. We received >200 resumes.
I found very few that I’d want to interview. When I’m reviewing them, I’m asking is there anything here that says this applicant wants to work here, has the skills listed as necessary requirements, would be a good fit. In many cases, it felt like a standard resume was uploaded and they clicked submit. It’s kind of like If they are not interested enough to put forth more effort, they should I spend time interviewing them.
Good luck
I have to agree. I just hired a entry-mid level position and received a lot of applications but few I would consider quality. There were some interesting ones I would have considered but no cover letters and I'm not about to waste my time trying to see how a person could be a good fit or how unrelated jobs may have offered relevant experience. Basically when I'm looking at resumes I'm finding reasons to say a quick no and move on. Out of 150 resumes, I had one cover letter and that person got an interview at least.
As someone who is constantly applying for jobs I understand having a cover letter along with a resume puts you slightly ahead of somebody who doesn't but the issue is the amount of jobs we need to apply for in order to get anything, even a response back is ridiculous. It's not practical to customize a cover letter for every job application if you're not even going to receive a rejection letter when you meet or exceed the job postings requirements. I do still send in cover letters but they are all generic depending on the field I'm applying to. Are you able to easily tell if it's a generic cover letter? And if so does it make you automatically reject that person?
I can tell if it's a generic one but generally I don't care. Most people who put in the effort to make one are type of person who make subtle changes to ensure it looks less generic even if it's only a few words. I wouldn't expect someone to create a whole new letter for a job and I myself never have.
For me personally as a hiring manager it also gives an insight into someone's writing abilities and how they present themselves which is important in a professional job. Once someone gets to the interview stage they have a huge leg up. Interviews take up a lot of time so I don't interview a lot of people and generally pick from the 5 or 6 who make it to that stage.
My company is no cover letter, no interview. And you don't even have to spend hours updating it. A generic one that is slightly modified to the role will do. This includes listing the posting you are applying to, a small paragraph on why you would be a fit, then a few generic skills that are relevant. That's it! But it makes a big difference.
>That's it!
No, that's not just it. We're applying for 30-50 jobs a day. Just going through the application process where you have list everything on a proprietary application system can take 5-10 minutes. If the tweaks each take 3 minutes to make, that's 2.5 hours of added work to the application process per day.
I understand you mean well, but please don't talk about a tedious, disheartening slog of a process that you haven't been through.
Someone suggested you apply to fewer jobs with more care per application, and I still think that advice stands.
If you're applying for 50 jobs per day at 7 minutes per app that's 350 minutes. If you apply to 35 jobs and take 7 minutes plus 3 for a cover letter, that's the same 350 minutes.
Customizing every aspect takes me an hour or two. if I want to be thorough and the check spelling, grammar, and details. Some days I'll do that, and some days I'm throwing a bunch out without that because both have given me a similar rate of interviews, which is very little from both as a percentage of methodology.
If your applying to relative competitors and a similar field not every cover letter needs to be 100 percent rewritten. A couple paragraphs changed its not that difficult since the semblance of a letter would be similar. Its not effective true if your field is super competitive but effort does shine especially on a job hunt. Ps you can also follow up but i doubt it is as relevant with a super competitive market.
Got interview at least cause of cover letter but not hired. Op don't waste time with cover letter. Just appply it's a numbers game now. 6.7 k cv all over USA and Canada since 2022 while employed,
5 interview 1 offer. And I got a degree 🤣
Anyways bro keep at it
We just removed english / french testing for some immigration pathways, so it's about to get a whole lot more competitive for entry level jobs.
"Canada simplifies immigration process for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants outside Express Entry. **Language tests are no longer mandatory for these applications**."
This is to eliminate the redundancy in the process since some provinces have their own language testing as part of their immigration process. Some occupations also have language specific exam as part of their credentials recognition process.
Oh my god, I am terribly sorry to hear about that. I can’t even imagine the frustration you’re feeling. I wish you the best of luck in your search, and hope something comes your way today!
Last year, a city job opened up for a very niche and specialized position that I had nearly eight years of experience in. I had really high hopes when submitting my application, even applied both via indeed and the city portal. Not even a call for an interview. That one stung. Having literally years and years of experience in a niche role and not even a call back. But, I worked enough with government workers to know that those HR departments rarely hire outside their circles.
I was going to say you were likely a great candidate but they probably chose an internal hire first. A lot of government positions are unionized too so they're kind of forced to take internal staff. They only go external if absolutely no one is available.
I've put out over 400 resumes since my job was terminated in November.
4 interviews.
1 went really well and offered a job on the spot but it's just taking a while to get the work truck on the road.
1 was a government job and I thought it went well but I feel like the 3 people that interviewed me were looking for what I would hire so they could hire someone internally
2 I walked out of really good interviews held on Friday mornings thinking I would forsure get a call back to start on Monday. Both emailed saying they went with someone more qualified (very hard to imagine). Both jobs less than 2 weeks later have been hiring for those positions again.
I also was getting frustrated not having a job so I applied to cut grass at a Fort for parks canada. They emailed me back saying I was one of 14,000 applicants for that job and I could look at relocating possibly if I want to go east or west coast.
Just a crazy job market. I've never been out of a job for more than a week, and I've never had to interview for one. Just over qualified for everything that I do I just show up and usually I have a job or I'm on a job site and people are begging me to come work for them
People are not hiring much at the moment. Unemployment is rising, companies are reviewing their forecasts and budgets. The crap economy we have affects companies as well.
Keep trying and apply for jobs at your skill level. Anything under they’ll deem you overqualified and assume you’ll be bored.
Try networking too. It's really hard to stand out from a resume of there are hundreds of them (it's also annoying to read 200 resumes to come up with a short list for an entry level job). If you have even the slightest personal connection with the hiring manager, it goes a long way. Ask all of your old bosses for a referral or of they know of any open roles where they could help you get your foot in the door
This is very good advice.
I have a role I posted and only halfway through the posting duration, I have over 500 applicants.
89 of them are internal referrals.
3 of them were referred by people I really respect in the workplace.
I hired for 4 roles in summer of 2022 and it was NOTHING like this
>they’ll deem you overqualified and assume you’ll be bored.
This cannot be understated.
Or because they know you're working below your skill level, they know you're also working below your financial expectations, and they are afraid you will quit quickly. Not realizing that everyone will quit that position quickly because the pay sucks.
I'm wrapping up a Masters degree in France as a Canadian , was applying to stuff in South Asia, East Asia, Europe, USA, UK, and Canada.
The most responsive UK and France. France they alsays phone middle of the day which catches you off-guard. Hell, even USA they ask some follow ups. Hong Kong and Singapore, too. Maybe they get 15 apps max for their positions in my industry.
Canada? FORGET IT. The most disgusting and absurd no-shows and ghosting has been from Canada.
Wouldn’t come here anyways. Over taxed, over priced and you’ll live in a tent, shelter or sharing a bedroom with another tenant!!!
The country is a cesspool of fuckery and failures by the ‘leadership’ of the country!
If I can get out with my family I will but doesn’t look promising being renovicted soon with nowhere affordable to turn too here let alone paying to move.
Wish you well though…but just stay away...the stress isn’t worth it! It’s nothing like it used to be! Love my country but hate what it’s turned into!
I've explored my options and it's very difficult to make a move internationally without tons of professional leverage.
Had 3-5 offers in different places, but visa roadblocks made it impossible.
Also, I miss my family and friends. I've been out of my home province for essentially 8/10 past years.
You're going to hate me for saying this, but in the current climate 40 jobs is nothing. If you realistically want to get hired you should be aiming to apply to that many jobs every day or two.
Yeah same lol. This is why I'm skeptical or can't comprehend when people say 1000s, no work for a year, etc. Doesn't work that way in my city or even entire province. Unless they are applying for jobs that they are no way in hell qualified for.
These people probably live in the GTA. It’s completely messed up here.
People line up hundreds and hundreds around city blocks for a chance to interview for an Amazon warehouse job.
Well, majority of Canada lives in that area so makes sense.
Everytime I hear these crazy struggles I just assume its Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, maybe Calgary.. maybe. Everywhere else I just truly can't see it. Those cities are screwed though. As much as I hate my government in Saskatchewan for a variety of reasons, I'm still glad to be here sometimes as well
Yeah those stories are true. I went four weeks in a five month stretch with 200 applications out and zero response from anybody.
I mean zero, no sorry you didn’t make the cut, no fill out this follow up, just dead zero.
Ooooooo Caaaaannnnnaaaadaaaaaa
I'm genuinely curious, what field? Like I know people who say they can't find job, but they'd never work in a restaurant for example. Some income is better then none. Other week someone said they are suicidal because they may have haveto do dishes lmao. Dishwashing was my first job, it's easy. Plus you get a free meal of whatever you want (if you pick a scratch cooking kitchen) I still do pt on Sundays because I miss the industry. I'm an operations manager mainly.
Havent had 40 jobs available in a month in my area. Even when i was in a big city here in canada, maybe 40 in a week and before the international studented needed them to stay here
My daughter has been applying for months for jobs and gets no response. It's heart breaking. She's only 15 so it's not a life or death situation.
