₦airaland Forum

babiechic:
Hello House,

WES just released my MSC Evaluation as 1 year of graduate study.

My concern is the remark states- The credentials not comparable to a completed canadian education credential.

Would you advice i evaluate my bachelors as i submitted credentials only for the MSC or i can use this and if yes, under which category does it fall. Thank you for the anticipated assistance.

Uzoreen:
@mcstan18. Whats your CRS atm? I really hope you get invited soon.

Treasure1611:
@mcstan18 Thank you so much
All i have is a statement of result for the pre-degree programme showing a breakdown of my scores during the one year programme , i dont think there's a transcript for that.
Can i fax that, or i need more.....

bababode825:
Hello All,

Please I have a quick question.

My final CRS score is 442.

Is this enough for me to enter the pool or I need to go via PNP?

Thanks

Treasure1611:
@mcstan18,

Pls which ECA did your friend use for tge evaluation. I would like some insight. Am in same shoes.

Thanks

Inputs from someone about a conference held in Markham, Ontario.

It was a free conference for newcomers to Canada who were struggling to find work, giving them an opportunity to express their concerns, ask questions and networking with CEOs and other Canadian professionals.

I got to see first hand the complaints of skilled immigrants who do not get jobs in Canada, and this is what I found.

#1 Misunderstanding what Canadian Experience means, and no one explaining what it really is: Almost everyone was talking about Canadian experience. They even had a panel discussion about it.

One woman from Nigeria came up to the mic and was angry at the Canadian system. You could hear it in her voice - “How can I get Canadian Experience if I don’t have a job? I have been looking for a job for 8 YEARS!”

After her rant about Canadian experience which went on for 10 minutes, I asked random people “Would you hire that person?” They all replied “No way in hell!”

A lot of people think that Canadian experience is about working in Canada. It is not! This is my personal definition of Canadian experience: A hiring manager’s perception of your soft skills and knowledge of Canadian work culture.

Here is the strange part. A lot of people were saying they were getting calls for interviews, but it never converted to a job. Think about it, if you got called for a job interview, the hiring manager already knows you have not worked in Canada from your resume. Why would he or she call you for the interview if it was a problem?

What most likely happened was that during the interview, you failed to demonstrate the soft skills that the job needs. Either your communication skills were bad, or you downplayed your accomplishments when asked to talk about your experience. Once a recruiter told me that some people she interviews don’t even make eye contact when they speak.

At this stage in the interview, either Canadians are too polite, or they fear a discriminatory law suit, so they just tell “You don't have Canadian experience” or “You are over qualified”, when what they really mean is “Your English is poor” or “My team will have a hard time understanding your accent” or “Based on your stories it doesn't sound like you accomplished a lot”.

I was on a panel discussion myself talking about my experience as a newcomer. A gentleman at the back of the room told me that whenever he goes into an interview, he is always told that he is “overqualified”. I gave him advice on how to tackle an “overqualified” problem, but when he spoke to me I knew straight away what his problem was, but I was too embarrassed to tell him in front of the whole room.

Unfortunately, he did not privately speak to me after the talk, else I would have told him “Canadian recruiters are telling you you’re overqualified because they are hesitant to tell you the real reason - it’s your English”. His English was so bad, I wonder how he ever managed to pass his IELTS.

I’m not saying this is the fault of the candidate. This behavior stems not only from your experience but from the culture of the country you came from. Maybe English is not your first language, maybe in your culture you’re not allowed to talk highly of yourself and give all the glory to your bosses. Maybe it’s in your culture to remain silent and not make eye contact out of respect. The bottom line is, you need to understand how Canadians think and what hiring managers and recruiters' expectations are to get past the Canadian experience problem.

Unless you do the research, or ask the right people who aren't afraid to give you an honest answer, and most importantly upgrade your English language skills, skilled immigrants will continue to complain about not getting jobs.

#2 Not taking an active approach to your job search: This is how I personally had success in Canada, securing three job offers in two weeks.

If you just machine gun your generic resume to online jobs and rely on technology to do the rest, you will be job searching for a long time. Machines don't hire you. Humans do. So you have to demonstrate to the hiring manager that you are willing to work hard and think outside the box. This is why I customize my resume and personalize my cover letter for every job application, and created my own personal website (www.connelvalentineresume.com) to stand out. I used the same tactics when I applied for a mangers job within my company and I got the job again, so I'm confident it works.

As long as you're aware of the process, the expectations of the hiring manager and skills in resume and cover letter writing you can increase the chances of landing that job 10 fold.

#3 Not using publicly available services: If it's free it's probably not worth it right? Not in Canada! If you want to see the Canadian tax dollars at work, make use of the public services that are available to you. New immigrants do not use these services either because they are too proud or they do not feel it's worth it.

