Be the first to know about breaking news, articles, and updates.
The Coast | News, events, restaurants, concerts and Burger Week for Halifax, Nova Scotia
Home of the Best of Halifax Reader's Choice Awards, the award-winning independent newspaper covers the Halifax news, politics, events, concerts, movies, restaurants, and nightlife scene.
Why is it so difficult to find work in this city? I’m a College grad, yet no one in my field wants me. Even the non-experience retail/lacky jobs won’t hire me.
Sometimes I think companies want you to come our of College and magically have 3-5 years experience in your field. Ugh 🙁
What do you do?
This article appears in Aug 7-13, 2008.
9 Comments
Co-operative Education would have certainly helped or volunteering somewhere just for the work experience….
Try hotels , They are always looking for qualified people
Its a sad state of affairs but our school system puts out way too many graduates in every field (minus Doctors/nurses). A lot of people have to move away and come back when someone is willing to hire you (usually at a much lower income than you are currently making).Unfortunately, I’m sure you already know this. Sorry!
Move to Alberta for a year….seriously. It’s better than any co-op.
i own and manage a small IT firm in town. i wish the colleges (especially the private ones) would listen to us. we need less IT people, not more. currently with larger companies, people I know with ten years experience are on the bubble for the next round of cut backs.how to get into field? apply for jobs that you are short on experience for. i cannot say for other fields, but for IT we have to work with what we have and we adapt as required. unfortunately, we also need you to be industry certified and that is a problem for many. also a background and credit check has to be passed. don’t know what your field is, but apply even if you don’t have the pre-requisit experience. occasionally, you need to make your own breaks, and those jobs are never going to be listed as the college course you took. adapt, keep current if you can, and keep at it.
I was in the same boat in 2000. Graduated from both university AND college, and left with no job prospects once I was done with the books. So, I left Canada, worked overseas in a job unrelated to my field of study, traveled, had fun, and moved back to Canada last year when the “going was good” and the “economy was good”, spent 10 days total looking for a job in my field (with zero experience) here in Halifax, put out 12 resumes, had 3 interviews, 2 offers, and I took one! Not bad stats. So not sure what it says in your case, BUT the jobs are out there if you are determined. Bitching about not being able to find a job in your field won’t make it happen any faster. Experience is not the 100% deciding factor. Just so you know, it was a science degree.
I moved here and got a job within 2 weeks.There are plenty of government job services that are FREE that can help you ; Job junction at the west end mall for example or the YMCA. They can help you find jobs, help build a kick ass resume and do real job searches. And please note that in Nova Scotia 80% of jobs are not advertised online or in newspapers….that means cold calling. Maybe the problem isn’t in Halifax, maybe it’s the way you are doing something. There are jobs out there…you just need some help and direction.
You sometimes have to be willing to take a hit in pay to get ahead. Especially when businesses are looking to cut corners. I took a paycut… And then I took a career change and another paycut and am working my way up again (thank god it didn’t happen when I was much older). Times are tough, when I was in my home country natural disasters and global economy saw that jobs were few and far between and seinor executives took salary cuts to keep their business afloat. This job market is a joke, I managed to switch jobs without skipping a paycheck.Maybe your experience in promoting your skills is a bit lacking. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean it as an instult, rather, some people have the charisma to go into a job they have NO rights in applying for but just have that quality that make you believe that they can do it. Take assessment of your personality quirks and go on the offensive. Some businesses actually appreciate it if you show you are a cut above. Anyone can write a resume. It takes a special someone to get through the door.Call the places up and ask to set up an apointment.
Pay cut. You said it, Gimpysaviour.It seems HRM businesses get you on both ends though and the educated professional can’t win. You can come to this town with many years in your field but expect to be paid as a junior or, at best, a low intermediate. God forbid you show an expectation of fair pay because then they never even call you back. High attrition seems to be the norm. Welcome to your forever middle class life.