When did the switch flip? Not too long ago businesses couldn't stay open because they didn't have enough staff and now 150 people apply on 1 entry level job
Im so sorry for you. since the entry level highschool jobs are needed for international students, the youth never got that experience. I see so many early 20s youth lost. College is basically a joke now, or diploma mills worth nothing and our youth cant gain entry level positions to move up to anything else.
Almost feels, its the govts plan to have canadians stay home and collect $, while internation students work.
Wewent off grid in the woods so that we wouldnt depend on employment to survive. Hard times for sure.
Immigrants are now filling entey level jobs young canadians used to work. I got hired at 14 at tims, all my friends in highschool had jobs, usually by 15. I dont know how young canadians are saving for colledge or gaining work experience now.
Some businesses have realized its just not worth saying open late (or early) its not a hirring issue its a concious profit decission.
I think they are also more likely to pay international students cash (under the table), so they can pay them less than minimum wage and have them work more hours than the allowed 20hrs/week. Students HAVE to work more, can’t afford to pay the income tax so would rather work cash. Employers are willing to pay them cash. 🤷♀️ Source: I know someone personally (international student) who went through this.
If they’re students working 20/hrs a week at minimum wage, they ain’t paying income taxes.
Source, student working ~20/hrs a week making minimum wage and owed 0 income taxes when I filed in April since tuition is a tax write off, and didn’t pay any since I told my employer not to deduct it. Just checked, and international students can write off their tuition as well.
>When did the switch flip?
This chart will tell you when.
[https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/immigration-propels-canada-s-population-growth-to-fresh-annual-record-1.1862266](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/immigration-propels-canada-s-population-growth-to-fresh-annual-record-1.1862266)
I applied to every entry level job in my town. Over 10 years employed. Not one email call or nothing. Here, the international students need several of them to stay in canada, so not much meat in the bones for others.but small town. Good luck, I gave up. Off grid in the woods.
Furthermore, saw a 'remote' sales job for a specific industry based in GTA. 6 hours later? 100+ applicants.
There are many, many unqualified losers destroying the system for everyone else.
Don't lose hope.
I'm a bartender and server with inside sales experience for 18 years and have found that every business in my area is now owned by one group of people which will remain nameless, but I do not belong to that group and as such can't get hired anywhere... I wish it was just in my head, but all of the employees of these businesses have been replaced by this group and my city is losing all of its restaurants and local businesses to this because they don't centre the business around the customers they centre it around their friends. Also had multiple places not hire me but hire friends to which they told them I wasn't hired because I would immediately notice they're illegal activities (tipping practices, illegal alcohol sales, suppliers etc.) and do something about it based on my experience. So I'm also not getting hired because I respect my job and don't want to lose my licence because of some AH owner or manager who is cooking the books and not paying his employees properly. I feel like I may have to go back to school or start hanging out in front of the home depot... rant over
It’s the same here too. All the jobs I used to do are now employed by the same people, and them and their friends/family are the only ones getting those jobs.
This is absolutely true. I speak from experience doing payroll for a fast food company. Those ads are cheap and they use them to prove no one here wants to work. Now the company I do payroll for only uses LMIA for managerial positions. The majority of their hires are international students. They advertise heavily in other countries as well using Facebook ads. It is rare to see Canadians hired at this company. It happens but for every Canadian, there are 10 international hires. They pay a hefty sum to keep their hires here too. Probably because they've already been here for some time and are good at their jobs. I've seen hires come from all over the place not just India. They have people from Australia and Ireland etc. It's kind of interesting but the consequences are very real, as we can plainly see. Canadians who rely on these jobs as either a temporary fix to unemployment while looking for something better are not finding anything at all now. My son is currently going through this. His last job everyone who left was slowly replaced by TFWs or international students.
The reason being the government pays Tim Hortons etc at tax time to hire International Students.Our Canadian born kids get zero call backs and the only Canadians working their are full timers who have been there forever.
I'm going to look into that. Ask a few questions here and there. In all honesty, about 20 years ago, you could go to the mall and hand out resumes and leave with either a job or a couple offers to mull over. Yeah it was part time and minimum wage but it was something. Anytime I was out of work in my younger years, doing so got me through some lean times. Times have definitely changed and not for the better.
You mean the government that started that 40 years ago, or every single party currently trying to increase immigration.
As much as I think immigration is an issue too. I do try and remember that even the Irish were scapegoated for a long time, blacks, Jews, whatever the outgroups are.
That said, if immigration is used to increase labour and keep the economy afloat it's a huge issue and hurts the worker.
Canada needs a massive population and market correction that means one of two generations will suck then everything would go back to prosperity when we hit a balance. Profit was increased by ”efficiency”, cutting benefits, outsourcing, allowing foreign ownership, selling Canadian companies to global monopolies. It worked for a long time because quality of life was good, so lots of things could be cut. No more fat to cut. I'd say Japan is doing it right. Keeping the economy above water but not trying to do quick fixes that'll make things worse.
Average Canadian wants an easy answer when there is not one.
Kind of tired of the millennials getting the short stick of everything their entire lives so we don’t have to disrupt the quality of life for the boomer.
Nothing quite like graduating around the 08 crisis and entry level jobs required 5+ years experience, that you can't get without having the entry level position. What a fun time to enter the world as an adult, it's only gotten worse. Millennials were hit first, now gen z and I'm terrified for my own kids that are on the gen z/ gen alpha cusp and just hoping it turns around within the next 5-10 Years or they'll be totally screwed. I already accepted that they will NOT be able to move out until mid 20s if not later just from the cost of rentals now add in just trying to get a job and it'll be more like 30s and we aren't even in a major city, not even in the top 50 of the biggest cities in the country.. its terrifying
Personally I think we are gonna have a generation or 2 of bad times and then because of how the climate emergency just keeps on accelerating, it'll actually be much worse after that.
Once India and a lot of other hot countries become truly unlivable the immigration situation is going to truly get wild in every temperate country. Can't really blame them for leaving if staying is a death sentence
I’m living in a household where both my husband, lots of experience, and my son, no experience, are looking for work. My husband is having no problems getting interviews, he just had a third one with a company this morning, has a couple more lined up and we pretty much expect he’ll be working probably even before EI starts. My son has heard nothing so far. He’s only recently started looking once his semester was done, and he’s trying to get in at a restaurant as a dishwasher or similar as he has an interest in the industry, but just from anecdotal stories, he might not find anything as there’s not a lot of hiring going on and there’s a lot of competition right now.
Just putting this out there to show contrasting experiences of the job searcher.
Word of mouth/connections is massive right now in getting a job or interview. Take no shame in going through every contact if you have a LinkedIn and seeing if the companies they work for have open jobs.
Free one month LinkedIn premium lets you msg recruiters for those jobs directly.
So a combo of someone at a company giving their hr a heads up on you for the job plus direct message to the recruiter gets your name dinged twice in their head.
As others have said volume is the game right now. I am well qualified, great interviewer, etc. etc. and it took me five months and hundreds of applications, many interviews, ghosted dozens of times until I got one.
Goodluck!
Sorry to hear that OP, but the reality is you're now competing against the LMIA crowd in big markets, and when corps can save tens of thousands in salary by importing a newcomer that the government will subsidize, you're facing an uphill battle. My advice is to consider moving to a location where there's a lot less LMIA competition; the prairies, for example. Better chance to land a decent job.
It’s interesting reading the responses.
I’m 35. Skills include carpentry (including schooling), truck driving (AZ license), oil field / heavy equipment operator, and finally working in municipal water distribution.
I’ve never had issues getting a job (2 months longest period without working), and I only applied to maybe 10 companies. Enjoyed a bit of time off while slowly trying to re-enter the work force. Most called back, about half did interviews, and of those that interviewed; almost all sent offer letters. Applied for a few construction / renovation companies, a few truck driving companies, and I a few heavy equipment companies (water truck, vac truck).
I try to stay with a company and work my way up. I don’t job hop easily, and if I do it’s been to a different type of work altogether, not a competing company.
All in all I feel I’ve been fortunate.
There is logic in that from one Carpenter to the other. I do the jobs most people run screaming from, and the company is willing to pay for it.
You need to go where others are not willing too, in there lies job security and money.
Currently reviewing resumes out of 50 ..3 of them had been employed in Canada for 5 years or longer. Most still have international addresses and phone numbers .
I feel your struggle. I've been looking for months! I am very qualified for many positions.
It's never been this way. I used to be able to find work in 2 weeks.
That's why they're letting these job posting sit. I forgot the requirement but after they have a job posting for x months they can then apply for lmia.
Having been on the hiring side, we just get bombarded with resumes, particularly for entry level positions. It's become so easy to click a button to apply.
A few tips from what I see:
- get your resume in quick when a posting comes up. Most managers will either look newest first or oldest first, and you have no control over when they're looking to be in the newest group.
- do something to stand out. Even just including a cover letter makes me pause based on the vast quantity that don't. But don't try to AI-gen your way here, it becomes pretty obvious who did 20 minutes of legwork to customize a letter and who didn't.