From this conference that I attended, where these companies that host these services were present, you will see the quality in what they provide. They may not get you the perfect job, but will fit you into a well established company and then it's up to you to work your way up.

My cousin used Costi when she was trying to get back into finance and they placed her with a logistics company doing account receivables where she is now a full time employee after proving her worth and working hard. I have personally hired and trust candidates from Npower Canada.

This conference that I attended, Gateway 2017, hosted by the York Region is an example of what Canada is prepared to do for it’s new immigrants - for FREE! It was held at Hilton hotel, hosted by a Canadian TV host, attended by the mayor of Markham and CEOs of companies in the York region.

Canada takes it’s free services very seriously.

#4 Not Canadianizing your resume: Someone at the conference mentioned that their resume was 6 pages long! People think they can throw all their experiences up on a word document and mail blast it to every Canadian job board.

It's guaranteed failure.

People should seek professional help and to take it a step further, they should learn the methodology of Canadianizing your resume to suit the managers needs. A big part of this is knowing how to market your job experience in a way that pleases a Canadian hiring manager and recruiter. One of my favorite tools for doing a quality check on the resume is jobscan. This tool allows you to compare your uploaded resume to the copy pasted job description side by side and score it for compliance.

#5 Not using bridging services: During one of the breaks at the conference I walked up to table where three strangers were sat. I introduced myself and they turned out to be a nurse, a physician and a dentist. To my relief, they were all already enrolled in a bridging program at York Univeristy, one of the most popular hosts of bridging programs.

But in most cases, I find that a lot of people don't utilize these services. I hear them say “I have over twenty years of experience, why should I go back to learning something I have been doing?”. Look, I understand it's not easy to feel like you're going back to paying your dues in your career, but you are getting a fresh start in a new country. It takes courage to leave your family and friends behind to move to a new country in hopes of a better life.

Well guess what - it takes courage to choose to take a step back in your career too.

When I applied for a job, I applied for a position that was two levels below the job I had in Dubai. But because I took an active approach to it, that job application revealed a hidden job that was one level higher and unadvertised, that the recruiter thought I was better suited for. Two years later, after working my ass off on that job even though it was a lower position from before, and using the smarts and the experience and the work ethics I developed from my 12 year career prior to landing in Canada, I got a promotion back to my manager position.

If you have the humility to learn and the courage to temporarily refresh your career and the vision to get back the career you left behind, you will eventually start to see the hopes become reality. An expert I follow say that it may take anywhere from 6–12 years in average for a Canadian newcomer to get back the quality of life you left behind. I'm on year 3.

Don't let pride delay the process.

To sum up, Canada welcomes diversity in the workplace. That was what the Gateway 2017 conference was all about. What they did not mention, and this is my personal insight, is that one place where diversity is not accepted is the norms of business conduct. Your diversity will be accepted from your fresh ideas, creative innovation and dynamic insights.

But when you communicate, when you lead teams, when you make presentations, when you attend meetings, when you make a sales pitch, when you care for patients, when you ask for a raise, when you work with your boss and every other aspect of business conduct you can think of, it's done one way - the Canadian way.

hiscules:
oh OK. @ mcstan18 , newmum0615 nusetron your insights are acknowledged. I personally think since it may take another 5 to 10 days to get reviewed and confirmed, one may opt to pay

hiscules:
Does it make sense to pay RPRF fees before they request?? Has anyone done this and does it have any pro or con on an application? Or is it safe for them to just request first?

Newmum0615, glitteringstar , Canadianfly Mcstan18 et all

Newmum0615:
For a professional certification.

enesty:
Good day all, I say kudos to these thraed. Please i have some questions
I studied biological science but working in a pharmaceutical company, in finding my noc what song readchoose, a biologist or pharmaceutical sales representative
2-i just want to start processing my Canadian immigration o this forum, but the thread is very long, I would appreciate if any one can help put me through, help shorten the process, and guide me through
ThNkks

GlitteringStar:
Visa/COPR Received!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY

profeddor15:
Please, how do i get my reference number from wes?. Kindly guide me how to get it cos it give me some worriness of heart each time i'm on wes site. Thanks

sherilycious:
I graduated since 2011 but i have just my statement of result. Please can i submit only my photocopy statement of result to wes for evaluation. Will they accept that??

lovetree:
@mcstan.....thank you for this story....
I'll try the process of evaluating it with my B.Sc and keep the house posted

Please does anyone know how to go about evaluating this again with my B.Sc as I've already evaluated my B.Sc alone with WES or should I go with IQAS instead or do it afresh again.

Thanks guys

Austinpee4:
Certainly not a thought. I saw an ICES report on it hence my submission.

