Research Trip June 2004 - Week Two

Saturday 12 June:  Back To Top

We went shopping at the Chinook centre today. We got there at about 1:00pm and realised that we were already running out of time for ringing the UK due to the 7 hour time difference. It made us realise that if you want to call the UK when you are in Canada you MUST make sure you do it in the morning. It's so easy to get distracted with the things of the day and then before you know it it's midnight in the UK ant too late to call.

We learnt a bit more about the shopping culture today.... in one shop there was a sale of Men's Polo shirts. You could buy one for $24.99 or three for $29.99 (yes 3).

Sunday 13 June:  Back To Top

Today was really a family day. We watched Lauren referee an U9 girls soccer game in the morning. There was not much for her to do. In the afternoon we went to garden centre a few miles south of Calgary called Saskatoon farm as Sue and Gary wanted to get some plants. While we were here there was a storm brewing north of us but we couldn't tell if it was over Calgary or not. When we got back we saw huge (by UK standards) hailstones on the ground so that was the answer. We heard on the news later that a tornado had touched about 50 miles further south.

We spend a lot of time today discussing what we were going to do in the next week. We'd planned to go to Olds (just south of Red Deer) for the next two nights to have a look around. We'd made contact with the Mayor and had chatted to her the last two years at the Emigration Show in Sandown. The reason for the hesitation in going was that while we had been in Calgary during our first week we had become more and more certain that this was the best place to make our home. Living in the city was the best of both sides for us. We still had to proximity to the great outdoors but also we had easy access to local amenities and more chances of getting jobs. So with this in mind we geared ourselves up to making contacts over the next couple of days.

Monday 14 June:  Back To Top

We started by job and contact searching on the internet. For a change of scenery we went to the local library. For a $2 donation we were allowed to use the internet for an hour (in fact the lady told us that the timers were not working at the moment). We were looking for IT management positions for Steve and for chef / manager roles for Karen.

In the afternoon we made some phone calls. Unfortunately most of the job's Steve had made a note of were being advertised by job agencies and so it was difficult for him to make 'proper' contacts with 'real' companies but despite this two interviews were arranged for the next day, both with agencies, one near the airport and the other downtown.

Karen had better luck in terms of quality of contact. She managed to get hold of the phone number for Compass Calgary (the same organisation that she works for in the UK). The switchboard was automated and there were three names that were appropriate. The first two were not available and the third was the vice president. He took the call and suggested that Karen email her resume to him, which she did that afternoon.

For both of us, making those phone calls was a nervous time but writing down what we wanted to say while on the phone and practicing it with each other (including how to react to various responses) helped us to prepare for making the calls. It was interesting for both of us though that it was very difficult to 'stick to the script' when we were actually on the phone. It's not in our nature to be pushy but this is exactly what we have to do if we are going to be successful in the job-hunting arena. We cannot sit back and expect a job to arrive. We have both said that until we get a job, finding a job will be our 9-5 job.

In the evening we went off in the car to find where Steve's interviews were the next day so that it would be easier for him to find them on his own in busier traffic and ensure he would be on-time.

Tuesday 15 June:  Back To Top

Steve went for his first interview at Tek Systems this morning. While on the way he actually drove past another company that was advertising for an IT manager. As he was early for the interview he tried to get in to see someone or at least drop his resume off but the receptionist would not allow this. The only way to apply was to send your resume over the internet. Despite trying to explain that he didn't want to apply and wasn't in a position to accept the job even if he was offered it Steve met a blank wall here.

While Steve was at his interview in the morning Karen had realised that there was a large catering unit at Mount Royal College. This is run by Sodexho (competitors of Compass). Contact was made with the manager of this unit who suggested that Karen call a lady who immigrated from the UK some 20 years ago and may be able to help. Contact was made and an interview was arranged for the following day.

Steve's afternoon interview was much more informative than the morning one. It took about 2 hours and a large amount of that was discussing ways to get past automatic switchboards or receptionists that won't budge to ensure you get a name or an email address so you can be in touch with the right person. Also we discussed interview techniques and how they often differ from the UK as well as the way the job market works within IT in Canada. That evening Steve reviewed the notes he had made during his interview and rewrote them neatly. They totalled 3 written pages.

One thing we were keen to do was to make a lasting impression with everyone that we met as we wanted to turning these contacts into job offers in two years time. With this in mind we made a point of sending an email to the contact after the meeting to thank them for taking time out of their busy schedule to talk to us.  

At the end of today we were at two different places. Steve was pleased with the progress he had made despite not making contacts with 'Real' companies, but Karen was disappointed to not have had any feed back from Compass. The fact that an interview had been arranged with Sodexho made this a little better but it still gave us a glimpse of the highs and lows that we will experience when we are landed immigrants and our future success or failure, our whole way of life rests on our ability to get jobs.

Wednesday 16 June:  Back To Top

The day started with another trip into downtown Calgary, this time to meet with Karen's contact Elizabeth who works for Sodexho but is herself an immigrant from the UK.

She gave Karen some useful contacts with regards to having her Catering qualifications converted to Red Seal which is the Canadian recognised system for foreign qualifications, she also explained a little about studying in Canada and how much it costs. To go to college and study for a degree Elizabeth said over the four years that she attended the college it cost around $30,000!!! Big money considering at the moment Karen is studying for a HNC (3/4 of the way to a degree) for £500 – non starter really, getting the studying done over in England is considerably cheaper.

The meeting ended on a good note on the agreement that Karen and Elizabeth would keep in touch. Karen also gave Elizabeth a copy of her current resume and Elizabeth promised to send it on to the HR manager for filing and to keep it in mind for when we arrive. So a contact was made and Karen was pleased and felt good about that!

When we returned home that afternoon there was a message on the answer machine from Judy from Compass Canada! Karen was thrilled as Judy had received her resume from the Vice President and wanted to arrange a meeting! Well Karen had a big grin her face as she works for Compass UK and to get to meet someone high up with Compass Canada was a great achievement and we knew that Karen would be able to sell herself. They met at Starbucks on Macleod at 7pm and chatted for over an hour about everything Karen does back in the UK and Karen asked many questions about the way things worked in Compass Canada.

Judy was very impressed as the comment made was “Wow I have not been interviewed in a long time this is neat!” They got on really well and she said that if Karen was living here now she would have had her working the next day. The good thing about meeting up with the same company is that all of the certificates and recognition that Karen has gained in the UK is recognised with the same company in Canada, so basically it is transferable.

We will be keeping in touch via e-mail and Karen will be forwarding onto her all her certificates gained via the company. Karen also suggested to go and work for her next time we are over over on holiday (basically for free) as then she can see just how good a worker Karen is and that she will be be a good employee.

Karen said "The holiday has ended on a high for me as that is the contact I wanted to make and in my eyes is priceless!!!!!". Enough said really !

Thursday 17 June:  Back To Top

Well today was our last full day and we decided it was to be a lazy day as we had run round the last three days. We decided to go off and do some (more) last minute shopping, put our left over dollars in our savings account and basically just enjoy our last day in Calgary.

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