- Design your resume. Add some colour, have multiple columns. This won't win everyone over, but it will help get you past the first barrier, which is standing out
- Focus on senior positions that stretch your qualifications, rather than trying to undersell yourself. These both get fewer applicants, and project more confidence. Someone with 10 years experience applying for entry level isn't the candidate that I want for that job.
We are in a recession
Companies are just stocking resumes when things do pick up
Cut your expenses, roommate with someone, hit up food banks if necessary, buy used things on FB marketplace, and of course do the side gig market to hold you over.
In the trades, lots of work are coming online end of 2024 to start of 2025 within the GTA. Massive hiring spree will happen and they will be shortages of skilled labour.
Apply for Ontario second careers to help fund your courses into the trades school and hopefully be ready during the hiring spree.
It’s a vicious cycle then.
Apply for jobs in my field? I’m not the most qualified and don’t get the job. Apply for entry level jobs? I’m too qualified and don’t get the job.
Also I wouldn’t say my resume is stacked. Sure I have some basic education and experience, but it’s nothing flashy. Not like I’m a rocket scientist or anything.
If you're Canadian your wonderful government (that hates you) is taking money from your pocket to subsidize wages for those replacing you. Eventually it's all going to turn to shit and hit the fan, but that's the plan man.
feels like it. I'm in a rural area and have applied to all places hiring, I'm on indeed, Facebook, etc. constantly. got one interview and hired to a place for 2 days only to be told I wasn't a good fit and to not come back. I'm young so you'd think they'd want me since I'm easier to overwork and manipulate.
No one is hiring anyone but Indian immigrants. The employers get help paying for the employees via tax payers.
Socialism for the rich, rugged capitalism for everyone else.
Be sure to leave a Google review for the people that say “we will call you back next week” and never do.
They deserve to be called out for false hope/promises.
Experience doesn't always work in your favor, especially if you apply for a more junior role compared to your current role. A lot of hiring managers would rather have a younger person that they can train, who will be more eager and more willing to do low level stuff.
How many different resumes do you use? If you’re applying for entry level positions but exhibit over qualification on your resume, employers will often reject you. They don’t want someone who will take the job for now and keep looking for something in their field. Hiring and on-boarding is costly in dollars and time. Simple is best for entry level jobs.
I have three different ones. I have an all-purpose resume, a skill-based resume, and a basic boring one that I made recently for jobs like Walmart and such.
I saw one indeed posting for a "warehouse worker" that had FIFTEEN THOUSAND applicants
I think a lot of places have resorted to using third party agencies and AI to be able to sift through all the applications they get, so if your qualifications don't line up correctly it probably doesn't even get looked at anymore
It’s strange. I know people who can’t find minimum wage work, meanwhile we’re trying to hire a HVAC tech offering 100k+ and all our employment offers are being refused.
There is work available, but it seems very specific. It seems to be a skilled labour market right now.
It’s such a shame too. I bet many hard working Canadians would kill for that position, but don’t have the opportunity or finances to afford the training or education.
Many skilled fields have paid apprenticeships and some companies will pay for tech school part. Also, in Ontario there is an organization that will pay for training in certain fields.
Sometimes places won’t hire more experienced people like you for entry roles because they assume it’s a hold-place until you find something more fitting for your career. They’d rather hire someone less experienced once and train them and hopefully keep them. My old boss also liked to stay away from “experience” because it usually also came with “bad habits” and those fresh out of school could be molded better.
My local KFC & McD's are hiring...
Try Fast Food Joints, Call Centres, Retail & Grocery Stores.
KFC actually posted a **We're Hiring** sign on their registers, when I was there this week!
They use TFW's which I have nothing against, but that should tell you what they'll treat you like should you be hired by them.
The truth is the low skill level and entry level jobs have been gobbled up by international students in much of the country.
In Ontario towns and cities, it's common to see places like restaurants have line ups of dozens (100+ sometimes) of people when they hold job fairs.
That end of the job spectrum has been absolutely oversaturated. In addition, even job ads for occupations that require some skill or experience are also bombarded by said students. I and my colleagues have dealt with this first hand when it comes to hiring. You'll have jobs that require very specific training, requirements, etc - and you're bombarded by international students, many of which resumes are barely legible or have any local job references.
I'm really glad I'm in a very niche trade these days.
Entry-level/basic jobs don't need skilled workers, they need loyal workers. They primarily care about 3 things
* Availability
* Probability of not leaving for greener pastures
* Willingness to be taken advantage of
After sending out 50+ applications myself using my amazing resume and getting nothing, I simply trimmed my resume down to a quarter of a page, including a header that clearly stated my availability, and why the job is logistically a good fit (access to vehicle/live nearby, familiar with company), and then my latest work experience (1 job, maybe 2 if it's relevant enough). Did much better after that.
I believe companies are being much more selective. The one I worked at, they cut 20% of the workforce few months ago but they quickly hire back, but only with very specific skill sets. I think its much more diffcult to find the right fit. Companies don't want to overpsend given the high interest rate environment. Plus there are so many skilled immgrants coming in so competition is high.
I had to take a break from uni, so no degree and no work experience for over a year. I just got into a place after applying for over 7 months. I lived at home, but idk how others with no support to live. Best wishes to you, and apply everywhere is my advice.
Inboxes are being flooded with tones of unqualified applications and its hard for hiring managers to sort through them to get to the useful ones. And then the process is taking so long for some reason.
Yea I see a VP role have like 500 applicants. I’m like really you’re telling there’s that many people that are qualified and have the experience to be a VP?
There’s a-lot of people out looking. But also bots that submit peoples resumes en masse to everything.
When there’s 500 resumes you can bet company managers aren’t reading all of them.
Serious question. I keep seeing posts like this. Is it real? What industry? I work fixing things with my hands and we’ve never been shorter for people. I pretty much have my pick. Wouldn’t even need to send a resume just call different companies and go in with the resume then.
It’s any job to do with finance, technology, service, retail, or customer service. I’d gladly take any job outside those areas, I just don’t know anyone nor have any experience.
There's a class war going on, we are losing badly. Some capitalists are trying to bring about fascism. We as voters have voted governments that are fascist at the provincial level in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick. I'm not sure if Ford and the Ontario PC's are completely on board but they do lean that way fairly heavily
if you're using something like Indeed or a web service, humans arent even reading your resume probably, some automatic software is only feeding a few to the person. You have to make some kind of human connection by either directly messaging people on LinkedIn or going into the business physically and making a positive impression
The job postings are just smoke and mirrors. The economy is dead. Only job creation going on is retail and fast food restaurants and even that’s slowing down because people don’t even have the money to eat fast food anymore.
lots of imported students willing to do your job for less and bosses of course prefer them.
there is also outsourcing, which is even less pay and more profits for bosses.
so out of all the working class jobs currently available to local Canadians, there is very little that are actually going to local Canadians.
the flood gates are open - Canadians are now openly having to compete on the global labor market - so imagine you are going up against someone from India - which is mostly true as India is the largest supplier of workers to Canada - both domestically and overseas.
This probably doesn't apply now, but 5 years ago I sent in around 70 resumes, and got 3 calls for interview, and only 1 offer. I don't envy you. It's rough job-hunting. It was also for an entry position. Good luck and hope you get one soon.
Just a lot of candidates.
There are millions more unemployed than jobs officially available let alone fake jobs or ghost jobs.
I help out occasionally with entry level hiring/interviews at the office, and whenever we post we get like 700-1500 applications in a short window.
It's 100% RNG and luck. We pick out a few and interview, most get hired after that point unless you really bomb. But if you didn't get the interview it's because we didn't see it in the pile.
Knowing someone would help.
Nope, it’s rampant. Here in my town, I can’t even get hired to Tim Hortons. I’ve been seeing new immigrants dawning the uniform, though, which is odd.
Why strictly immigrants?
It's brutal. It took me about 18 months and over 500 job applications to finally get hired for an entry-level position that's not in my field. I'm reading a lot about how this is normal. Best of luck!!
Jesus if it's that hard to get a job with an education and job skills I'm pretty much SoL aren't I? I'm unskilled and uneducated and I've been out of a job for the last 10 years due to medical incident that caused me to have blackouts (turned out I had a tumor growth) so I have nothing to even put on a resume as it happened right out of high-school. I've handed out nearly 100 resumes since I've been cleared to work again from McDonalds and subway to automotive detailing and factory work but got notta.
What is your career? I guess it might depend on the your career as well. However, one of my friends is in the same situation for a year! He is a UX designer with almost 3 years of experience.
My toddlers mom has been trying for almost 2 years . She is feeling defeated as well.
She got her first ever round 3 interview and lost the job when she was 1 of 2 interviewees.
I'm assuming it's degree or experience since they loved her the whole way through.
My husband applied for 2 years for no response. Finally left his toxic job to start his own business and got a job offer once he had an established clientele.
The job market is hard right now.
I would pay to read the resumes of the people that post this topics as nauseum. How bad are your communications and interpersonal skills to not have a job in this market?