Here is the thing, most remedial program usually are not of a continuous assessment but of a final examination and generally to fulfil an entry requirement for a degree program and therefore would not have a recognition of it's own right. The one i saw was assessed as 'one year advanced pre-University certificate'

Like you already know, most diploma programs are 'area specific' eg, diploma in business admin, diploma in mass communication etc and are recognised and assessed from the content in that area. A report most definitely would be ' one year diploma in..... '

These two reports have different comparable levels in Canada. So there is a huge difference.

Regards.

Austinpee4:
No, remedial program won't qualify you for 'two or more certificates".

You must have atleast a three-year or more certificate, a diploma, another degree(bsc) or a post-graduate/graduate certificate or diploma in addition to your bsc to qualify for two or more certificates.

Unfortunately, a remedial is a 'pre-degree' and usually not assessed as an equivalent of a diploma in Canada.

lovetree:
Hello people....welldone
Please in a bid to increase CRS scores, I was wondering if those remedial programmes done by those universities before finally getting admission...some schools call them diploma... but my school(unilorin) call it remedial programme....is it possible to evaluate them with B.Sc to get 2 or more certificates...Has anyone done it successfully or has any idea about it.

Your input is needed please.....thanks house

I'll tell you a story
My friend Udeme and I sat for JAMB some years ago. My score was good enough to get me admitted into the university, his wasn't. He had to proceed to another school that offered the then diploma program for one year after which he joined the regular degree program as a sophomore. We graduated the same year (but from different schools anyway) and now he's on IP2 because he had "2 or more certificates..." blah blah blah

Now I wish I didn't pass that JAMB too

I haven't heard about the remedial program thingy anyway

ewa2014:
Glory be to God!!! My Father and my Redeemer...
AOR- 18th September 2017
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PPR mail - 26th February 2018

Passport sent to Accra - 26th February 2018
Received in Accra - 28th February 2018
PUM- 12th March 2018
Approved - 13th March 2018
COPR- 15th March 2018
Left Nigeria - 20th March 2018
Arrived Alberta- 21st March 2018

JKJ6:
Hi Everyone, we received a request yesterday to submit our passport for COPR. We have 15 days from yesterday to forward the passports to ACCRA and our medicals will expire April 5th and we are require to be in Canada before that date. We submitted our application on the 18th of April, 2017.

Our worry now is that we are not sure our passports will be processed within this very short period and besides we are honestly not prepared to leave within this short notice. Truth be told, we had given up because it was taking forever for them to conclude the process and we committed ourselves to a whole lot of other things. My spouse is very engage with work at the moment and by virtue of his position at work, he will have to give at least 6 months notice prior resignation.

We intend to request for extension of our medicals validity or perhaps go for another medicals but we are not sure if it is possible and how to go about it. Our thought when we applied was that the visa will be approved within six months and that will give my spouse enough time to notify his employer.

Experts in the house, your guidance on how to handle the situation will be most appreciated.

ArcUgo:
Thanks. Please can I also Fax to this number or it's just for calls

onyi888:
Hello Everyone!!!! Congrats to all the PPR applicants!!
I want to find out something:

I and spouse got AOR 4th March 2018.
Medicals passed 10th March.
Till now no update, it still says we will get a message when we start background check anyway, I would like to know our visa office? Any idea how I can find out? Is it too early?
Is it also too early to request GCMS notes? If NO how can I request that please.

I appreciate your feedback

Aunty, your blood is really boiling o.
Just calm down small, there's no need for those yet

deni83:
Hello all,

Directed to this thread March 2017
First ITA with score of 461 March 2017 (sorry can't remember the date) Rejected it cos POF wasn't complete
Finally accepted 4th ITA with a score of 456 July ending(Had a birthday in July)
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PPR-19 March

akinlad:
Pls help!! How do I pay for WES fees using the western Union online transfer?

hifyty:
Folks,
I am happy to tell you that the eagle has landed. Please find below my time line and ensuing epistle
PNPO App- 3rd Nov 2017
PNP Nomination: 1st Feb 2018
ITA: 7th Feb 2018
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PPR: 20th March 2018
VO: Ottawa

Walegy:
Evening All, am about filling my Manitoba Nominee but I got to a point where am asked to provide both Express entry ID and Job seeker validation code, though I have an existing Express ENtry profile. Please how do I get these codes and what do they look like incase I come across them. Thanks

gbemiigbal:
Please i need help here oh. thanks

linuslynx:
Guys!! It's PPR. Thank you most high. Would be back shortly with my story and timeline.

It has ended in praise.

intercedertee:
according to her, both mothers are from same mother not father, so their maiden names cannot be the same

gbemiigbal:
Please i need help here oh. thanks