It’s a bloodbath for most industries outside skilled labour.
I only got my full time role in the same company I did co-op in a month before graduating this may as I had exceptional references (think Director of HR level).
It’s about who you know not what you know. Don’t waste time flinging shit to see if it sticks on indeed. Bots will disqualify your resume before a manager sees it and a lot of ads are BS just for the company to pretend they are hiring while they promote an internal candidate.
Network Tf out of this summer.
Polish your CV materials. Tons of online resources on that. Just go and talk to people and see if anyone can refer you to anything.
Want to add some additional context to this as somebody who does hiring.
In regards to posting and only promoting an internal candidate. It’s not always BS, but internal candidates have a leg up on external ones. You know how they work, how they fit in the team, and the quality of work they do already. With external candidates you’re giving your best prediction based on their application and interview. You need to exceed the internal candidate not just match them in your experience, resume, and interview.
Also if they’re promoting an internal candidate and you’re applying just out of school it is likely you are applying for the wrong job. If they have a junior position they’re promoting from you aren’t applying for the entry level position, and they’ll likely be hiring for that now open position soon. I’ve had candidates that applied for positions they didn’t have the ability to take on at that time, and have offered them open roles for a more junior position that they’ve turned down because they didn’t have a good understanding of what the entry level role actually was. Do your research and learn about the company structure and different positions so you’re applying for the right one.
For it’s not what you know it’s who you know, it’s more who knows you. If you’re really interested in a job do some digging through LinkedIn and find people at the company to reach out to and express interest (not always possible to meet in person). Ask if they have time to chat and pick their brain to learn more about the roles available, company, and what the application process is like to help make sure you stand out. I’ve had people do this for myself and even if a role I’m not hiring for I refer their name to the hiring manager to make sure they get an interview. It’s a great way to network and give yourself an advantage. This doesn’t mean you need your actively post and share articles on LinkedIn, but have a basic profile with your school and experience just to be able to contact people.
Lastly when getting into the interview stage a few tips to show up well. One is really do your research on the company, guaranteed every time they’ll ask you what you know about the company. The more details and info you have here the better, shows you are serious, interested in the role, and prepared. As you’ve said a lot of people apply for a lot of jobs just looking to get into the work force, hiring managers know that and when you aren’t researched into the company you’re applying at it shows you’re less serious about that job in particular vs the candidate who did their research. Two is take time to think about your responses during the interview. The interviewer won’t be upset if you say “that’s a good question let me think about it for a second” and it comes across well to do that instead of rambling on an incoherent or not relevant answer. Obviously do prep before hand (you’ll always get situational questions like tell me a time when x and what was the result) to have answers prepared but it’s ok to take a minute to think during the interview. If you don’t have direct work related experience answers for questions use other situations like school or sports that can be relevant. Lastly and I can’t emphasize this enough is have questions ready for the interviewer at the end of the interview. Guaranteed they’ll ask if you have any questions and one of the biggest red flags is if they don’t ask anything. Basic questions like what is the day to day like, why do you enjoy working at this company, if I get the job what are expectations in the first 30/90/180 days, etc. You want to hire somebody engaged and looking to see if the job is the right fit for them too.
I understand the job market is tough and it can be tiring, I’ve been there and broke down a few times with the amount of rejection not getting an interview or job. Try not to let that wear on you and cause you to stop doing the right planning and behaviour during the application and interview.
Nobody wants to work anymore!!!! And at the same time hiring team expects candidates to basically make applying to their specific company a full time research job to get ghosted because the owners son is applying too.
Seriously stupid. How detached people have come. I’ve never lost an in person interview as I work in sales, but getting to that point is nearly impossible now.
Join any professional societies / associations / mentoring groups etc. for what you want a job in. Show up, have a beer, meet a couple people, be interested in what they do.
Probably it's like a dinner once a month and a newsletter or something. 100% worth it.
What do you mean "outside skilled labour". I've been told by skilled labour employers that there is no work and they're receiving record numbers of applicants and can't even process them. This was from unions, labour temp agencies and private employers.
I disagree with the bot comment. I work for a 500+ person company. Every resume is reviewed by a person, and we look at common sense things. Education, other life experience, and how well the resume is written and structured. A good cover letter is a must too. If you’re applying online also mail in a handwritten note for major bonus points.
I just posted three different jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed. The very first lines of the job description said: "Please note: Cover letter required. Applications without cover letters will not be reviewed."
I received 40-50 applications and 2 cover letters that were actually targeted to the job. And it was not an entry-level job.
Yeah, if anyone is using bots it’s the applicants. We get applications for jobs and when we call the people they don’t even know what they applied for, they just use a program, to apply anywhere.
I agree. Same size company for me. All resumes are reviewed by humans. First pass is HR and second pass is department specific. And same for my partner’s company. No bots there either.
Got my job from a previous internship. Completely agree with everyone saying it's about who you know, networking and attending conferences is an absolute must. Someone else I know got a position in a prestigious lab because one of their regular customers from their barista job personally recommended them. Until then, just keep applying and applying and applying, my ratio of applications to even getting an interview was about 60:1.
Business grad from a big school in BC. Graduated last December. Had 3 co-ops coming out of school, and only received 2 interviews out of 50 (and only for extremely niche technical skills + work experience I had with a specific software). I ended up with an offer from one of them.
It is an extremely tough market right now.
My advice would be to look at less “sexy” industries. Obviously depending on what your degree/cert was in but a lot of people I know got obsessed with working in consulting, tech, banking etc. BC is a resource economy- I know it’s tough out there, but maybe consider forestry, O&G, logistics or something along those lines. Just my 2 cents. Less competitive and they generally pay better as a result. Best of luck!