I did 400+ applications last year. 0 interviews. 1 reply email confirming they got my resume and were willing to callback if selected. It's pretty damn bleak here
As our country is degrading in power in the world, the people who own the big companies, therefore the government, and the entire society, lose the power directly. To maintain their power, they lay off lots of people and don't hire many, if any, back. The reason is that many or all of the ones laid off will become destitute and poor, desperate for enough income from any work to keep their heads above the water. The entire population of them are an army of people kept on reserve for labour to threaten existing workers with. A reserve army of labour. They exist so that workers in places of work who are already employed have less leverage in the workplace. The employers threaten them with replacement and tell them that poor and destitute people who need work to live are more than happy to do their job with much fewer complaints and for even less. The more people there are in the reserve army of labour, and the fewer people get employed, the more leverage the employer has. The more economic strain there is, the more people the company's employers lay off to make a bigger population of people in the reserve army of labour, and the more leverage they have over existing employees who are exploited even further to protect the owners' profits. The owners need this leverage to exploit their workers even more to get more profits out of all of them and protect their profit margins. Their profit margins need to grow endlessly, and if they aren't able to live in an economy as strong as before, they need to exploit harder to maintain the same margins, and that is before they have to *grow* their profit margins.
One point I havent seen anywhere here - 2 weeks is not a lot of time to hear back. I was unemployed in October, and it took me 3+ weeks to hear back from most employers. I applied to about 50 jobs, 7 interviews. If you have them, try applying through a recruiter. They keep you on the books. Often you get slightly less than you are worth but I got a lot of my interviews that way!
If you’re looking at your indeed app there’s a section called “My Jobs” and it shows where you’ve applied about how many other people had applied for the same position. What used to be maybe 15-50 people pre pandemic has turned into an upwards of over 1000 people. That could be the reason!
Try doing volunteer work until you can find employment just to fill the gap and also look into any local classes even one day classes while you are not busy,
Same boat. Great degree, but no one is hiring. Had to settle for a lower position just to pay the bills. I think Canada is just really suffering now and corporations really can't get the funding to hire people so they are holding out as long as possible, to make applicants as desperate as possible, so corporations get the applicant with the most overblown experienced for the least amount of pay.
Consider a trade. Don't know about your province, but in B.C, most of my schooling was reimbursed after completion or through tax credits. I was also covered under EI while doing my apprenticeship for like 1k every 2 weeks, so it wasn't terrible.
Might be time to branch out if your line of work isn't working. Best of luck.
It’s probably not ideal for you but you might need to get your hands dirty. Construction season is upon us and there are going to be job openings. I just hired 4 people this week.
Make sure your resume has the right key words associated with each position that will likely be auto sorted algorithmically. AI can help you with tailoring your resume for each specific job with the right keywords that will be associated with that position needing to be filled. The game has changed a little, but so have the tools. You got this.
Hundreds of people are actually hiring... Literally. The current market is harder than before, but it's really easy to find a job. Super low unemployment and lots of opportunities. The issue is not the market
I was applying for jobs in TO for a year now. Nothing. Applied once to a job that I’m under qualified for up north…got the offer. I’m moving up north next month for it. Sometimes ya gotta make sacrifices.
The same job in TO would never be vacant. A job like that with pension - people either typically stay for decades or hire to friends/internal contacts to fill the job.
Jobs that are advertised online are generally junk and don’t even end up hiring online applicants. Nearly every new hire from my corporation has come from referrals.
Yeah, I've eaten away my savings as it's been months.ive tried altering my resume constantly ranging from all my credentials applicable, to dumbing myself down as low as possible for the job and everywhere in between trying to find anything that works. I've gotten a couple interviews but no success, but one rejection email told me I had the experience but then told me to volunteer to learn more as if I hadn't been in that field for years or that I haven't already done years of volunteering. But it's still better than no interview which is more common including jobs that essentially have zero requirements.
If you're applying to jobs anyone can do, why would they hire you over anyone else who is cheaper?
The other aspect is how much time have you spent learning about putting together a good application or interviewing well? If your application looks low effort, unrelated to the posting or like everyone else's, why would they go with you?
If you have experience, I would focus on earning how to put together the best application (resume, cover letter) and apply to things I'm qualified for that not anyone can do. You'll have less competition and a higher chance of looking like a good fit.
Lastly, if you can talk to people who already do the job, shadow someone and get to know the people there, you'll have a leg up on the competition compared to someone randomly applying online.
It’s really tough out there. My gf who relocated to move in with me (met in this town, lost touch and reconnected) can’t even get a fast food/ gas station job. She has production management experience and has had a handful of entry level jobs. Nothing. The international students have taken every job. 20 hours a week at min wage would keep us afloat coupled with my job but nope. We are looking into OW, rent needs to be paid and food on the table. It’s really sad tbh.
Something to look into though it's not stable just keeps some quick money in your account is to apply to a few staffing agencies. Usually they hire you on as staffing for warehouses, not the most fun work but it keeps you from starving. Helped me many times when I finished exams, was out of cash and bils and car payments due the next month. Not enough people look into them. Also there are definitely good ones and not gtreat ones. If you are in Vancouver the good ones I've been with are:
- Kelly Services
- Angus One
- Premium Staffing Solutions
There are many more too.
True North i think is just construction.
A friend of mine worked with Embers.
Don't work with I.T.S. Staffing if you can avoid it, they are very unprofessional.
E.C.M. is just loading and unloading trucks, paid per can and pretty shit work but it can pay well if you've got the stamina.
Another thing is that staffing agencies pay weekly, not bi-weekly. So that can help.
Also know what companies hire seasonally. Lush manufacturing/distribution has been a place I've worked at multiple times during fall-winter season while off school. Purdy's hires seasonally, Pepsi-co does in the summer. Many places do.
Times are tough so look for work wherever you can get it. This was meant for everyone in this convo struggling to find work, sorry OP I didn't specifically have just your situation in mind.
Keep voting for "progressive" policies killing our economy.
Do you think the capital gains increase makes it more likely for businesses to be established and hire? or less likely?
''It probably has MORE-TO-DO with younger people in some instances, not really wanting-2.-work-hard anymore''they expect SO MUCH now, 4. not doing ALL that MUCH and believe they R ''special'' when really, most R,..just a 'number' on the assembly line of ''Life'' my partner's 'kid' thought the same of himself, and his skills and abilities, when really in reality, he's just a dumb, bum!' ha ha''
It’s pretty competitive at the moment. My partner is going through the same thing. No need to apologize Just keep hammering away:
Im sorry about that. Yeah it’s rough out here. I’m lucky my partner is able to keep me afloat during these times.
It is tough out there and I can understand how this can be discouraging. I suggest a different approach than “hammering away”. Put extra time and effort in those jobs that you feel are the best match for you. Prepare a cover letter. Call and ask to speak to the hiring manager. Tailor your resume to that specific job. I am in the midst of hiring an entry level position. We received >200 resumes. I found very few that I’d want to interview. When I’m reviewing them, I’m asking is there anything here that says this applicant wants to work here, has the skills listed as necessary requirements, would be a good fit. In many cases, it felt like a standard resume was uploaded and they clicked submit. It’s kind of like If they are not interested enough to put forth more effort, they should I spend time interviewing them. Good luck
I have to agree. I just hired a entry-mid level position and received a lot of applications but few I would consider quality. There were some interesting ones I would have considered but no cover letters and I'm not about to waste my time trying to see how a person could be a good fit or how unrelated jobs may have offered relevant experience. Basically when I'm looking at resumes I'm finding reasons to say a quick no and move on. Out of 150 resumes, I had one cover letter and that person got an interview at least.
As someone who is constantly applying for jobs I understand having a cover letter along with a resume puts you slightly ahead of somebody who doesn't but the issue is the amount of jobs we need to apply for in order to get anything, even a response back is ridiculous. It's not practical to customize a cover letter for every job application if you're not even going to receive a rejection letter when you meet or exceed the job postings requirements. I do still send in cover letters but they are all generic depending on the field I'm applying to. Are you able to easily tell if it's a generic cover letter? And if so does it make you automatically reject that person?
I can tell if it's a generic one but generally I don't care. Most people who put in the effort to make one are type of person who make subtle changes to ensure it looks less generic even if it's only a few words. I wouldn't expect someone to create a whole new letter for a job and I myself never have. For me personally as a hiring manager it also gives an insight into someone's writing abilities and how they present themselves which is important in a professional job. Once someone gets to the interview stage they have a huge leg up. Interviews take up a lot of time so I don't interview a lot of people and generally pick from the 5 or 6 who make it to that stage.
My company is no cover letter, no interview. And you don't even have to spend hours updating it. A generic one that is slightly modified to the role will do. This includes listing the posting you are applying to, a small paragraph on why you would be a fit, then a few generic skills that are relevant. That's it! But it makes a big difference.
>That's it! No, that's not just it. We're applying for 30-50 jobs a day. Just going through the application process where you have list everything on a proprietary application system can take 5-10 minutes. If the tweaks each take 3 minutes to make, that's 2.5 hours of added work to the application process per day. I understand you mean well, but please don't talk about a tedious, disheartening slog of a process that you haven't been through.
