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Old 07-18-2018, 07:27 PM   #61
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Yeah, I'm fighting depression right now too. Technically my unemployment status ended in January but that didn't even last a couple months so it feels like 2 1/2 years.

I figured with my last job I would be spending alot of my time on the computer but I ended up spending 90-95% on my feet. With my disability it wore away at me and I tried to fight through it but once my supervisor started getting on my ass constantly about not doing things as quick as him I decided it would be best if I gave my notice.

I try and stay positive but it's hard sometimes especially now having to use my emergency fund to pay bills/loans. What sucks too is having a recruiter or a producer at a studio add me on LinkedIn making me think something might happen and then nothing does. I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake leaving BC to come back home and make it even harder to find a job in my field but I didn't want to risk having to leave completely broke.
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Old 07-20-2018, 09:26 AM   #62
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Yeah, I'm fighting depression right now too. Technically my unemployment status ended in January but that didn't even last a couple months so it feels like 2 1/2 years.

I figured with my last job I would be spending alot of my time on the computer but I ended up spending 90-95% on my feet. With my disability it wore away at me and I tried to fight through it but once my supervisor started getting on my ass constantly about not doing things as quick as him I decided it would be best if I gave my notice.

I try and stay positive but it's hard sometimes especially now having to use my emergency fund to pay bills/loans. What sucks too is having a recruiter or a producer at a studio add me on LinkedIn making me think something might happen and then nothing does. I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake leaving BC to come back home and make it even harder to find a job in my field but I didn't want to risk having to leave completely broke.
I just wanted to add that if anyone adds you on LinkedIn it is fair game to reach out to them. Just send them an IM asking them almost anything. How they found you, what they are looking for, how the job market is right now.

Anything to get a conversation started.
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:10 AM   #63
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Hey all,

my company just sent out a bulletin and they are hiring here in Calgary and we are looking for some tech savvy people . If I am not allowed to post these I do apologize but feel free to PM me for more details. We are looking for the following through Canada; Also keep in mind this is for an Audio Visual Company so anyone with BIAMP, CRESTRON, LUTRON, EXTRON, CTS credentials are very encouraged to apply.

Edmonton Service Technician open
Ottawa Project Coordinator open
Montreal On-Site support open
Calgary On-Site support open
Calgary/Toronto Buyer open
Toronto Installation Tech open
Toronto Project Engineer open
Toronto On-Site support open
Toronto Account Manager Open
Toronto General Manager open
Calgary Installation Tech open
Ottawa/Halifax Customer Experience Team Open
Vancouver/Calgary Technical Support Representative Open
Corporate (Calgary) Tier 2 IT Helpdesk Tech Open
Ottawa Service Technician open
Edmonton Lead Installation Tech (II) open
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:17 AM   #64
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Yeah, I'm fighting depression right now too. Technically my unemployment status ended in January but that didn't even last a couple months so it feels like 2 1/2 years.

I figured with my last job I would be spending alot of my time on the computer but I ended up spending 90-95% on my feet. With my disability it wore away at me and I tried to fight through it but once my supervisor started getting on my ass constantly about not doing things as quick as him I decided it would be best if I gave my notice.

I try and stay positive but it's hard sometimes especially now having to use my emergency fund to pay bills/loans. What sucks too is having a recruiter or a producer at a studio add me on LinkedIn making me think something might happen and then nothing does. I sometimes wonder if I made a mistake leaving BC to come back home and make it even harder to find a job in my field but I didn't want to risk having to leave completely broke.

I want to echo the post above, they added you for a reason, even if its for future possibilities, something n your profile resonated. Reach out to that person and start building some kind of relationship, tell him that your interested in what they do, offer to buy him lunch or coffee for his or her time and show up with some great questions/discussion points if you get that far. Stand out. Don't just accept a friends request with no strings attached, that's kind of like a girl throwing a phone number in your lap on the way out of the bar and you not calling her.
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:24 AM   #65
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I stand by my advice. When education or experience is level, people will hire interesting people who have done interesting things or people who have the same interests as them.

If your personal experiences tab includes things that either relate to your field or sell the type of person that you are, I think its ok to put it in.


If it shows your sense of community, charity, your ability to work well with others, your leadership or organizational abilities its a great thing to show.


So for example, two things that I put in my resume are the building of CFLHorsemen,. Working with kids as a sports coach. Those things resonate, and they show skills that might not be apparent in a professional resume but might be a good ad on to an organization.


However putting in that you saw the worlds largest ball of yarn . . . maybe leave that out.
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Old 07-20-2018, 11:14 AM   #66
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We're hiring a Marketing Manager; will be purely RFP / proposal coordination oriented, with some creative writing requirements. Experience in design / construction / engineering preferred. PM me for details if interested.
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Old 07-20-2018, 12:02 PM   #67
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I just wanted to add that if anyone adds you on LinkedIn it is fair game to reach out to them. Just send them an IM asking them almost anything. How they found you, what they are looking for, how the job market is right now.