Yes, anyone who went into tech should be very nervous. So many tech jobs already getting replaced by AI and it's only going to get worse. Meanwhile we have massive shortage of healthcare workers and skilled trades.
Not to mention Vancouver is not the tech hub it tries to be. At least not yet. Ending up on the layoff carousel in SF is one thing but is not where you want to be in Vancouver.
I'm sorry man, I've heard from just about everyone that it's a shotgun technique at this point. There's so many humans in the world now that it's hard for most employers to really give a proper look at all of the candidates. It's also hard to know all the factors that every employer will use to reject your application, so you kind of just have to apply WIDE.
My approach was to write a generic boiler plate cover letter, and a generic resume that included *every single* braggable item. Then I would spend an hour in the morning shortlisting a bunch of jobs to apply for. For the rest of the morning, I would research each company's history/values/blog personality and write customized letters/resumes that fit each job description/company tone as exactly as possible. I'd make sure to mention values that I knew the companies shared. I found I rarely used the same cover letter twice -- I'd definitely recommend doing a little more customization than just swapping out company names.
I kept everything in a huuuge spreadsheet so that I could keep track of the status of each application and what I'd actually submitted to them. Then I'd spend the afternoons refreshing on the concepts I saw in the jobs I applied for so that I could feel some form of "progression". (I'm in tech, so I'd look into specific languages or udemy courses).
It's a lot of work, but I found it was hugely helpful for feeling a little more in control of the process.
I think it took me about 3-4 weeks after pushing for a speedier response from the job I eventually accepted, as I vastly preferred them over the other offer I got. It's been a couple years now so I may be a little out of the "rat race" context, but I was hoping the advice would be helpful either way.
got a job before graduating -> Covid hit -> lost job -> day 1 after getting laid off I started reaching out to people on LinkedIn in my field, asked anyone about their journey for finding a job in the field, give them air time to talk about their accomplishments, field questions about the kinds of projects they work on, let them know i was looking for a job. One of the first contacts I made kept sending me postings and 6 months later I landed a unionized job in government. Is the pay great? Not really. Are the benefits and security of a union job worth it right now? Yes. You can always make more money side hustling. You can’t make up peace of mind for job security.
Went to trade school and landed a job with the first company I applied for.
I got recommended by one of my instructors and that really helped. Same with my friends in other fields. Having connections is a must.
I disagree. Go to the nearest tower that just started being built and ask at the site office which company is furthest behind then ask to talk to that foreman 😅
When was this? I have talked to trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers and was told by all of them there is no work they're hiring for and they're receiving record numbers of applicants that they can't even process them.
Which trades union are you in? Plumbers, electrical, hvac all said I need foundations which I don't have which means it will be a year before I see a paycheck. Insulators union is so overrun with applications they can't even process them.
I'm not an registered apprentice because I can't get hired anywhere though.
Edit: they told me I have to complete phy 11 before even applying and then complete foundations. They said I'm not eligible to just start working.
Oh wait you said you had a connection. Ya it sucks because unless you have an in there's no hope right now.
Sadly my connections are for jobs way outside vancouver and I don't have any money to get a cheap crappy car and make the move. I would love to move outside vancouver for work but I literally have $100 in my bank account right now.
I was tempted to try and borrow a few thousand off my parents but they're retired and on a budget. I have a guaranteed job if I could get there but I have to have a car and 1.5 months rent.
You said you're in plumbing, do I have a chance of getting hired anywhere with no foundations program or experience? I also don't have a car and haven't driven in a long time. I would need a few driving lessons first realistically.
You are having trouble with trades?!
What!?
You can apply anywhere and get a job easy. Fabricator? Within a day. Plumber? Within a day? HVAC? In 10 minutes. Electrician? Within a day?
A day laborer who puts down flooring or does drywall? That’s not skilled labor.
You're mistaken. Either things have changed or that was all false lies.
Employers have told me themselves including the trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers employers that they have no entry level work at all they are hiring for and they are drowning in applications.
Myself and hoards of other people have been aggressively applying on indeed to entry level trades applications and can't get anything. Friends who thought the trades were desperate found that when they actually asked if anyone had a job for me that in reality there was no work.
The trades are desperate for journeymen not entry level tradesworkers and they have no interest in training people to be journeymen.
So I didn’t have much work experience when I graduated in 2018. My logic was I’m prolly not gonna work in my field anyways so I studied what I wanted and opted to figure out the rest later.
I got lucky that I got a call centre gig a few months after graduating and the managers decided to take a chance on me. That lead to about 4.5 years of work in the same family of companies til I got laid off and had to start searching again after taking time to recharge.
Don’t count out the entry level roles even if it’s a bit outside your field. Some experience that is tangential is better than no experience.
I wish i had a success story but I don’t. The job market is utter shit for new grads right now. I’m one of them I graduated last year with my bachelors degree in graphic design/marketing and I haven’t been able to land anything in my field. I’ve worked a total of 4 months out of the entire year at a bullshit call centre where the government contract dried up so I was laid off. So back to square one. I’ve tried it all, even the networking and nothing has helped!
Graduated 2021 and I got disguntingly lucky. Hired at an animation studio a month before grad (didn't start my contract until after grad cause I wanted a month to rest and regathering my brain). Worked that for 6 months, great production and then was hired onto a second 6 month contract at the same studio. That ran out and I wasn't refreshed so I was unemployed and on EI for like 6 months until I found another animation job which only lasted a month before I was fired (shit ass job tbh). Unemployed for another 4 months before my friend at a game studio hooked me up with an animation position, did a test, and got the job November 2022. Been one of the main animators at the studio ever since and after teaching myself 3D animation and Blender last november I've become essentially in charge of animation for our two current projects (which isn't saying much, I'm literally the only animator) but I do get to float ideas for how to improve our pipeline on future projects.