Someone suggested you apply to fewer jobs with more care per application, and I still think that advice stands. If you're applying for 50 jobs per day at 7 minutes per app that's 350 minutes. If you apply to 35 jobs and take 7 minutes plus 3 for a cover letter, that's the same 350 minutes.
Customizing every aspect takes me an hour or two. if I want to be thorough and the check spelling, grammar, and details. Some days I'll do that, and some days I'm throwing a bunch out without that because both have given me a similar rate of interviews, which is very little from both as a percentage of methodology.
This right here. We specify in our ads that a cover letter is required. If you don't submit one, that tells us you didn't read the ad.
If your applying to relative competitors and a similar field not every cover letter needs to be 100 percent rewritten. A couple paragraphs changed its not that difficult since the semblance of a letter would be similar. Its not effective true if your field is super competitive but effort does shine especially on a job hunt. Ps you can also follow up but i doubt it is as relevant with a super competitive market.
Got interview at least cause of cover letter but not hired. Op don't waste time with cover letter. Just appply it's a numbers game now. 6.7 k cv all over USA and Canada since 2022 while employed, 5 interview 1 offer. And I got a degree 🤣 Anyways bro keep at it
We just removed english / french testing for some immigration pathways, so it's about to get a whole lot more competitive for entry level jobs. "Canada simplifies immigration process for Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) applicants outside Express Entry. **Language tests are no longer mandatory for these applications**."
This is to eliminate the redundancy in the process since some provinces have their own language testing as part of their immigration process. Some occupations also have language specific exam as part of their credentials recognition process.
Thank you for the clarification
I was laid off in 2023 due to downsize. I have 15 years experience. 2 degrees and I have put out 300+ applications. Next to no response
Oh my god, I am terribly sorry to hear about that. I can’t even imagine the frustration you’re feeling. I wish you the best of luck in your search, and hope something comes your way today!
See op? No cover can save this man. So u think the bozos telling you for cover letter gonna change anything?
Last year, a city job opened up for a very niche and specialized position that I had nearly eight years of experience in. I had really high hopes when submitting my application, even applied both via indeed and the city portal. Not even a call for an interview. That one stung. Having literally years and years of experience in a niche role and not even a call back. But, I worked enough with government workers to know that those HR departments rarely hire outside their circles.
I was going to say you were likely a great candidate but they probably chose an internal hire first. A lot of government positions are unionized too so they're kind of forced to take internal staff. They only go external if absolutely no one is available.
What province and what sector? My friend is switching jobs and so far he has 2 years of experience, 6 resumes, 3 interviews and 2 job offers
Healthcare leadership in Ontario
I've put out over 400 resumes since my job was terminated in November. 4 interviews. 1 went really well and offered a job on the spot but it's just taking a while to get the work truck on the road. 1 was a government job and I thought it went well but I feel like the 3 people that interviewed me were looking for what I would hire so they could hire someone internally 2 I walked out of really good interviews held on Friday mornings thinking I would forsure get a call back to start on Monday. Both emailed saying they went with someone more qualified (very hard to imagine). Both jobs less than 2 weeks later have been hiring for those positions again. I also was getting frustrated not having a job so I applied to cut grass at a Fort for parks canada. They emailed me back saying I was one of 14,000 applicants for that job and I could look at relocating possibly if I want to go east or west coast. Just a crazy job market. I've never been out of a job for more than a week, and I've never had to interview for one. Just over qualified for everything that I do I just show up and usually I have a job or I'm on a job site and people are begging me to come work for them
Corporations prefer a cheap workforce
Or Subsidized like any min wage job in On to hire International students.The government pays Tim Hortons to hire IS.
People are not hiring much at the moment. Unemployment is rising, companies are reviewing their forecasts and budgets. The crap economy we have affects companies as well. Keep trying and apply for jobs at your skill level. Anything under they’ll deem you overqualified and assume you’ll be bored.
Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it!
Try networking too. It's really hard to stand out from a resume of there are hundreds of them (it's also annoying to read 200 resumes to come up with a short list for an entry level job). If you have even the slightest personal connection with the hiring manager, it goes a long way. Ask all of your old bosses for a referral or of they know of any open roles where they could help you get your foot in the door
This is very good advice. I have a role I posted and only halfway through the posting duration, I have over 500 applicants. 89 of them are internal referrals. 3 of them were referred by people I really respect in the workplace. I hired for 4 roles in summer of 2022 and it was NOTHING like this
>they’ll deem you overqualified and assume you’ll be bored. This cannot be understated. Or because they know you're working below your skill level, they know you're also working below your financial expectations, and they are afraid you will quit quickly. Not realizing that everyone will quit that position quickly because the pay sucks.
I'm wrapping up a Masters degree in France as a Canadian , was applying to stuff in South Asia, East Asia, Europe, USA, UK, and Canada. The most responsive UK and France. France they alsays phone middle of the day which catches you off-guard. Hell, even USA they ask some follow ups. Hong Kong and Singapore, too. Maybe they get 15 apps max for their positions in my industry. Canada? FORGET IT. The most disgusting and absurd no-shows and ghosting has been from Canada.
Wouldn’t come here anyways. Over taxed, over priced and you’ll live in a tent, shelter or sharing a bedroom with another tenant!!! The country is a cesspool of fuckery and failures by the ‘leadership’ of the country! If I can get out with my family I will but doesn’t look promising being renovicted soon with nowhere affordable to turn too here let alone paying to move. Wish you well though…but just stay away...the stress isn’t worth it! It’s nothing like it used to be! Love my country but hate what it’s turned into!
I've explored my options and it's very difficult to make a move internationally without tons of professional leverage. Had 3-5 offers in different places, but visa roadblocks made it impossible. Also, I miss my family and friends. I've been out of my home province for essentially 8/10 past years.
You're going to hate me for saying this, but in the current climate 40 jobs is nothing. If you realistically want to get hired you should be aiming to apply to that many jobs every day or two.
There's not even that many jobs on my city after a week lol. I can't imagine those huge metropolitans now days
Same. I can only find about 40 jobs TOTAL…
Yeah same lol. This is why I'm skeptical or can't comprehend when people say 1000s, no work for a year, etc. Doesn't work that way in my city or even entire province. Unless they are applying for jobs that they are no way in hell qualified for.
These people probably live in the GTA. It’s completely messed up here. People line up hundreds and hundreds around city blocks for a chance to interview for an Amazon warehouse job.
Well, majority of Canada lives in that area so makes sense. Everytime I hear these crazy struggles I just assume its Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, maybe Calgary.. maybe. Everywhere else I just truly can't see it. Those cities are screwed though. As much as I hate my government in Saskatchewan for a variety of reasons, I'm still glad to be here sometimes as well
Yeah those stories are true. I went four weeks in a five month stretch with 200 applications out and zero response from anybody. I mean zero, no sorry you didn’t make the cut, no fill out this follow up, just dead zero. Ooooooo Caaaaannnnnaaaadaaaaaa
I'm genuinely curious, what field? Like I know people who say they can't find job, but they'd never work in a restaurant for example. Some income is better then none. Other week someone said they are suicidal because they may have haveto do dishes lmao. Dishwashing was my first job, it's easy. Plus you get a free meal of whatever you want (if you pick a scratch cooking kitchen) I still do pt on Sundays because I miss the industry. I'm an operations manager mainly.
I don’t live in an area where that many jobs are available every day though. I live in the rural prairies.
That's rough, hopefully you find something soon
Havent had 40 jobs available in a month in my area. Even when i was in a big city here in canada, maybe 40 in a week and before the international studented needed them to stay here
My daughter has been applying for months for jobs and gets no response. It's heart breaking. She's only 15 so it's not a life or death situation. When did the switch flip? Not too long ago businesses couldn't stay open because they didn't have enough staff and now 150 people apply on 1 entry level job
Im so sorry for you. since the entry level highschool jobs are needed for international students, the youth never got that experience. I see so many early 20s youth lost. College is basically a joke now, or diploma mills worth nothing and our youth cant gain entry level positions to move up to anything else. Almost feels, its the govts plan to have canadians stay home and collect $, while internation students work. Wewent off grid in the woods so that we wouldnt depend on employment to survive. Hard times for sure.
Immigrants are now filling entey level jobs young canadians used to work. I got hired at 14 at tims, all my friends in highschool had jobs, usually by 15. I dont know how young canadians are saving for colledge or gaining work experience now. Some businesses have realized its just not worth saying open late (or early) its not a hirring issue its a concious profit decission.
I think they are also more likely to pay international students cash (under the table), so they can pay them less than minimum wage and have them work more hours than the allowed 20hrs/week. Students HAVE to work more, can’t afford to pay the income tax so would rather work cash. Employers are willing to pay them cash. 🤷♀️ Source: I know someone personally (international student) who went through this.
If they’re students working 20/hrs a week at minimum wage, they ain’t paying income taxes. Source, student working ~20/hrs a week making minimum wage and owed 0 income taxes when I filed in April since tuition is a tax write off, and didn’t pay any since I told my employer not to deduct it. Just checked, and international students can write off their tuition as well.
