I moved to Halifax at the end of April. I had never lived anywhere but Calgary but I moved anyway. Following my heart for once, I finally took a risk.
I left my family, friends, a great job to follow my heart — should be a good thing. I had phone interviews in Calgary, and the prospective employers liked what they saw and heard. They waited until I arrived to interview. The didn’t understand why someone with my background wanted to be an admin at their companies.
I had interviews when I got here and had still been applying for work in the meantime, just in case. They told me that I was the most qualified of the candidates. One call I got was an employer declining because they decided to hire internally instead.
The hiring manager told me she’d call back before she left for holiday in two days… she didn’t. I kept applying for work and when she emailed me back a week later, she told me that the company decided to hire internally too.
It’s been a month and although my background is impressive and extensive … I haven’t gotten any calls back. I apply for at least 4-6 jobs a day. The staffing agencies haven’t called me either. Working retail or at a cafe or restaurant isn’t beyond me or anything. I even got declined by H&M. It’s so depressing.
—Jobless Hobo
This article appears in May 21-27, 2009.
Thank fuck for McDonalds.
I don’t think I can help on the jobs front, but if you are lonely and want to meet some good people, couch surfing is a good network to meet people with. http://www.couchsurfing.com. Good luck. It’s not you either….Halifax is a really hard place to find a job. Keep trying. It will get better. Moving is hard to do.
Why the hell would you follow your heart to HERE? Man, I love living here, it’s home, but unless I had something sweet lined up I wouldn’t ditch Calgary(home) for Halifax in this economy.
If you’ve got an awesome resume, you could try Career Beacon. It couldn’t hurt. There’s also places like Labour Ready to tide you over in the meantime.
It’s all a numbers game. Hound temp services – many a job has been secured with temp assignments. Keep trying, don’t get discouraged. McJobs are not your only option.
Career Beacon is just a big fat fucking cock tease.
If by what you mean by “following your heart” is you moved here to be around someone you love, that’s great. I once did that and ended up on jobless as a result and it was a good experience (in learning about my own values). Otherwise, I suggest going wherever the jobs are nationally or internationally while you’re still mobile. Look around and you’ll find Halifax has a shocking amount of people with university degrees slinging drinks and serving food.
Hard to give an opinion on your situation as we do not know what you do. If you’re an igloo salesman, you’re in the wrong place. LOL. Seriously, you should have checked to see what your prospects are before moving, no use going to any place where your skills are not needed. Sorry.
oh PK – I love it when you talk dirty!
seriously though OP – if they suddenly decided to hire internally, whom ever got that job probably already had it to begin with. For some stupid ass reason a lot of companies are required to go through the motions of posting a job externally before they are allow to hire from within – Even if they know they are giving the job to someone who already works there.
It makes alot of people waste their time and gets their hopes up with false job prospects that they have NO chance of getting. even if they are qualified for it and the interview goes great.
As for the following your hear thing, Bravo. It takes a lot of balls to do that. keep up the fight and you’ll find something soon. Its a numbers game for sure.
Chin up, there is work out there. This is a slow time for hiring nationaly, however historicaly is picks up in the fall. I heard someone slam Careerbeacon, but it’s all perspective. If you have “niche” or narrow skill sets, the search is more focused, albiet difficult. As far as grad students slinging beer and food, that is a North American tradition LOL! An undergrad in womans’ studies or fine arts, makes for a long hard road. Don’t give up, as something will come your way. Network, search, search, search. Flood the market with your resume. Most jobs are not advertised. You need to be “cold calling” or showing up in person. You will get there. As far as intenal hiring goes, that is the global norm, not just a Halifax thing. Tell folks here what you are looking for…someone just might be watching 🙂
I must admit. I screen the resumes that we receive at work. Even though we’re not hiring we still get some requests.
about 50% of them from Alberta. If it wasn’t for professionalism, my reply would be: what the hell are you thinking applying for jobs in NS?!!.
NS unemployment rate right now is 7.7%, That’s higher than the national average. Yet there was an article in the Herald about it claiming how proud nova scotia of that.