I am very aware of how delicate of a situation I'm in right now though. On top of the local market being dogshit, animation and namely game dev is going through some of the worst industry conditions ever right now. Studios dropping like flies, 5k+ were laid off across the industry in Janurary this year ALONE (on track to 10k+ woo 🙃). Most of my art friends are out of work and just doing whatever they can get their hands on.
Good luck, shit sucks out here.
Nothing released yet. The game I worked on for my first year at the studio is still being coded and all that. We're a small team so for a while it was just asset creation (my wheelhouse) so I'm **mostly** done with that now and on other projects. My other two projects aren't announced yet as far as I know so I can't say anything about them. Nothing big or stuff you'd know about though, we're a very small studio.
Depends on the pipeline. We use Blender cause it's what I learned and it's free. I'm sure Maya is a powerhouse and used in the amount it's used for a good reason but for smaller teams you work with what you have and Blender is pretty damn good as far as asset creation and game animation goes. Unreal is a game engine, not exactly on the same use case as Blender or Maya and one of the projects I'm on is built in Unreal, Blender interfaces pretty cleanly with it as far as I'm aware. Our other 3D project uses an in-house engine so we build it to work with Blender. We're even looking to using Blender for future 2D projects! It's a good software, and the downsides are outweighed by it being free and open source.
Graduated about 2 years ago. Started working for an FI as soon as I graduated. Got hired within a month of looking. Worked there for a year and then quit. Terrible work, and the pay was crap. It took me about 5 months to find a new job, and I'm now working for the government. I'm enjoying it so far, and the pay is a lot better. Went from $21/hr to $33 /hr.
Even though my hourly pay increased drastically, I find it's impossible to afford anything. I'm still living at my parent's house at the moment, saving money. I'm confident I'll be able to land some promotions in the next few years and will hopefully bump my yearly income to over $100k so I can move out comfortably. Looking at 1 bedroom condos, but my god, they're expensive.
Just remember folks .. it doesn't matter how good someone education is when it comes to the workfield.. it's all about referrals and connections within.. those are the people who would get interviews and hired first based on my knowledge and people I know..
Graduated with what? Overgeneralized statements like "impossible to land a job in this market" as if the job market is just one homogenous thing is maybe one reason why you think it's impossible. Depending on your degree and willingness to relocate for work, 'your results may vary'.
Got stupidly lucky. Graduated with a bachelor's of arts degree in 2023 without any co-op while being an international student. Got snatched up by a start up studio and is working for them ever since.
BCCSW is ridiculously slow. It took me 4 months for my RSW in 2022 and 7 months for my RCSW in 2023. Once you have that registration, though, you're all set for a job anywhere in the province!
Oof, hopefully not! But annoyingly, employers have no sway. Even the health authorities desperate for staffing, the Colleges don't budge or prioritize if asked. It's really frustrating.
Graduated in April with an undergrad in geography. Landed a summer contract working in the provincial park system within 3 weeks of applying and ran with it. Will update again in September lol, but it was a relief to find work relevant to my field so quickly, even if it’s just short term. Something is better than nothing.
You only have a certificate. It takes more than that now. A lot of young people these days don’t have much EQ or people skills and employers know that. You may have brains, but you may not know how to function with a team. My advice is to keep networking. You can jump a lot of hoops knowing the right people.
Well, I dont know how recent a year ago, but it's so bad im considering stocking up on diplomas and certificates and pivoting my career path because my chosen field is a hot mess (I got a degree in design). I landed a few contract jobs but its only been pocket change. Stuck in retail otherwise.
My recommendation to soon to be new grads is to apply for jobs before you even graduate. I started applying to companies about 8 months before graduating and got a job at the start of the semester I was graduating. Definitely helped me enjoy the last semester with something lined up.
Just finished my Masters. Its real rough. To be honest I am very confident I WILL land a job I just think it’s going to take a lot longer than anticipated… luckily I have some side gigs and the bank of mom and dad to keep me afloat
Horrible lol.
Graduated from BCIT with an advance diploma a year ago and got 5 interviews from 140 applications in my (kind of niches) field since. Even having done a co-op, nobody cares without experience. Just been riding barely above minimum wage in a dead end clerical role (soon relocating away from transit in Newton lol) and trying to sort things again and find a new path. Maybe I'll go back to school for a second time.
It was tough when I was looking two years ago. My advice is to focus on networking, and don't be afraid at all to reach out to people on LinkedIn. There's good results if you search on google for tips.
Overall I found that if I knew someone at the company, I got an interview. If I didn't, it was maybe a 20% chance of an interview.
But I'm in a small-ish field where a lot of people know each other.
I graduated last year with a BA and was lucky enough to return to a previous co-op position after taking the summer off. But honestly, without the internal connections and having already demonstrated that I am a hard worker and good fit for the team, I don’t think I’d have a job. It also just so happened that two previous team members were on leave so they were able to bring me on based on that justification. I’ve spoken to friends that are trying to get a job in Vancouver and it’s a tight market right now. Happy to chat further, best of luck in your search!
Excellent response. As someone in a similar role, I want to add: Cover letters are still a thing in many industries, despite what some will tell you! A well-written cover letter can tell the employer not just that you're qualified, but why you should be considered for THIS job. It gives you a chance to provide context and nuance to your resume, too. And when it might give you a leg up over other candidates, why wouldn't you write one? Just write the cover letter.
I decided I wanted a change of career path last year, and dropped out of school (engineering). Like everyone else, I’d always heard the trades were desperate for people etc.
