by Marie Gervais, PhD., CEO Shift Management Inc., ERIEC Supporter and Guest Blogger
Barrie has always been a believer in finding out who you know to get connected to the job you want in the country where you want to work. He shows how you can leverage family and friends to get to job opportunities you might not otherwise have found. His strong networking skills helped him quickly gain the trust and confidence of his customers, who then provided further opportunities for his career development without ever applying for a job application! Find out Barrie’s secret and see how you can make it work for you.
Many newcomers get their first job through connections. For Barrie Latter, a family connection in Canada was able to find him a job opportunity before he planned to immigrate. He is a firm believer in using your connections to get to find a job higher up in the professional categories of your desired industry. Here is his story and his strategies for success.
Barrie has been in Canada for six years, originally from the UK. He currently works as a business development manager at Jen-Col Construction, but this is his third position since arriving in Canada. Now doing mostly sales, business development and marketing, Barrie first came into the country using experience and education in three different fields: construction, insurance and risk management.
In reflecting on all his past job opportunities, Barrie surmised that he has actually not applied for work through job boards at all, but always started his search through putting out the word to his “natural” connections in family, friends and colleagues. His reasoning is that for a professional, coming in to the hiring process on the top of the hiring funnel through a connection will always more effective than trying to work your way up from the bottom with an online job posting.
Make sure you have the necessary qualifications, and some experience in the industry before applying for a job. Barrie suggests going to NAIT (Northern Institute of Technology) and SAIT(Southern Institute of Technology) in Alberta – there are similar technical colleges in every province – because they have some great courses that help many people get into the industry at a higher level in a short period of time. Some programs are diplomas or sets of professional qualifications that bridge your past experience to jobs in Canada in the industry.
Here are some examples of jobs you can look for in construction:
Read the full article here: https://shiftworkplace.com/using-natural-connections-to-get-into-career-barrys-story/