Anything to get a conversation started.
I did try that once with a recruiter from a AAA game studio and was completely ignored. I guess that discouraged me from doing it since so I just keep posting work when I finish and hope it catches someone's eye and it leads to an interview.
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Old 07-20-2018, 12:23 PM   #68
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I got downsized last year. Fortunately for me I found something amazingly quick. (applied 3 hours after getting let go, and had first day 15 days after let go) But we were given access to career services folks as part of our severance, and something the lady told me about resumes I thought was interesting and hadn't personally integrated:

Don't talk about what your responsibilities were, but what your accomplishments were. I always treated the resume job descriptions as a shortened version of the positions job description. So it was pretty bland in that it just talked about duties and responsibilities and not how I helped the companies I was with.

One of them also told me not to have my linkedin status be "experienced professional looking for work" or something as that often turns people off I guess.

Just a couple of things that I thought of while reading.
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Old 07-21-2018, 07:47 AM   #69
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As a hiring manager myself, a few pieces:

1. Submit a cover letter with your resume. I don’t put a ton of stock into what the letter says but I automatically throw out any who don’t. If you can’t take the time to write one, that shows a lot more. Also the same thing with LinkedIn auto apps. Take the time and submit one properly.

2. Read what the job is and don’t try and over extend your qualifications. Examples: I’m looking for an Indigenous Relations Specialist and your only direct qualification is a mandatory course you took in high school or university.

3. I read through every single application I receive (I’m always worried I could have missed the perfect candidate). As a result, I get frustrated when people over communicate. Let the standard process work occur. Don’t submit multiple phone calls, Linked In messages, etc.

4. If you are applying to a big company, don’t assume that the hiring Manager will know a specific reference within the company. Understand the structure and do your research.

5. Biggest pet peeve: Don’t try and bypass the interview process with requests for something that doesn’t sound like an interview but really is. My last posting had about 300 applications and I received about 35 “Information Interview” requests. This just turns me away from people who are trying to bypass the process.

The only Information Interviews requests that I think are clever and interesting are those coming from current university students or high school students. The fact that you are asking the questions early in the process shows something for me.

6. Lose the photo attached to the resume unless it is specifically required. In my opinion it does more harm than good and anyone who bases their decision on it likely isn’t someone you want to work for.
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Old 07-21-2018, 09:52 AM   #70
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5. Biggest pet peeve: Don’t try and bypass the interview process with requests for something that doesn’t sound like an interview but really is. My last posting had about 300 applications and I received about 35 “Information Interview” requests. This just turns me away from people who are trying to bypass the process.

The only Information Interviews requests that I think are clever and interesting are those coming from current university students or high school students. The fact that you are asking the questions early in the process shows something for me.
As someone that casually checks listings (I've been in my role for 5 years now and have hit the ceiling) I sometimes come across positions that may be interesting but with a company I'm not familiar with, or I'm uncertain of the corporate culture, room to progress etc.

If the hiring company is a holding company or a parent company (ie: position is with Cara Foods, but I don't know if the work would be internal, with Montana's or Swiss Chalet etc) how do I find out more?

I would genuinely want to know and if I don't think it's the right fit for me I wouldn't apply. I don't want to waste my time, or the hiring manager/team.

I haven't ever asked for an information interview, but there must be a way aside from Google to get more information.
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Old 07-21-2018, 02:19 PM   #71
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you in hiring, most job postings request your application to be submitted online. If a candidate shows up in person and drops off his application, is there any stock, positive or negative, in doing this? I could see it being taken either way, some people may take it negatively as the candidate is failing to follow the directions of the job posting, while others take it positively in that they are showing a little more initiative in actually going to the effort to hand deliver their application.
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Old 07-21-2018, 03:18 PM   #72
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As someone that casually checks listings (I've been in my role for 5 years now and have hit the ceiling) I sometimes come across positions that may be interesting but with a company I'm not familiar with, or I'm uncertain of the corporate culture, room to progress etc.

If the hiring company is a holding company or a parent company (ie: position is with Cara Foods, but I don't know if the work would be internal, with Montana's or Swiss Chalet etc) how do I find out more?

I would genuinely want to know and if I don't think it's the right fit for me I wouldn't apply. I don't want to waste my time, or the hiring manager/team.

I haven't ever asked for an information interview, but there must be a way aside from Google to get more information.
I think this is fine, but explicitly state your questions or concerns. I’ve never had an issue with this, but candidates should state their questions upfront, etc. The point I was getting at was that people try and bypass not getting an interview by calling it something in disguise. This happens quite a bit
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Old 07-21-2018, 08:41 PM   #73
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you in hiring, most job postings request your application to be submitted online. If a candidate shows up in person and drops off his application, is there any stock, positive or negative, in doing this? I could see it being taken either way, some people may take it negatively as the candidate is failing to follow the directions of the job posting, while others take it positively in that they are showing a little more initiative in actually going to the effort to hand deliver their application.
I'm also interested in knowing the answer to this question.
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Old 07-21-2018, 09:50 PM   #74
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I don't do this anymore, but my thoughts would be:
-If someone dropped off a resume instead of submitting online, then I need to scan it if I have to share with others making the decision or if it needs to be uploaded. It's not a big thing, but it's one of those little PITA issues.
-I would be concerned that perhaps the person doesn't have the best computer skills.
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Old 07-22-2018, 04:53 PM   #75
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This was over 10 years ago (i.e. before the days of standardized online applications), but what I did was submit my cover letter and resume via email (pdf), and then followed up with a hardcopy printed on premium weight letter paper in a 9x12" envelope (so it wouldn't be folded). Not sure if it made a difference (as I believe one of the interviewers I met with just had the pdf version printed out) but I wanted to do whatever I could to make my application physically "stand out" from the others.