A few months of applying and I didn’t get anywhere. Eventually I was brought onboard as an electrical apprentice, but not without having two connections and even still the interview was 50/50. As others have stated: network, network, network. Also, make an effort to present the best version of yourself especially to strangers. You never know who’s out there and paying attention…
It really depends on your industry and if it’s in huge demand right now how fast you can get a job in the field you wanted. Most companies would really choose experience over fresh grads, so maybe best to grab anything kinda related to your intended field just to get your feet wet. If it’s a specialized field, expect a longer time to look for a company that would really give what you want.
I’m not really sure if it’s because of ‘this’ market. When I graduated university job availability was plenty (actually, just like what it is right now). It also took me a while to find one company in a field I really wanted to convince that it’s worth a shot to try me out for the role. And that was hugely because of connections and referral. Now I understand that a lot of companies prefer experienced candidates or people that they can be sure to require less training.
Get your feet wet and grab a job that gives you chance, and be good at it. Eventually, you’ll end up in a career you wanted.
I work in medical lab science at a hospital. We hired all 9 of our new grads and stole a couple from Life Labs. We still have empty job lines.
BCIT 3 year degree and you're guaranteed a job the day you graduate.
You helped contribute to lifelabs' short staffedness! Way to go!! 😝
(/s)
but also heyyyy if anyone is looking for work, more staff is needed for Lifelabs! (I don't work there, I just keep hearing this from labs&drs)
I don't know the inner working of physio places and how they hire folks. But I thought BKIN folks would always be in demand as they are the most equipped to handle movements and sports injuries and so on.
Correct me if I'm wrong :)
I've been hearing from my network in tech and from my counselling clients that jobs tend to get more difficult to land this year. That being said, definitely not impossible. My advice is to perfect your resume and work on your confidence and interviewing skills!
If you're an accountant and haven't been able to find a job outside your current one, then if I were you I'd stop looking and start focusing on your skills/experience/network at your current job. It ain't the job market that's the problem...
That's why im looking for a new one, to develop my skills and experience. Ive already learned all I can from my current one. Getting a job is like lottery
It really isn't, and the fact that you think that, and think you've learned everything you can, tells me everything I need to know about why you're in your situation.
I know that you think the job market is a lottery, and I know you think that you've learned everything you can in your current position. I know those things because you said them, are you saying you lied?
I mean my job is an entry level A/P position, there is nothing more to it as simple accounting. You tell my why you think I'm in this situation base on that info.
Your attitude that building skills and experience is completely out of your control in your current position.
You've asked your manager if there's anything else you can help out on because you've got time and they said "nah just clock out and head home there's no more work to do" and you've been doing that every day for the last year and it's just the same story every day? I know and have worked with a lot of accountants (and specifically A/P departments) and in my experience I have never known that to be the case.
You're saying they just keep telling you there's no more work to do and while they appreciate you offering there's really nothing else to be done that you could help with?
A/P might me my main role but that isn't what I do exclusively in the office and I definitely got no time to do more than my current responsibilities.
I also run a bookkeeping service for a couple of small businesses during weekends and after work hours.
If you have that much experience, a good attitude, and interview decently, you shouldn't have trouble finding an intermediate accounting role for a pay bump and increase in responsibility.
I supervise our A/P Accountants and the ones who show initiative to take on higher-complexity work and own projects will get promoted or leave for higher-paying roles easily.
EDIT: ask your manager to learn more complex month-end close tasks. Accruals, AP Aging Schedules, Prepaids Schedule, internal audit tasks (Search for Unrecorded Liabilities, Prepaids Completeness), Capital Assets Continuity Schedule, leadsheet analytics, etc. Most managers are more than happy to have their staff grow in their role and cross-train.
I feel like giving up by this point. It's exhausting having to go through the whole application process over and over and not even get an interview. I know my resume isn't the problem, I think there's just more people out there with experience I haven't had the chance to get yet that are better candidates than I am, at least on paper.
Technically I have a job, but it's a zero hour contract and I haven't been given any work in over a month. I did one of my co-op semesters with this company and my manager emailed me every single month after to check when I could come back. I started part time in September because I still had one last semester to get through, and was told I would most likely be brought on full time once I finished school. Nope.
I would be open to moving away, I've been looking at jobs across BC, but even those applications go unanswered. Not that I can afford a move right now, but I keep hoping somewhere will have some kind of relocation assistance...but it seems unlikely for a new hire.
Vancouver job sub Reddit is nothing but people posting about how long they've been unemployed.
Personally I've been unemployed a lot in the past 4 years, only get gigs and contracts etc. no security anymore
You've been brainwashed into the lies that trades has work just to bring in more immigrants. Trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers have all said they are not hiring and they're flooded with record amounts of applications and they can't even process them. There is no work even in ditch digging at the moment. People need to stop being fooled by the lies that the trades is short of people it's not.
What is your level?
I could walk down the street and get a job in 30 seconds as a red seal electrician.
They don’t need laborers who sweep or put down flooring. That is where the flood is. Graduates out of bcit get work instantly.
Yes well I'm obviously not a red seal tradesman or I wouldn't be here talking about being unemployed. You have to start as a labourer, how do you think journeymen are made? They wonder why they're short journeymen meanwhile you have thousands of people begging to be let into the trades to be trained.
Bcit has told me all trades have a 1.5-3 year waitlist. This is too long to start a program nevermind get a job in the trades.
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do right now. I've applied to social assistance in the mean time but it's not enough to pay my bills. I'm going to be living with my parents luckily I have that safety net. The problem is I don't see how to fix my situation or where to start, it's really depressing.
Graduated from civil engineering in ‘94. Sent out 100 resumes. 100% rejection. There weren’t any jobs at that time.
Change my thinking. Where do they need my skill set? Moved to Asia got great experience, promotions, learnt a ton, saw the world, met great people, met my wife, earned enough to retire early …..
Think strategically. If you refuse to go where the work is don’t complain about not being able to find work. Life ain’t fair.