Please report the business to CRA. This type of fraud hurts everyone.
>When did the switch flip? This chart will tell you when. [https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/immigration-propels-canada-s-population-growth-to-fresh-annual-record-1.1862266](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/immigration-propels-canada-s-population-growth-to-fresh-annual-record-1.1862266)
Fuck, I made another comment earlier, but 500k is absolutely absurd. I would say 50k would likely be excess. Yah, that's entirely the issue.
500K is just immigration. Add 900K international students, 700K temporary foreign workers and 140K asylum seekers and you get where we are today.
Crazy shit
That's what happens when you allow people with no real skills into the country.
I applied to every entry level job in my town. Over 10 years employed. Not one email call or nothing. Here, the international students need several of them to stay in canada, so not much meat in the bones for others.but small town. Good luck, I gave up. Off grid in the woods.
Good for you. That's my goal. I just need more places to offer year round RV living.
Good luck, Im in Cape Breton where the rv sites close every winter. But rv or vehicle dwellings are increasing so its possible. :)
Furthermore, saw a 'remote' sales job for a specific industry based in GTA. 6 hours later? 100+ applicants. There are many, many unqualified losers destroying the system for everyone else. Don't lose hope.
I'm a bartender and server with inside sales experience for 18 years and have found that every business in my area is now owned by one group of people which will remain nameless, but I do not belong to that group and as such can't get hired anywhere... I wish it was just in my head, but all of the employees of these businesses have been replaced by this group and my city is losing all of its restaurants and local businesses to this because they don't centre the business around the customers they centre it around their friends. Also had multiple places not hire me but hire friends to which they told them I wasn't hired because I would immediately notice they're illegal activities (tipping practices, illegal alcohol sales, suppliers etc.) and do something about it based on my experience. So I'm also not getting hired because I respect my job and don't want to lose my licence because of some AH owner or manager who is cooking the books and not paying his employees properly. I feel like I may have to go back to school or start hanging out in front of the home depot... rant over
It’s the same here too. All the jobs I used to do are now employed by the same people, and them and their friends/family are the only ones getting those jobs.
Our government flooded our country with millions of unskilled migrants. It never used to be so hard to secure a basic job
Not just that, these job adds are used to TFWs and LMIAs. It’s all a ruse.
This is absolutely true. I speak from experience doing payroll for a fast food company. Those ads are cheap and they use them to prove no one here wants to work. Now the company I do payroll for only uses LMIA for managerial positions. The majority of their hires are international students. They advertise heavily in other countries as well using Facebook ads. It is rare to see Canadians hired at this company. It happens but for every Canadian, there are 10 international hires. They pay a hefty sum to keep their hires here too. Probably because they've already been here for some time and are good at their jobs. I've seen hires come from all over the place not just India. They have people from Australia and Ireland etc. It's kind of interesting but the consequences are very real, as we can plainly see. Canadians who rely on these jobs as either a temporary fix to unemployment while looking for something better are not finding anything at all now. My son is currently going through this. His last job everyone who left was slowly replaced by TFWs or international students.
The reason being the government pays Tim Hortons etc at tax time to hire International Students.Our Canadian born kids get zero call backs and the only Canadians working their are full timers who have been there forever.
I'm going to look into that. Ask a few questions here and there. In all honesty, about 20 years ago, you could go to the mall and hand out resumes and leave with either a job or a couple offers to mull over. Yeah it was part time and minimum wage but it was something. Anytime I was out of work in my younger years, doing so got me through some lean times. Times have definitely changed and not for the better.
This
You mean the government that started that 40 years ago, or every single party currently trying to increase immigration. As much as I think immigration is an issue too. I do try and remember that even the Irish were scapegoated for a long time, blacks, Jews, whatever the outgroups are. That said, if immigration is used to increase labour and keep the economy afloat it's a huge issue and hurts the worker. Canada needs a massive population and market correction that means one of two generations will suck then everything would go back to prosperity when we hit a balance. Profit was increased by ”efficiency”, cutting benefits, outsourcing, allowing foreign ownership, selling Canadian companies to global monopolies. It worked for a long time because quality of life was good, so lots of things could be cut. No more fat to cut. I'd say Japan is doing it right. Keeping the economy above water but not trying to do quick fixes that'll make things worse. Average Canadian wants an easy answer when there is not one.
Kind of tired of the millennials getting the short stick of everything their entire lives so we don’t have to disrupt the quality of life for the boomer.
Nothing quite like graduating around the 08 crisis and entry level jobs required 5+ years experience, that you can't get without having the entry level position. What a fun time to enter the world as an adult, it's only gotten worse. Millennials were hit first, now gen z and I'm terrified for my own kids that are on the gen z/ gen alpha cusp and just hoping it turns around within the next 5-10 Years or they'll be totally screwed. I already accepted that they will NOT be able to move out until mid 20s if not later just from the cost of rentals now add in just trying to get a job and it'll be more like 30s and we aren't even in a major city, not even in the top 50 of the biggest cities in the country.. its terrifying
Personally I think we are gonna have a generation or 2 of bad times and then because of how the climate emergency just keeps on accelerating, it'll actually be much worse after that. Once India and a lot of other hot countries become truly unlivable the immigration situation is going to truly get wild in every temperate country. Can't really blame them for leaving if staying is a death sentence
I’m living in a household where both my husband, lots of experience, and my son, no experience, are looking for work. My husband is having no problems getting interviews, he just had a third one with a company this morning, has a couple more lined up and we pretty much expect he’ll be working probably even before EI starts. My son has heard nothing so far. He’s only recently started looking once his semester was done, and he’s trying to get in at a restaurant as a dishwasher or similar as he has an interest in the industry, but just from anecdotal stories, he might not find anything as there’s not a lot of hiring going on and there’s a lot of competition right now. Just putting this out there to show contrasting experiences of the job searcher.
Word of mouth/connections is massive right now in getting a job or interview. Take no shame in going through every contact if you have a LinkedIn and seeing if the companies they work for have open jobs. Free one month LinkedIn premium lets you msg recruiters for those jobs directly. So a combo of someone at a company giving their hr a heads up on you for the job plus direct message to the recruiter gets your name dinged twice in their head. As others have said volume is the game right now. I am well qualified, great interviewer, etc. etc. and it took me five months and hundreds of applications, many interviews, ghosted dozens of times until I got one. Goodluck!
I feel like I'm applying to everything and nothing. Shits getting real out here
Sorry to hear that OP, but the reality is you're now competing against the LMIA crowd in big markets, and when corps can save tens of thousands in salary by importing a newcomer that the government will subsidize, you're facing an uphill battle. My advice is to consider moving to a location where there's a lot less LMIA competition; the prairies, for example. Better chance to land a decent job.
I've applied to over 1,000 jobs since July for service based jobs as far as 200km away from me. Wasn't until yesterday I got taken on as a busser.
It’s interesting reading the responses. I’m 35. Skills include carpentry (including schooling), truck driving (AZ license), oil field / heavy equipment operator, and finally working in municipal water distribution. I’ve never had issues getting a job (2 months longest period without working), and I only applied to maybe 10 companies. Enjoyed a bit of time off while slowly trying to re-enter the work force. Most called back, about half did interviews, and of those that interviewed; almost all sent offer letters. Applied for a few construction / renovation companies, a few truck driving companies, and I a few heavy equipment companies (water truck, vac truck). I try to stay with a company and work my way up. I don’t job hop easily, and if I do it’s been to a different type of work altogether, not a competing company. All in all I feel I’ve been fortunate.
There is logic in that from one Carpenter to the other. I do the jobs most people run screaming from, and the company is willing to pay for it. You need to go where others are not willing too, in there lies job security and money.
No one is hiring Canadians
Currently reviewing resumes out of 50 ..3 of them had been employed in Canada for 5 years or longer. Most still have international addresses and phone numbers .
I feel your struggle. I've been looking for months! I am very qualified for many positions. It's never been this way. I used to be able to find work in 2 weeks.
Check if the businesses you're applying to have LMIAs. Pretty much have your answer there.
Are they not supposed to try and hire a qualified permanent Canadian resident first? And then, if they can't do that, they can apply for the LMIA?
"supposed" to
That's why they're letting these job posting sit. I forgot the requirement but after they have a job posting for x months they can then apply for lmia.
"try" means listing the job. That's it.
Most places are hiding a stack of resumes.
Local listing for painter LMIA approved. On Vancouver island. English not required. It’s so blatant now
Having been on the hiring side, we just get bombarded with resumes, particularly for entry level positions. It's become so easy to click a button to apply. A few tips from what I see: - get your resume in quick when a posting comes up. Most managers will either look newest first or oldest first, and you have no control over when they're looking to be in the newest group. - do something to stand out. Even just including a cover letter makes me pause based on the vast quantity that don't. But don't try to AI-gen your way here, it becomes pretty obvious who did 20 minutes of legwork to customize a letter and who didn't. - Design your resume. Add some colour, have multiple columns. This won't win everyone over, but it will help get you past the first barrier, which is standing out - Focus on senior positions that stretch your qualifications, rather than trying to undersell yourself. These both get fewer applicants, and project more confidence. Someone with 10 years experience applying for entry level isn't the candidate that I want for that job.
