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[Serious] Current job market right now

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  • Dec 18th, 2015 10:59 am
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Deal Fanatic
Sep 23, 2007
5654 posts
2168 upvotes
JHW wrote: I don't think there is a "job market for the average Canadian". Employment prospects are highly dependent on where you live and what field you are in. In that sense, your question cannot be answered.
+1. What matters is not the "average". What matters is YOUR chance of getting a job. If you have no education, have a terrible attitude, and don't take a shower, the job market is going to be horrible for you. It's like asking what the average married person is like. Some people are funny, wealthy, and handsome and many people want to marry. Knowing what the average joe is like doesn't help you find the love of your life.

There are definitely macroeconomic trends. And for those you can read official statistics. I don't recall Canada's off the top of my head. I know in Spain youth unemployment is ~50% and general is ~25% which is about as grim as it gets in a developed nation. But macroeconomic data doesn't capture the whole story. A lot of details get left out as you aggregate data. For example, it doesn't capture underemployment or employment outside of your chosen field. Even if you look at a wide range of statistics you can miss the story.

Over the years jobs have become more and more scarce for younger people. There are definitely a complicated set of reasons for this, such as older people not retiring, outsourcing, technologies, and too many people with degrees. There's a massive oversupply of people who want a desk job instead of working with their bodies.

Location is important too. Take Alberta for example. Up until recently jobs were plentiful due to the oil boom. Not anymore though.

So basically my point is...the "average" is largely irrelevant. The job market is always going to suck for someone with poor ability, and always easy for someone well connected and/or have ability.
Newbie
Sep 18, 2015
8 posts
1 upvote
Sudbury, ON
In my opinion the overall job market in Canada is not dead at all. Of course with the oil price and other natural mineral taking a hit, it has affected many Canadian and more importantly the loonie. If you look at average wage in Canada vs. the State it is very similar. I am well aware of the discrepancy in tech wages here vs. US considering my sibling works for Microsoft and as you mentioned intern make nearly 100K/year and full timer make slightly above 100k/ year (starting). Nonetheless when comparing standard jobs that make up the job market (retail, restaurants,etc) wages tend to be higher in Canada.

When you mentioned that you went to school where classmate parents made 200K+ a year, it is very possible. However the truth is that 1% of the Canadian population make 193K or above as at 2014 (I believe). Therefore this is a light minority (assuming the money of your classmate was earned in Canada). When you said your parents came from oversea and sacrificed white collar job for blue collar jobs, I assume you came from a Asian country and your parents sacrificed a lot, such as their career and money to send you to that prestigious school in order to give you the best (common in Asian culture). It is common that they would not be able to get the job they had back home when coming here due to language and education being different. They did not come here for the job market but your future (my analysis of what you mentioned).

In the end trolling or not I have to agree with you that people here seems that they are either struggling or dreaming of landing a average jobs. But this makes sense considering you do not come here(career forum) when you are a top managers, or making 200K+ a year. I myself came on here to read people's comment, opinion and advise. It has helped me significantly considering I graduated with a BCOMM (dime a dozen) and my first job paid 35k/ year (below average for bcomm graduate). In over a year and a half I have more than doubled my income, primarily due to advise, dedication and testing the job market. Therefore to answer your question, I believe the Canadian job market is fine. Many of my friends in various fields such as marketing, mining engineering, labour jobs, mechanical engineering, banking, etc have found very good jobs with good salaries and benefits.
Deal Fanatic
Mar 15, 2005
6022 posts
1868 upvotes
PeterWIlliams wrote: 6-figure interns?

Lol wtf?
Not that hard if you are well connected, depending on the field.

Have friends whose families are WELL connected at the banks, EVPs+, all their children have extremely high paying jobs and positions above what they should.

If you are rich and connected you would be surprised how many doors open to you.
Deal Expert
Jun 30, 2006
21132 posts
9788 upvotes
Toronto
Canadian market is terrible. Oil is in the toilet and the Canadian dollar is in the toilet too. Have you read any news articles with all the layoffs and downsizing.
Member
Oct 3, 2009
433 posts
126 upvotes
In Alberta it is particularly bad - All these laid off people are now out looking for work, I talked to a friend in HR and she said jobs are getting 500+ applicants. If you dont have experience it is a grind and even if you have experience its still a grind.
Newbie
Aug 14, 2011
38 posts
21 upvotes
AJAX
All of Ontario is garbage, except for the healthcare sector. That's where most people are working in Ontario.