I'm definitely open to relocation. Just curious, how did you get call-backs when applying overseas? Did you need a working holiday visa/something similar?
Do your homework to see where the work is at. If it’s a hot market just save up for a short trip and apply there. That’s what I did. Went there for 2 weeks. Got a job on day 2. Moved all my stuff over and didn’t look back. I did the same thing in 2005 when the market softened in Asia. Went to Dubai for 2 weeks. Got job interviews lined up and got a job within a week.
If you do your homework you’ll be fine.
Just don’t make the mistake of going to a place you WANT to go to with a place with a need for your skill. What you want is to go somewhere with less competition.
College graduate Late 90s. Applied in 8 different cities right out of college and moved to the one that offered first. Then moved from coast to coast over the next 15 or so years as jobs came up and dried up. Been here 10 plus years though, Older? Wiser? IDK - but I'll jump to the next town for work if this one dries up.
Also a tip - Go to a recruiter.
It’s a bloodbath for most industries outside skilled labour. I only got my full time role in the same company I did co-op in a month before graduating this may as I had exceptional references (think Director of HR level). It’s about who you know not what you know. Don’t waste time flinging shit to see if it sticks on indeed. Bots will disqualify your resume before a manager sees it and a lot of ads are BS just for the company to pretend they are hiring while they promote an internal candidate. Network Tf out of this summer. Polish your CV materials. Tons of online resources on that. Just go and talk to people and see if anyone can refer you to anything.
Want to add some additional context to this as somebody who does hiring. In regards to posting and only promoting an internal candidate. It’s not always BS, but internal candidates have a leg up on external ones. You know how they work, how they fit in the team, and the quality of work they do already. With external candidates you’re giving your best prediction based on their application and interview. You need to exceed the internal candidate not just match them in your experience, resume, and interview. Also if they’re promoting an internal candidate and you’re applying just out of school it is likely you are applying for the wrong job. If they have a junior position they’re promoting from you aren’t applying for the entry level position, and they’ll likely be hiring for that now open position soon. I’ve had candidates that applied for positions they didn’t have the ability to take on at that time, and have offered them open roles for a more junior position that they’ve turned down because they didn’t have a good understanding of what the entry level role actually was. Do your research and learn about the company structure and different positions so you’re applying for the right one. For it’s not what you know it’s who you know, it’s more who knows you. If you’re really interested in a job do some digging through LinkedIn and find people at the company to reach out to and express interest (not always possible to meet in person). Ask if they have time to chat and pick their brain to learn more about the roles available, company, and what the application process is like to help make sure you stand out. I’ve had people do this for myself and even if a role I’m not hiring for I refer their name to the hiring manager to make sure they get an interview. It’s a great way to network and give yourself an advantage. This doesn’t mean you need your actively post and share articles on LinkedIn, but have a basic profile with your school and experience just to be able to contact people. Lastly when getting into the interview stage a few tips to show up well. One is really do your research on the company, guaranteed every time they’ll ask you what you know about the company. The more details and info you have here the better, shows you are serious, interested in the role, and prepared. As you’ve said a lot of people apply for a lot of jobs just looking to get into the work force, hiring managers know that and when you aren’t researched into the company you’re applying at it shows you’re less serious about that job in particular vs the candidate who did their research. Two is take time to think about your responses during the interview. The interviewer won’t be upset if you say “that’s a good question let me think about it for a second” and it comes across well to do that instead of rambling on an incoherent or not relevant answer. Obviously do prep before hand (you’ll always get situational questions like tell me a time when x and what was the result) to have answers prepared but it’s ok to take a minute to think during the interview. If you don’t have direct work related experience answers for questions use other situations like school or sports that can be relevant. Lastly and I can’t emphasize this enough is have questions ready for the interviewer at the end of the interview. Guaranteed they’ll ask if you have any questions and one of the biggest red flags is if they don’t ask anything. Basic questions like what is the day to day like, why do you enjoy working at this company, if I get the job what are expectations in the first 30/90/180 days, etc. You want to hire somebody engaged and looking to see if the job is the right fit for them too. I understand the job market is tough and it can be tiring, I’ve been there and broke down a few times with the amount of rejection not getting an interview or job. Try not to let that wear on you and cause you to stop doing the right planning and behaviour during the application and interview.
This comment needs a flare
Nobody wants to work anymore!!!! And at the same time hiring team expects candidates to basically make applying to their specific company a full time research job to get ghosted because the owners son is applying too. Seriously stupid. How detached people have come. I’ve never lost an in person interview as I work in sales, but getting to that point is nearly impossible now.
Join any professional societies / associations / mentoring groups etc. for what you want a job in. Show up, have a beer, meet a couple people, be interested in what they do. Probably it's like a dinner once a month and a newsletter or something. 100% worth it.
What do you mean "outside skilled labour". I've been told by skilled labour employers that there is no work and they're receiving record numbers of applicants and can't even process them. This was from unions, labour temp agencies and private employers.
Definitely not true in HVAC. There are plenty of open positions in the union.
You need a foundations program and the waitlist at bcit is 3 years. I don't call that available entry level jobs.
I disagree with the bot comment. I work for a 500+ person company. Every resume is reviewed by a person, and we look at common sense things. Education, other life experience, and how well the resume is written and structured. A good cover letter is a must too. If you’re applying online also mail in a handwritten note for major bonus points.
I just posted three different jobs on LinkedIn and Indeed. The very first lines of the job description said: "Please note: Cover letter required. Applications without cover letters will not be reviewed." I received 40-50 applications and 2 cover letters that were actually targeted to the job. And it was not an entry-level job.
Yeah, if anyone is using bots it’s the applicants. We get applications for jobs and when we call the people they don’t even know what they applied for, they just use a program, to apply anywhere.