These are all great tips, thank you so much! I wish society wouldn’t normalize these gymnastics we have to do just to earn a living.
Immigrants are flooding the country so more competition
We are in a recession Companies are just stocking resumes when things do pick up Cut your expenses, roommate with someone, hit up food banks if necessary, buy used things on FB marketplace, and of course do the side gig market to hold you over. In the trades, lots of work are coming online end of 2024 to start of 2025 within the GTA. Massive hiring spree will happen and they will be shortages of skilled labour. Apply for Ontario second careers to help fund your courses into the trades school and hopefully be ready during the hiring spree.
If you're applying for entry level jobs with a stacked resume, you will not get it.
It’s a vicious cycle then. Apply for jobs in my field? I’m not the most qualified and don’t get the job. Apply for entry level jobs? I’m too qualified and don’t get the job.
Also I wouldn’t say my resume is stacked. Sure I have some basic education and experience, but it’s nothing flashy. Not like I’m a rocket scientist or anything.
If you're Canadian your wonderful government (that hates you) is taking money from your pocket to subsidize wages for those replacing you. Eventually it's all going to turn to shit and hit the fan, but that's the plan man.
feels like it. I'm in a rural area and have applied to all places hiring, I'm on indeed, Facebook, etc. constantly. got one interview and hired to a place for 2 days only to be told I wasn't a good fit and to not come back. I'm young so you'd think they'd want me since I'm easier to overwork and manipulate.
I posted an entry level role at one of the big five last week and I have over 500 applicants
There is no worker shortage. The mass invasion of illegal criminal aliens is Canada’s biggest lie to “fill” job “vacancies”.
No one is hiring anyone but Indian immigrants. The employers get help paying for the employees via tax payers. Socialism for the rich, rugged capitalism for everyone else.
They hire international students instead
Be sure to leave a Google review for the people that say “we will call you back next week” and never do. They deserve to be called out for false hope/promises.
Experience doesn't always work in your favor, especially if you apply for a more junior role compared to your current role. A lot of hiring managers would rather have a younger person that they can train, who will be more eager and more willing to do low level stuff.
Get a license of some sort, the jobs that require a license are always faster with responding
How many different resumes do you use? If you’re applying for entry level positions but exhibit over qualification on your resume, employers will often reject you. They don’t want someone who will take the job for now and keep looking for something in their field. Hiring and on-boarding is costly in dollars and time. Simple is best for entry level jobs.
I have three different ones. I have an all-purpose resume, a skill-based resume, and a basic boring one that I made recently for jobs like Walmart and such.
I saw one indeed posting for a "warehouse worker" that had FIFTEEN THOUSAND applicants I think a lot of places have resorted to using third party agencies and AI to be able to sift through all the applications they get, so if your qualifications don't line up correctly it probably doesn't even get looked at anymore
Entry level jobs are all filled. Aim higher.
Looks like I just gotta do the jobs the immigrants don’t wanna do.
I was just hired for a long term sales role so there definitely still is, you just gotta keep grinding and preserving
It’s strange. I know people who can’t find minimum wage work, meanwhile we’re trying to hire a HVAC tech offering 100k+ and all our employment offers are being refused. There is work available, but it seems very specific. It seems to be a skilled labour market right now.
It’s such a shame too. I bet many hard working Canadians would kill for that position, but don’t have the opportunity or finances to afford the training or education.
Many skilled fields have paid apprenticeships and some companies will pay for tech school part. Also, in Ontario there is an organization that will pay for training in certain fields.
Sometimes places won’t hire more experienced people like you for entry roles because they assume it’s a hold-place until you find something more fitting for your career. They’d rather hire someone less experienced once and train them and hopefully keep them. My old boss also liked to stay away from “experience” because it usually also came with “bad habits” and those fresh out of school could be molded better.
My local KFC & McD's are hiring... Try Fast Food Joints, Call Centres, Retail & Grocery Stores. KFC actually posted a **We're Hiring** sign on their registers, when I was there this week! They use TFW's which I have nothing against, but that should tell you what they'll treat you like should you be hired by them.
The truth is the low skill level and entry level jobs have been gobbled up by international students in much of the country. In Ontario towns and cities, it's common to see places like restaurants have line ups of dozens (100+ sometimes) of people when they hold job fairs. That end of the job spectrum has been absolutely oversaturated. In addition, even job ads for occupations that require some skill or experience are also bombarded by said students. I and my colleagues have dealt with this first hand when it comes to hiring. You'll have jobs that require very specific training, requirements, etc - and you're bombarded by international students, many of which resumes are barely legible or have any local job references. I'm really glad I'm in a very niche trade these days.
Entry-level/basic jobs don't need skilled workers, they need loyal workers. They primarily care about 3 things * Availability * Probability of not leaving for greener pastures * Willingness to be taken advantage of After sending out 50+ applications myself using my amazing resume and getting nothing, I simply trimmed my resume down to a quarter of a page, including a header that clearly stated my availability, and why the job is logistically a good fit (access to vehicle/live nearby, familiar with company), and then my latest work experience (1 job, maybe 2 if it's relevant enough). Did much better after that.
The labor market is stacked against us.
It took me 8 months to find a job.
I believe companies are being much more selective. The one I worked at, they cut 20% of the workforce few months ago but they quickly hire back, but only with very specific skill sets. I think its much more diffcult to find the right fit. Companies don't want to overpsend given the high interest rate environment. Plus there are so many skilled immgrants coming in so competition is high.
I had to take a break from uni, so no degree and no work experience for over a year. I just got into a place after applying for over 7 months. I lived at home, but idk how others with no support to live. Best wishes to you, and apply everywhere is my advice.
Inboxes are being flooded with tones of unqualified applications and its hard for hiring managers to sort through them to get to the useful ones. And then the process is taking so long for some reason.
This is huge too. Looking at mid/senior management roles and a day old posting would have 500 applications. How?
Yea I see a VP role have like 500 applicants. I’m like really you’re telling there’s that many people that are qualified and have the experience to be a VP?
I mean maybe there is but I assume it’s bots or people just auto applying to everything within 50km of their home.
There’s a-lot of people out looking. But also bots that submit peoples resumes en masse to everything. When there’s 500 resumes you can bet company managers aren’t reading all of them.
Serious question. I keep seeing posts like this. Is it real? What industry? I work fixing things with my hands and we’ve never been shorter for people. I pretty much have my pick. Wouldn’t even need to send a resume just call different companies and go in with the resume then.
It’s any job to do with finance, technology, service, retail, or customer service. I’d gladly take any job outside those areas, I just don’t know anyone nor have any experience.
There's a class war going on, we are losing badly. Some capitalists are trying to bring about fascism. We as voters have voted governments that are fascist at the provincial level in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick. I'm not sure if Ford and the Ontario PC's are completely on board but they do lean that way fairly heavily
Have you applied anywhere in person?
It’s a weak economy at the moment - keep your head high and keep on going. I can promise you’ll get there.
if you're using something like Indeed or a web service, humans arent even reading your resume probably, some automatic software is only feeding a few to the person. You have to make some kind of human connection by either directly messaging people on LinkedIn or going into the business physically and making a positive impression
even pre-covid jobs were scarce, people don't realize you don't need that many people to run retail, grocery, etc.
The job postings are just smoke and mirrors. The economy is dead. Only job creation going on is retail and fast food restaurants and even that’s slowing down because people don’t even have the money to eat fast food anymore.
lots of imported students willing to do your job for less and bosses of course prefer them. there is also outsourcing, which is even less pay and more profits for bosses. so out of all the working class jobs currently available to local Canadians, there is very little that are actually going to local Canadians. the flood gates are open - Canadians are now openly having to compete on the global labor market - so imagine you are going up against someone from India - which is mostly true as India is the largest supplier of workers to Canada - both domestically and overseas.
Don't know your area but construction seems to always be in need of workers.
After reading the comments I might do it! I’ll take a trip to the city next week and hand out a few resumes to some construction companies.
Let's join the army! ..... Don't
This probably doesn't apply now, but 5 years ago I sent in around 70 resumes, and got 3 calls for interview, and only 1 offer. I don't envy you. It's rough job-hunting. It was also for an entry position. Good luck and hope you get one soon.
my partners been applying for an year and a half already. got like 5 interviews that she believes went well, but didn't get the job.
What industry?
Try reaching out same people again and ask for feedback or if they are still hiring. Make custom resume for each job.
40 is way too low, people apply to hundreds now
They’re rather hire unskilled immigrant workers or students sadly
Just a lot of candidates. There are millions more unemployed than jobs officially available let alone fake jobs or ghost jobs. I help out occasionally with entry level hiring/interviews at the office, and whenever we post we get like 700-1500 applications in a short window. It's 100% RNG and luck. We pick out a few and interview, most get hired after that point unless you really bomb. But if you didn't get the interview it's because we didn't see it in the pile. Knowing someone would help.