WTF is wrong with this place?
Flyingback, your statement: “As far as grad students slinging beer and food, that is a North American tradition”, is not true at all. I got a job before I even graduated. I graduated 2 years after I started working, and I never ever worked in the food and service industry. In fact, the only reason I got a good job is because I left this province before graduating.
I know it’s brave to follow your heart and because everyone saying that, doesn’t make it the best choice of your life. OP, my advice to you is leave this province. What I did is what a lot of people have done. I left here to get a job and build a career. The reason why I came back because I had the upper hand. I worked with a decent company out west. Most companies here think the companies out west pay really good. They do, and when they know that, and they realize how valuable you are, they’ll offer you a job with much more exciting benefits. Never tell the prospective employer how much you make. Tell them who you’re working for and tell them research them. Believe me, this one works.
To start all of this, you have to start outside of this province. A lot of people will tell you to be patient and don’t rush. Trust me, don’t be patient and rush when it comes to this. Get out of here while you still have money.
If your having problems finding jobs I would recommend a temping agency untill you find what your looking for.
Well what is your background?
Can we get a tag for these “can’t find a job/Halifax sucks for jobs” bitches?
Randomness: You probably get a lot of resumes from people in Alberta because they are like me. They moved to Alberta after being in Halifax their whole lives. They miss home, (a LOT) but can’t move home until they line up something that pays the same as what they are making in Calgary…
OP Here.
I’m just looking for admin work, I helped with strategic planning in Calgary. I did a drafting program and a business admin program and I have a project management certificate. Studying Psychology online, planning to get into change management/HR stuff.
I’m not ‘bitching’ about how Halifax sucks for jobs… I’m just having a hard time and it’s just frustrating. Thanks for all of your support though guys!
OP: Hahaha! Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. All of you idiots who piss and whine and bitch about the lack of jobs here are all pathetic losers. Every last one of you. If you were stupid enough to move all the way here from Calgary (or wherever), thousands of kilometers away from any form of emotional/financial support, without landing a job here first, it’s no wonder employers don’t want to hire you. You’re fucking idiots!! We all know the state that the economy is in. Why the hell would you take that kind of risk? It’s no one’s fault but your own. Nothing but the best of luck to you in your job search(s), but you’re all still idiots.
What makes you think that your qualifications are any more impressive than the hundreds of other university-educated jobseekers in Halifax? This city has rents that are through the roof. It is almost impossible to find a job here. But you think you can land a job when other Nova Scotians can’t because you have an impressive resume? I know someone with an MBA who can’t find a job here.
Career Beacon is listing some really important sounding secretary jobs
OP, get in the line douchbag, welcome to Nova Scotia. My advice for you is to start getting used to the sound of quarters shaking in ur Tim Horton’s paper cup.
I mentor people occasionally that have trouble getting work here (I’m a CFA who got a good job, so I guess people think I have some kind of insight). Generally I find the problem is in the resume. Here, people tend to hire people they know/ are networked up with, so your resume has to rock to get past that!!! None of this Canadian reticence now…. ROCK IT UP. Also, if someone applies for a job that that they are over-qualified for that sets my alarm bells ringing as an employer. So put something in your covering letter that explains why you are doing it. Finally, if you know some people, ask them to set up a meeting with 1 – 3 people they know who can advise you on how to get a job. Network network network – it is the only way into this smooth, fissure-free rock wall of a job market. If you can stomach it, join Fusion Halifax. If you can’t, I don’t blame you!!!!
quit complaining. i moved here, put out 10 resumes in a week, got 3 interviews the following week, 2 offers, and accepted one….depends on how educated you are. plenty of jobs out there even in a recession.
ijen it sounds like you’re overqualified and employers figure you’ll ditch after six months once they wasted resources getting you trained and ready
that said, there are admin assistant jobs with project management components out there – try public sector EA positions working for VPs who need a lot more planning and management work out of their secretaries than your average line managers would…
carrerbeacon is not a bad place to look for those kinds of positions