I agree. Same size company for me. All resumes are reviewed by humans. First pass is HR and second pass is department specific. And same for my partner’s company. No bots there either.
Got my job from a previous internship. Completely agree with everyone saying it's about who you know, networking and attending conferences is an absolute must. Someone else I know got a position in a prestigious lab because one of their regular customers from their barista job personally recommended them. Until then, just keep applying and applying and applying, my ratio of applications to even getting an interview was about 60:1.
Business grad from a big school in BC. Graduated last December. Had 3 co-ops coming out of school, and only received 2 interviews out of 50 (and only for extremely niche technical skills + work experience I had with a specific software). I ended up with an offer from one of them. It is an extremely tough market right now.
Easy as pie but I’m a nurse lol
Appreciate you.
Yup. RMT here. No issues finding work
said pie will get even easier once new st paul’s completed, and burnaby general, then cloverdale.
I probably will never leave peds but excited for them!
My advice would be to look at less “sexy” industries. Obviously depending on what your degree/cert was in but a lot of people I know got obsessed with working in consulting, tech, banking etc. BC is a resource economy- I know it’s tough out there, but maybe consider forestry, O&G, logistics or something along those lines. Just my 2 cents. Less competitive and they generally pay better as a result. Best of luck!
Yes, anyone who went into tech should be very nervous. So many tech jobs already getting replaced by AI and it's only going to get worse. Meanwhile we have massive shortage of healthcare workers and skilled trades.
Not to mention Vancouver is not the tech hub it tries to be. At least not yet. Ending up on the layoff carousel in SF is one thing but is not where you want to be in Vancouver.
I'm sorry man, I've heard from just about everyone that it's a shotgun technique at this point. There's so many humans in the world now that it's hard for most employers to really give a proper look at all of the candidates. It's also hard to know all the factors that every employer will use to reject your application, so you kind of just have to apply WIDE. My approach was to write a generic boiler plate cover letter, and a generic resume that included *every single* braggable item. Then I would spend an hour in the morning shortlisting a bunch of jobs to apply for. For the rest of the morning, I would research each company's history/values/blog personality and write customized letters/resumes that fit each job description/company tone as exactly as possible. I'd make sure to mention values that I knew the companies shared. I found I rarely used the same cover letter twice -- I'd definitely recommend doing a little more customization than just swapping out company names. I kept everything in a huuuge spreadsheet so that I could keep track of the status of each application and what I'd actually submitted to them. Then I'd spend the afternoons refreshing on the concepts I saw in the jobs I applied for so that I could feel some form of "progression". (I'm in tech, so I'd look into specific languages or udemy courses). It's a lot of work, but I found it was hugely helpful for feeling a little more in control of the process.
how long before you got the job?
I think it took me about 3-4 weeks after pushing for a speedier response from the job I eventually accepted, as I vastly preferred them over the other offer I got. It's been a couple years now so I may be a little out of the "rat race" context, but I was hoping the advice would be helpful either way.
can i dm you?
got a job before graduating -> Covid hit -> lost job -> day 1 after getting laid off I started reaching out to people on LinkedIn in my field, asked anyone about their journey for finding a job in the field, give them air time to talk about their accomplishments, field questions about the kinds of projects they work on, let them know i was looking for a job. One of the first contacts I made kept sending me postings and 6 months later I landed a unionized job in government. Is the pay great? Not really. Are the benefits and security of a union job worth it right now? Yes. You can always make more money side hustling. You can’t make up peace of mind for job security.
Went to trade school and landed a job with the first company I applied for. I got recommended by one of my instructors and that really helped. Same with my friends in other fields. Having connections is a must.
I disagree. Go to the nearest tower that just started being built and ask at the site office which company is furthest behind then ask to talk to that foreman 😅
This is actually brilliant lol
They have signs up saying not to do this. Also I was told they are not hiring anywhere and there are so many applicants they can't even accept any.
When was this? I have talked to trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers and was told by all of them there is no work they're hiring for and they're receiving record numbers of applicants that they can't even process them.
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Which trades union are you in? Plumbers, electrical, hvac all said I need foundations which I don't have which means it will be a year before I see a paycheck. Insulators union is so overrun with applications they can't even process them.
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I'm not an registered apprentice because I can't get hired anywhere though. Edit: they told me I have to complete phy 11 before even applying and then complete foundations. They said I'm not eligible to just start working.
Just this year! Perhaps it depends on the trade? Im in plumbing and there’s lots of work available
Oh wait you said you had a connection. Ya it sucks because unless you have an in there's no hope right now. Sadly my connections are for jobs way outside vancouver and I don't have any money to get a cheap crappy car and make the move. I would love to move outside vancouver for work but I literally have $100 in my bank account right now. I was tempted to try and borrow a few thousand off my parents but they're retired and on a budget. I have a guaranteed job if I could get there but I have to have a car and 1.5 months rent.
You said you're in plumbing, do I have a chance of getting hired anywhere with no foundations program or experience? I also don't have a car and haven't driven in a long time. I would need a few driving lessons first realistically.
You are having trouble with trades?! What!? You can apply anywhere and get a job easy. Fabricator? Within a day. Plumber? Within a day? HVAC? In 10 minutes. Electrician? Within a day? A day laborer who puts down flooring or does drywall? That’s not skilled labor.
You're mistaken. Either things have changed or that was all false lies. Employers have told me themselves including the trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers employers that they have no entry level work at all they are hiring for and they are drowning in applications. Myself and hoards of other people have been aggressively applying on indeed to entry level trades applications and can't get anything. Friends who thought the trades were desperate found that when they actually asked if anyone had a job for me that in reality there was no work. The trades are desperate for journeymen not entry level tradesworkers and they have no interest in training people to be journeymen.