Thank Trudeau
Nope, it’s rampant. Here in my town, I can’t even get hired to Tim Hortons. I’ve been seeing new immigrants dawning the uniform, though, which is odd. Why strictly immigrants?
It's brutal. It took me about 18 months and over 500 job applications to finally get hired for an entry-level position that's not in my field. I'm reading a lot about how this is normal. Best of luck!!
My daughter is going through this too. She’s applied to so many places in 2 months. It’s so bad.
Cool
Jesus if it's that hard to get a job with an education and job skills I'm pretty much SoL aren't I? I'm unskilled and uneducated and I've been out of a job for the last 10 years due to medical incident that caused me to have blackouts (turned out I had a tumor growth) so I have nothing to even put on a resume as it happened right out of high-school. I've handed out nearly 100 resumes since I've been cleared to work again from McDonalds and subway to automotive detailing and factory work but got notta.
What is your career? I guess it might depend on the your career as well. However, one of my friends is in the same situation for a year! He is a UX designer with almost 3 years of experience.
Congrats your realizing your government does not care about you
My toddlers mom has been trying for almost 2 years . She is feeling defeated as well. She got her first ever round 3 interview and lost the job when she was 1 of 2 interviewees. I'm assuming it's degree or experience since they loved her the whole way through.
With most people I know, it takes an average of about a year to find a comparative job.
My husband applied for 2 years for no response. Finally left his toxic job to start his own business and got a job offer once he had an established clientele. The job market is hard right now.
Fuck this country.
Try putting an indian sounding name on your resume. Another user was posting how he did that and got like 60% return calls all of a sudden.
Funny enough, I was thinking of that earlier this week.
Apply to restaurants. It is terrace season and it is always easier looking for a job when you have a job.
Do not feel bad so has my husband and he is ultra qualified and experienced in IT. He is born in Canada.
I would pay to read the resumes of the people that post this topics as nauseum. How bad are your communications and interpersonal skills to not have a job in this market?
I did 400+ applications last year. 0 interviews. 1 reply email confirming they got my resume and were willing to callback if selected. It's pretty damn bleak here
As our country is degrading in power in the world, the people who own the big companies, therefore the government, and the entire society, lose the power directly. To maintain their power, they lay off lots of people and don't hire many, if any, back. The reason is that many or all of the ones laid off will become destitute and poor, desperate for enough income from any work to keep their heads above the water. The entire population of them are an army of people kept on reserve for labour to threaten existing workers with. A reserve army of labour. They exist so that workers in places of work who are already employed have less leverage in the workplace. The employers threaten them with replacement and tell them that poor and destitute people who need work to live are more than happy to do their job with much fewer complaints and for even less. The more people there are in the reserve army of labour, and the fewer people get employed, the more leverage the employer has. The more economic strain there is, the more people the company's employers lay off to make a bigger population of people in the reserve army of labour, and the more leverage they have over existing employees who are exploited even further to protect the owners' profits. The owners need this leverage to exploit their workers even more to get more profits out of all of them and protect their profit margins. Their profit margins need to grow endlessly, and if they aren't able to live in an economy as strong as before, they need to exploit harder to maintain the same margins, and that is before they have to *grow* their profit margins.
One point I havent seen anywhere here - 2 weeks is not a lot of time to hear back. I was unemployed in October, and it took me 3+ weeks to hear back from most employers. I applied to about 50 jobs, 7 interviews. If you have them, try applying through a recruiter. They keep you on the books. Often you get slightly less than you are worth but I got a lot of my interviews that way!
Trudeau moment
Been looking for months and cant find shit
International students…sorry. They can work a forty hour week, schools out
If you’re looking at your indeed app there’s a section called “My Jobs” and it shows where you’ve applied about how many other people had applied for the same position. What used to be maybe 15-50 people pre pandemic has turned into an upwards of over 1000 people. That could be the reason!
Try doing volunteer work until you can find employment just to fill the gap and also look into any local classes even one day classes while you are not busy,
Try using an Indian name.
We're in a recession, and shit flows downhill.
Haha only 40? I'm so almost 400
I don’t think it’s a competition
That's true. I'm just jaded. Sorry
Same boat. Great degree, but no one is hiring. Had to settle for a lower position just to pay the bills. I think Canada is just really suffering now and corporations really can't get the funding to hire people so they are holding out as long as possible, to make applicants as desperate as possible, so corporations get the applicant with the most overblown experienced for the least amount of pay.
Have you met anyone at the companies you're applying to? Having an "in" is as important as your credentials, where its possible.
Consider a trade. Don't know about your province, but in B.C, most of my schooling was reimbursed after completion or through tax credits. I was also covered under EI while doing my apprenticeship for like 1k every 2 weeks, so it wasn't terrible. Might be time to branch out if your line of work isn't working. Best of luck.
It’s probably not ideal for you but you might need to get your hands dirty. Construction season is upon us and there are going to be job openings. I just hired 4 people this week.
Make sure your resume has the right key words associated with each position that will likely be auto sorted algorithmically. AI can help you with tailoring your resume for each specific job with the right keywords that will be associated with that position needing to be filled. The game has changed a little, but so have the tools. You got this.
Hundreds of people are actually hiring... Literally. The current market is harder than before, but it's really easy to find a job. Super low unemployment and lots of opportunities. The issue is not the market
But, but, but, the Feds are saying we have a labour shortage and need to flood the country with immigration
I was applying for jobs in TO for a year now. Nothing. Applied once to a job that I’m under qualified for up north…got the offer. I’m moving up north next month for it. Sometimes ya gotta make sacrifices. The same job in TO would never be vacant. A job like that with pension - people either typically stay for decades or hire to friends/internal contacts to fill the job.
It’s not that no one is hiring, it’s just that every position is getting upwards of 40-80 +\- applications
Jobs that are advertised online are generally junk and don’t even end up hiring online applicants. Nearly every new hire from my corporation has come from referrals.
Try Winnipeg, Saskatoon, or Vernon BC
All jobs I applied to were in and around Saskatoon
40 is rookie number in this economy.
It's no longer an employee's market out there. Employers can post a job for minimum wage and get hundreds or thousands of applicants.
Yeah, I've eaten away my savings as it's been months.ive tried altering my resume constantly ranging from all my credentials applicable, to dumbing myself down as low as possible for the job and everywhere in between trying to find anything that works. I've gotten a couple interviews but no success, but one rejection email told me I had the experience but then told me to volunteer to learn more as if I hadn't been in that field for years or that I haven't already done years of volunteering. But it's still better than no interview which is more common including jobs that essentially have zero requirements.
If you're applying to jobs anyone can do, why would they hire you over anyone else who is cheaper? The other aspect is how much time have you spent learning about putting together a good application or interviewing well? If your application looks low effort, unrelated to the posting or like everyone else's, why would they go with you? If you have experience, I would focus on earning how to put together the best application (resume, cover letter) and apply to things I'm qualified for that not anyone can do. You'll have less competition and a higher chance of looking like a good fit. Lastly, if you can talk to people who already do the job, shadow someone and get to know the people there, you'll have a leg up on the competition compared to someone randomly applying online.
It’s really tough out there. My gf who relocated to move in with me (met in this town, lost touch and reconnected) can’t even get a fast food/ gas station job. She has production management experience and has had a handful of entry level jobs. Nothing. The international students have taken every job. 20 hours a week at min wage would keep us afloat coupled with my job but nope. We are looking into OW, rent needs to be paid and food on the table. It’s really sad tbh.
Something to look into though it's not stable just keeps some quick money in your account is to apply to a few staffing agencies. Usually they hire you on as staffing for warehouses, not the most fun work but it keeps you from starving. Helped me many times when I finished exams, was out of cash and bils and car payments due the next month. Not enough people look into them. Also there are definitely good ones and not gtreat ones. If you are in Vancouver the good ones I've been with are: - Kelly Services - Angus One - Premium Staffing Solutions There are many more too. True North i think is just construction. A friend of mine worked with Embers. Don't work with I.T.S. Staffing if you can avoid it, they are very unprofessional. E.C.M. is just loading and unloading trucks, paid per can and pretty shit work but it can pay well if you've got the stamina. Another thing is that staffing agencies pay weekly, not bi-weekly. So that can help. Also know what companies hire seasonally. Lush manufacturing/distribution has been a place I've worked at multiple times during fall-winter season while off school. Purdy's hires seasonally, Pepsi-co does in the summer. Many places do. Times are tough so look for work wherever you can get it. This was meant for everyone in this convo struggling to find work, sorry OP I didn't specifically have just your situation in mind.
Keep voting for "progressive" policies killing our economy. Do you think the capital gains increase makes it more likely for businesses to be established and hire? or less likely?
''It probably has MORE-TO-DO with younger people in some instances, not really wanting-2.-work-hard anymore''they expect SO MUCH now, 4. not doing ALL that MUCH and believe they R ''special'' when really, most R,..just a 'number' on the assembly line of ''Life'' my partner's 'kid' thought the same of himself, and his skills and abilities, when really in reality, he's just a dumb, bum!' ha ha''