I should also add, sending both a soft and hard copy version of documents/correspondence is not uncommon in my industry so that is why I thought to try it...
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Old 07-22-2018, 08:08 PM   #76
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Good luck everyone! I have been laid off twice in two different countries and both times things eventually worked out for the best. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

The first time I was unemployed for over a year and it took leaving the country, some obscure connections, and pure luck to eventually find something. The 2nd time was much easier and within 2 months of starting my job search I ended up with 3 offers to choose from.

It was a struggle at times though and it can be hard to have self worth when you are without a job. One example was during Stampede after I lost my job. I felt massive FOMO no longer going to the corporate events or having the money to enjoy the event on my own. There was also another time I went out for lunch unshaven and in sweats and ended up running into my former coworkers. I felt so embarrassed and worthless and couldn't get out of their fast enough.

I found having a good routine and a positive attitude helped though. I knew spending all day everyday looking for work would drive me crazy so instead I devoted Mondays to a dedicated work search and spent the rest of the week exercising, playing video games, and chasing down food trucks.

As far as the actual job search went I tried to come at it from all different directions applying directly, through recruiters, and through networking all of which have worked for me in the past. I also found the resume is your most important tool and most of your application time should be spent perfecting this. My areas of focus were on ensuring my most important skills and qualifications where easily found on the first page and having no spelling and grammar mistakes. I would also customize my resume for each job, using wording from the job description to describe my skills.

As far as cover letters go, I feel they are kind of redundant in an age of online applications, however if you are given the option to submit a cover letter you might as well do it. They are so simple to write and may help set your application apart. Also, if applying by e-mail I treat the e-mail as the cover letter with the resume as an attachment.

Finally I have to chuckle at the debate around dropping your resume off in person. I've have had similar discussions with my parents where their job advise was to print out a stack of resumes and hit the streets. This may have been a good idea 30 years ago but these days with all applications done electronically it is a poor use of your time.
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Old 07-23-2018, 04:05 PM   #77
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If anyone is looking for full stack software developer or software QA roles, my employer is looking to fill 20-25 new positions over the next couple months.

We're holding a recruiting event this Thursday July 26 for perspective devs
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soliums...ts-48143992979

I will stress these are primarily full stack developer positions, there's a few mentions of business analyst and project manager roles, but Thursday's event will be strongly geared towards developers.

Feel free to ping me with any specific questions you may have.
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Old 08-02-2018, 07:55 PM   #78
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Overhauled my cover letter and touched up a few weak spots on the resume. Although it's only been 10 days since the first of the new batch went out, I have already received more responses than I have in months, and even have an interview scheduled on Tuesday. So thank you again to everyone contributing to this thread and being open with advice!

QUESTION: What are some smart or useful questions to ask employers in an interview? If you were interviewing candidates for a job, what would you want to hear them ask of you when it came that time in the process?
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Old 08-03-2018, 10:04 AM   #79
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Overhauled my cover letter and touched up a few weak spots on the resume. Although it's only been 10 days since the first of the new batch went out, I have already received more responses than I have in months, and even have an interview scheduled on Tuesday. So thank you again to everyone contributing to this thread and being open with advice!

QUESTION: What are some smart or useful questions to ask employers in an interview? If you were interviewing candidates for a job, what would you want to hear them ask of you when it came that time in the process?
I have heard that it is good to ask questions that make the employer picturing you as an employee. Things like:
What is the team like that I would be working with?
When I start, what are the first things you want me to take care of?
Are there any specific projects coming up that I will have the opportunity to be a part of?
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Old 08-03-2018, 10:11 AM   #80
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We have an opening for an entry level field position. We typically hire High School grads who stay for a few years and go to school to advance if they like the work.

Just interviewed a candidate looking for his first job out of high school. He was nervous and pulled out his phone in the middle of the interview to review some notes that his Mom sent him and then asked a few more questions about the job. After two or three questions he asked the interviewer where he bought his candles and if he was interested in looking at the candles that his Mom sells. At the end of the interview he asked if he could have a business card so that his mom could follow up about candle sales.

It was the most shocking thing I have ever heard from an interview candidate before and I have interviewed a decent amount of people.
My advice would be not to try to sell MLM crap in an interview. Unless that actually is his job and he tricked us into listening to a sales pitch. In which case, I think he may have found an untapped market and he helps out all the other candidates by making them look better.
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