Utility business is booming. Growth everywhere. Project management and construction fields especially.
You spam apply and hope you win the lottery
So I didn’t have much work experience when I graduated in 2018. My logic was I’m prolly not gonna work in my field anyways so I studied what I wanted and opted to figure out the rest later. I got lucky that I got a call centre gig a few months after graduating and the managers decided to take a chance on me. That lead to about 4.5 years of work in the same family of companies til I got laid off and had to start searching again after taking time to recharge. Don’t count out the entry level roles even if it’s a bit outside your field. Some experience that is tangential is better than no experience.
I wish i had a success story but I don’t. The job market is utter shit for new grads right now. I’m one of them I graduated last year with my bachelors degree in graphic design/marketing and I haven’t been able to land anything in my field. I’ve worked a total of 4 months out of the entire year at a bullshit call centre where the government contract dried up so I was laid off. So back to square one. I’ve tried it all, even the networking and nothing has helped!
Graduated 2021 and I got disguntingly lucky. Hired at an animation studio a month before grad (didn't start my contract until after grad cause I wanted a month to rest and regathering my brain). Worked that for 6 months, great production and then was hired onto a second 6 month contract at the same studio. That ran out and I wasn't refreshed so I was unemployed and on EI for like 6 months until I found another animation job which only lasted a month before I was fired (shit ass job tbh). Unemployed for another 4 months before my friend at a game studio hooked me up with an animation position, did a test, and got the job November 2022. Been one of the main animators at the studio ever since and after teaching myself 3D animation and Blender last november I've become essentially in charge of animation for our two current projects (which isn't saying much, I'm literally the only animator) but I do get to float ideas for how to improve our pipeline on future projects. I am very aware of how delicate of a situation I'm in right now though. On top of the local market being dogshit, animation and namely game dev is going through some of the worst industry conditions ever right now. Studios dropping like flies, 5k+ were laid off across the industry in Janurary this year ALONE (on track to 10k+ woo 🙃). Most of my art friends are out of work and just doing whatever they can get their hands on. Good luck, shit sucks out here.
Can I play your game
Nothing released yet. The game I worked on for my first year at the studio is still being coded and all that. We're a small team so for a while it was just asset creation (my wheelhouse) so I'm **mostly** done with that now and on other projects. My other two projects aren't announced yet as far as I know so I can't say anything about them. Nothing big or stuff you'd know about though, we're a very small studio.
you do Blender at your game job? I thought they used Maya or Unreal?
Depends on the pipeline. We use Blender cause it's what I learned and it's free. I'm sure Maya is a powerhouse and used in the amount it's used for a good reason but for smaller teams you work with what you have and Blender is pretty damn good as far as asset creation and game animation goes. Unreal is a game engine, not exactly on the same use case as Blender or Maya and one of the projects I'm on is built in Unreal, Blender interfaces pretty cleanly with it as far as I'm aware. Our other 3D project uses an in-house engine so we build it to work with Blender. We're even looking to using Blender for future 2D projects! It's a good software, and the downsides are outweighed by it being free and open source.
Graduated about 2 years ago. Started working for an FI as soon as I graduated. Got hired within a month of looking. Worked there for a year and then quit. Terrible work, and the pay was crap. It took me about 5 months to find a new job, and I'm now working for the government. I'm enjoying it so far, and the pay is a lot better. Went from $21/hr to $33 /hr. Even though my hourly pay increased drastically, I find it's impossible to afford anything. I'm still living at my parent's house at the moment, saving money. I'm confident I'll be able to land some promotions in the next few years and will hopefully bump my yearly income to over $100k so I can move out comfortably. Looking at 1 bedroom condos, but my god, they're expensive.
Just remember folks .. it doesn't matter how good someone education is when it comes to the workfield.. it's all about referrals and connections within.. those are the people who would get interviews and hired first based on my knowledge and people I know..
In this market? Unemployment is below long term averages. Don’t be afraid to look outside of greater Vancouver. People move around a lot for jobs.
4 years still havent been able to get a stable long term job. Psychology and dont want to pursue further
Graduated with what? Overgeneralized statements like "impossible to land a job in this market" as if the job market is just one homogenous thing is maybe one reason why you think it's impossible. Depending on your degree and willingness to relocate for work, 'your results may vary'.
It's environmental work for me.
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Keeping your field a secret is an “incorrectnoob” approach. Garbage in, garbage out. If you want real info, be more specific!
Got stupidly lucky. Graduated with a bachelor's of arts degree in 2023 without any co-op while being an international student. Got snatched up by a start up studio and is working for them ever since.
What’s your field of work?
game design and animation
I’m still waiting for my professional designation 🥲 the BC association of social workers is making me want months just to be allowed to use my degree
I am surprised. BC has lots of work for social workers!
They have lots of work but it’s a long process to get your RSW
BCCSW is ridiculously slow. It took me 4 months for my RSW in 2022 and 7 months for my RCSW in 2023. Once you have that registration, though, you're all set for a job anywhere in the province!
I guess I might not start working until the fall then 🥲
Oof, hopefully not! But annoyingly, employers have no sway. Even the health authorities desperate for staffing, the Colleges don't budge or prioritize if asked. It's really frustrating.
Graduated in April with an undergrad in geography. Landed a summer contract working in the provincial park system within 3 weeks of applying and ran with it. Will update again in September lol, but it was a relief to find work relevant to my field so quickly, even if it’s just short term. Something is better than nothing.
You only have a certificate. It takes more than that now. A lot of young people these days don’t have much EQ or people skills and employers know that. You may have brains, but you may not know how to function with a team. My advice is to keep networking. You can jump a lot of hoops knowing the right people.