If you "know" someone who can help you, you have an easier pathway to finding a job. If you don't know someone, you're basically f*****.
Member
Oct 29, 2013
302 posts
55 upvotes
Bad job market.

Government should spend more time in boosting the Canadian economy. And not focus too much time on bringing in refugees.
Member
Jul 9, 2015
210 posts
265 upvotes
unknown13 wrote: I graduated with a BCOMM (dime a dozen) and my first job paid 35k/ year (below average for bcomm graduate). In over a year and a half I have more than doubled my income, primarily due to advise, dedication and testing the job market.
Just curious, what industry?
Member
User avatar
Jul 24, 2010
457 posts
219 upvotes
Toronto
Ziggy007 wrote: Not that hard if you are well connected, depending on the field.

Have friends whose families are WELL connected at the banks, EVPs+, all their children have extremely high paying jobs and positions above what they should.

If you are rich and connected you would be surprised how many doors open to you.
This is the truth. My experience: In university I didn't even have to look for a job - I had a friend who's dad was high up in a major company. He called me, asked if I needed a job, and I got to skip to the top intern pay grade on day 1 (making more than your average new grad earns). I work in a different field now with no connections like that, and unsurprisingly I've had to do things the hard way.
Intotheblue12 wrote: In Alberta it is particularly bad - All these laid off people are now out looking for work, I talked to a friend in HR and she said jobs are getting 500+ applicants. If you dont have experience it is a grind and even if you have experience its still a grind.
But... but.. I thought Albertans were harder working than those lazy Ontarians, and that's why the Alberta economy is so strong! Oh that's right, it's based entirely on resource extraction - a matter based entirely on geographic luck and sitting on top of oil.
dance2noise007 wrote: All of Ontario is garbage, except for the healthcare sector. That's where most people are working in Ontario.
I'm pretty sure most people in Ontario are not employed in healthcare.
Navy85130 wrote: Bad job market.

Government should spend more time in boosting the Canadian economy. And not focus too much time on bringing in refugees.
Yeah! ***** em! Improving the Canadian economy and helping refugees can not simultaneously occur - flawless logic.

I think we should bring in more refugees, and ship people like you to Syria. Your lack of Canadian values is harmful to our country.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Nov 2, 2013
5697 posts
1522 upvotes
Edmonton, AB
beaverdonut wrote: This is the truth. My experience: In university I didn't even have to look for a job - I had a friend who's dad was high up in a major company. He called me, asked if I needed a job, and I got to skip to the top intern pay grade on day 1 (making more than your average new grad earns). I work in a different field now with no connections like that, and unsurprisingly I've had to do things the hard way.



But... but.. I thought Albertans were harder working than those lazy Ontarians, and that's why the Alberta economy is so strong! Oh that's right, it's based entirely on resource extraction - a matter based entirely on geographic luck and sitting on top of oil.



I'm pretty sure most people in Ontario are not employed in healthcare.
.
Isn't much of Canada dependent on resource extraction? Everyone talks about oil but mining is another biggie (especially in some parts of Ontario) that has been bad for years.
Deal Expert
Jun 30, 2006
21132 posts
9788 upvotes
Toronto
Connections to getting jobs are becoming a thing of the past. In many industries like banking you have to apply online and everything is centralized. Even if you know someone working for the company, you can use them as a referral but have to go through the whole process like an outside applicant. Your chances of getting the job is not any better. This is for big companies, for small companies they can hire you right away if you know someone high up.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Sep 16, 2012
3280 posts
489 upvotes
Mississauga
I think the job market Canada wide, can be explained as choppy, again it depends on the industry you are looking at. Overall i would say companies are still hiring however competition for spots is big and its more of employer market then employee market in terms of negotiating wages etc. Again if you where not actively impacted by the recession in 2008, where able to hold onto a job and are now looking to further make a career change, there will be companies who will have positions available for you to make a jump.
Again those who have not weathered the post 2008 recession in terms of finding employment, is mostly, new grads, immigrants and older workers who all have seen there possibilities grow smaller as the employment picture for those people continues to be not great.
Deal Fanatic
Mar 15, 2005
6022 posts
1868 upvotes
carmaster wrote: Connections to getting jobs are becoming a thing of the past. In many industries like banking you have to apply online and everything is centralized. Even if you know someone working for the company, you can use them as a referral but have to go through the whole process like an outside applicant. Your chances of getting the job is not any better. This is for big companies, for small companies they can hire you right away if you know someone high up.
Clearly you do not or have not ever worked at a large company, or at least not in a role high enough to see what happens behind the scenes :facepalm:

Resumes frequently get passed around among Directors & VPs to staff people "they think would be a good fit" for a role. They rarely shill for their own children and or friends, but they do it for their executive friends children and families and the favor is returned to them. I can't even count how many resumes have come through my office with a strong urge to hire from above. These people DO NOT go through the online process like everyone else. We may post the position but these "preferred" candidates basically just show up to an interview and get the job.
Deal Addict
Jul 29, 2006
4253 posts
1078 upvotes
Ziggy007 wrote: Clearly you do not or have not ever worked at a large company, or at least not in a role high enough to see what happens behind the scenes :facepalm:

Resumes frequently get passed around among Directors & VPs to staff people "they think would be a good fit" for a role. They rarely shill for their own children and or friends, but they do it for their executive friends children and families and the favor is returned to them. I can't even count how many resumes have come through my office with a strong urge to hire from above. These people DO NOT go through the online process like everyone else. We may post the position but these "preferred" candidates basically just show up to an interview and get the job.
+1 My current job at a F500 company was because of a referral. Also, I've referred 2 other people in the past 4 months that got hired. Even friends of mine have been getting hired through referrals at other large and medium sized companies.
Deal Expert
Jun 30, 2006
21132 posts
9788 upvotes
Toronto
Ziggy007 wrote: Clearly you do not or have not ever worked at a large company, or at least not in a role high enough to see what happens behind the scenes :facepalm:

Resumes frequently get passed around among Directors & VPs to staff people "they think would be a good fit" for a role. They rarely shill for their own children and or friends, but they do it for their executive friends children and families and the favor is returned to them. I can't even count how many resumes have come through my office with a strong urge to hire from above. These people DO NOT go through the online process like everyone else. We may post the position but these "preferred" candidates basically just show up to an interview and get the job.
I am talking about the average person not executive friends and families.
Member
Oct 3, 2009
433 posts
126 upvotes
The average person at a big company has to jump through hoops and go through their brutally frustrating recruiting processes yes. Seriously they are such a waste of time.

1 hour - update resume
1 hour - target cover letter to job, edit it, review it, get your friend to review it
1 hour - fill out their brutal online application, deal with issues of forms not extracting information from pdf's properly, re edit your resume you already submitted on a online form because the formatting is all off for some ridiculous reason

Total time spent so far: 3 hours to send your resume off into never never land with 1000+ other applicants.

Rinse and repeat for say 5 - 10 jobs is 30 hours worth of work for likely a 1% response rate. If you want to hit 50 jobs which is more realistic to start getting some type of responses your at 150 hours minimum before you talk to a single HR person.

WOOHOO after 150 hours of jumping through hoops, I got a call from HR!

Then things get real fun. 1 - 2 hour phone interview will kick things off. If they are really savvy they may send you a link to do a video interview where you answer a bunch of questions. Consider yourself lucky if you dodge that bullet as that will take you a good 2 to 3 hours of re responding to questions because the whole process is so goofy and vague. If you get past this stage, you get the call in for that first interview, better book off half a morning because its going to be another 2 hour interview with just an HR person, not even your potential new manager! If you succeed here you get called back in to meet the manager.

Your about 4 hours of interviewing already and you havent even met your future manager. He finally calls, you get brought in and get to answer all the questions you have already answered again. He has only spent 1 hour with you though, so he is a little unsure. You wait a few days and get the call back for the second interview with the manager to finally convince him your the right guy for the job. You havent even seen an offer letter yet and your likely 15 to 20 hours invested into the process. I feel for anyone going through this right now it is so inificient and frustrating. This is the biggest reason why I no longer look for work at "big" companies.
Deal Addict
Jul 30, 2003
2087 posts
504 upvotes
Toronto
From what I have seen, the current job market is excellent for people with at least 2-3 years of experience. This year alone, 1/3 of my department has switched/found new and better position else where. The company attempts to refill some of the openings for months without any success - there are just too many jobs out there but not enough qualified candidates. So what the company end up doing is increasing head counts in their offshore centers in China.

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