How I Aced My First Canadian Interview

I am Adeshola Afolabi, a Permanent Resident who recently relocated from Lagos, Nigeria to Toronto, Ontario. I learned about SOPA when I got my passport request letter email from IRCC in December 2020 from the pre-arrival services section.

I signed up for the courses on the SOPA platform and the Job Search Strategy course was my favourite. Prior to taking the course, I did not know about tailoring my resume for specific roles and the impact it has when your resume is fed to an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). In addition, I had a one-on-one resume review session with Mar Smaili, who guided me on writing my resume in Canadian style. What struck me the most was that Mar was not about ticking the boxes, he was genuinely interested in seeing me achieve my end result: landing a new remote role as a Machine Learning Engineer when I get to Canada.

I got a positive reply from the employer, and I landed a new role in my first attempt (while still in Nigeria). All thanks to Mar and the SOPA team. This is one of the most exciting moments in my career, and I am really appreciative of a platform like SOPA.

After the resume session, I was fortunate to be shortlisted for interviews (even while still in Nigeria). Mar took out the time to conduct mock interview sessions with me, and he gave me feedback on how to address questions, especially soft-skills-related questions. This solidified my preparations and ultimately gave me the much-needed confidence boost to ace my first Canadian interview. I got a positive reply from the employer, and I landed a new role in my FIRST attempt (while still in Nigeria). All thanks to Mar and the SOPA team. This is one of the most exciting moments in my career, and I am really appreciative of a platform like SOPA.

“Working with Adeshola was an immense pleasure. His stellar soft skills and commitment to SOPA services convinced me that he won’t struggle to find a good job in Canada in a brief amount of time. In fact, he exceeded expectations by securing a great job in his field before even landing in the country.

Throughout Adeshola’s SOPA Journey, he never ceased to demonstrate stellar work ethics, professionalism, determination, and a sheer desire to understand how things work in the Canadian labour market. He never missed a session and was always engaged during our employment counselling sessions by asking questions and requesting feedback.” Marouane Smaili, SOPA Ontario Employment Counsellor.

I encourage newcomers to take the courses seriously, open up when having one-on-one sessions and above all, have an open mind. I know that not everyone will be lucky like me to land a role in their first attempt, but the process will definitely get you there. I wish everyone the best of luck in Canada.

Adeshola Afolabi, SOPA Ontario Client

Are you approved to immigrate to Canada? Join SOPA today! You’ll arrive in Canada better prepared, more confident and enter the workforce sooner.

Settlement Online Pre-Arrival (SOPA) is an Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) funded program that delivers free pre-arrival services for job readiness, success and retention. Explore the free, pre-arrival resources, services and courses we offer at ArrivePrepared.ca.