You Need to Have A Focused Job Search Strategy

As an established finance and accounting manager from India, Hemamalini has over eight years of experience in manufacturing, retail, banking, financial services, and construction.

She has completed CPA & CGA in Canada, holds ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) from the UK, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Madras, India.

Received ‘National level award’ for securing distinction in the Indian Institute of Banking & Finance exam.

Hemamalini completed the SOPA Job Search Strategies course and an Employment counselling program. She always submitted the course assignments complete and on time, put her maximum effort into every assignment, asked questions and participated in course discussions.

After settling in Canada, Hemamalini was happy to volunteer as a SOPA representative with our SOPA Linkedin Group. She started posting a variety of useful information to her fellow newcomers. Out of her love of giving back, she has been constantly sharing tips and experiences to encourage networking amongst newcomers. We wish her all the best in all her endeavours. Please read on Hemamalini’s story as she shares her experience with the SOPA program.

“I am Hemamalini, a skilled immigrant from India, I arrived in this beautiful city of Vancouver with my husband and four-year-old child, in July 2020. While immigration by itself is challenging, COVID added woes to our travel plan and job search.

Despite all the uncertainties, my employment journey in Vancouver was surprisingly very fast and I landed a full-time role within one month of landing. The best part is, that I found an accounting role which I was targeting in the same field that I was working in my home country.

I will always owe my early success in this competitive job market, to SOPA and the excellent team! I came to know about SOPA quite late in my immigration journey, during March 2020, a month before my scheduled travel. Prior to taking SOPA’s courses, I used to apply for jobs without a focused strategy and my efforts were scattered in referring to various websites.

SOPA’s helped me understand the importance of targeted cover letter & resume, LinkedIn brand building and networking to find a job in Canada. My first employment counselling session and the impromptu mock interview helped me identify the specific gaps where I had to improve. My employment counsellor even helped me with an unplanned mock interview, right before my actual interview. Unfortunately, I didn’t get that job due to the uncertainty of my arrival date. From there on, the interactive sessions and assignments prepared me for getting those interviews and handling them effectively. The detailed feedback along with additional information and resources helped in finetuning my resume and interview handling skills.

I ritually followed the strategies suggested in the course and expanded my LinkedIn network using the Premium services. I attended various online workshops to improve my soft skills.

My sincere suggestion for prospective immigrants is to start the SOPA courses right after submitting the visa application since it will give a focus and prepare you well in advance for the job search. I would suggest working extensively on the resume and cover letter and having multiple rounds of mock interviews with the employment counsellor and peers which will improve the confidence to handle interviews. Finally, I would suggest utilizing SOPA’s resources and following the team’s guidance, since this is a team which genuinely wants you to succeed!”

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 http://www.arriveprepared.ca