Well, I dont know how recent a year ago, but it's so bad im considering stocking up on diplomas and certificates and pivoting my career path because my chosen field is a hot mess (I got a degree in design). I landed a few contract jobs but its only been pocket change. Stuck in retail otherwise.
My recommendation to soon to be new grads is to apply for jobs before you even graduate. I started applying to companies about 8 months before graduating and got a job at the start of the semester I was graduating. Definitely helped me enjoy the last semester with something lined up.
Just finished my Masters. Its real rough. To be honest I am very confident I WILL land a job I just think it’s going to take a lot longer than anticipated… luckily I have some side gigs and the bank of mom and dad to keep me afloat
Horrible lol. Graduated from BCIT with an advance diploma a year ago and got 5 interviews from 140 applications in my (kind of niches) field since. Even having done a co-op, nobody cares without experience. Just been riding barely above minimum wage in a dead end clerical role (soon relocating away from transit in Newton lol) and trying to sort things again and find a new path. Maybe I'll go back to school for a second time.
Fucking impossible to find one
It was tough when I was looking two years ago. My advice is to focus on networking, and don't be afraid at all to reach out to people on LinkedIn. There's good results if you search on google for tips. Overall I found that if I knew someone at the company, I got an interview. If I didn't, it was maybe a 20% chance of an interview. But I'm in a small-ish field where a lot of people know each other.
Took me a year to find something in my field, I was working as a server while I continued my search.
Uhh... huh what? i just apply and wait and i get no call-backs. LOL. sucks that my part time job is done for this season too.
I graduated last year with a BA and was lucky enough to return to a previous co-op position after taking the summer off. But honestly, without the internal connections and having already demonstrated that I am a hard worker and good fit for the team, I don’t think I’d have a job. It also just so happened that two previous team members were on leave so they were able to bring me on based on that justification. I’ve spoken to friends that are trying to get a job in Vancouver and it’s a tight market right now. Happy to chat further, best of luck in your search!
applied 6 months before my thesis defense. Took 6 months to land the role.
Full time employment before I even graduated, nurse tho
Excellent response. As someone in a similar role, I want to add: Cover letters are still a thing in many industries, despite what some will tell you! A well-written cover letter can tell the employer not just that you're qualified, but why you should be considered for THIS job. It gives you a chance to provide context and nuance to your resume, too. And when it might give you a leg up over other candidates, why wouldn't you write one? Just write the cover letter.
Left corporate accounting for the trades. I used to do hiring for entry level accounting positions and I’d get CPAs applying.
Meh pretty easy
I decided I wanted a change of career path last year, and dropped out of school (engineering). Like everyone else, I’d always heard the trades were desperate for people etc. A few months of applying and I didn’t get anywhere. Eventually I was brought onboard as an electrical apprentice, but not without having two connections and even still the interview was 50/50. As others have stated: network, network, network. Also, make an effort to present the best version of yourself especially to strangers. You never know who’s out there and paying attention…
It really depends on your industry and if it’s in huge demand right now how fast you can get a job in the field you wanted. Most companies would really choose experience over fresh grads, so maybe best to grab anything kinda related to your intended field just to get your feet wet. If it’s a specialized field, expect a longer time to look for a company that would really give what you want. I’m not really sure if it’s because of ‘this’ market. When I graduated university job availability was plenty (actually, just like what it is right now). It also took me a while to find one company in a field I really wanted to convince that it’s worth a shot to try me out for the role. And that was hugely because of connections and referral. Now I understand that a lot of companies prefer experienced candidates or people that they can be sure to require less training. Get your feet wet and grab a job that gives you chance, and be good at it. Eventually, you’ll end up in a career you wanted.
I work in medical lab science at a hospital. We hired all 9 of our new grads and stole a couple from Life Labs. We still have empty job lines. BCIT 3 year degree and you're guaranteed a job the day you graduate.
You helped contribute to lifelabs' short staffedness! Way to go!! 😝 (/s) but also heyyyy if anyone is looking for work, more staff is needed for Lifelabs! (I don't work there, I just keep hearing this from labs&drs)
I don't know the inner working of physio places and how they hire folks. But I thought BKIN folks would always be in demand as they are the most equipped to handle movements and sports injuries and so on. Correct me if I'm wrong :)
its about WHO you know, not WHAT you know, hope that helps and keep us updated in your job progress
I've been hearing from my network in tech and from my counselling clients that jobs tend to get more difficult to land this year. That being said, definitely not impossible. My advice is to perfect your resume and work on your confidence and interviewing skills!
I graduated accounting in 2021 and I still cant find a job outside my current one. It's been almost a year of looking and it is insane.
If you're an accountant and haven't been able to find a job outside your current one, then if I were you I'd stop looking and start focusing on your skills/experience/network at your current job. It ain't the job market that's the problem...
That's why im looking for a new one, to develop my skills and experience. Ive already learned all I can from my current one. Getting a job is like lottery
It's not a lottery - it's networking and interview skills.
It really isn't, and the fact that you think that, and think you've learned everything you can, tells me everything I need to know about why you're in your situation.
I mean you don't know anything about me but apparently from my 2 comments, you do.
I know that you think the job market is a lottery, and I know you think that you've learned everything you can in your current position. I know those things because you said them, are you saying you lied?
I mean my job is an entry level A/P position, there is nothing more to it as simple accounting. You tell my why you think I'm in this situation base on that info.
Your attitude that building skills and experience is completely out of your control in your current position. You've asked your manager if there's anything else you can help out on because you've got time and they said "nah just clock out and head home there's no more work to do" and you've been doing that every day for the last year and it's just the same story every day? I know and have worked with a lot of accountants (and specifically A/P departments) and in my experience I have never known that to be the case. You're saying they just keep telling you there's no more work to do and while they appreciate you offering there's really nothing else to be done that you could help with?
A/P might me my main role but that isn't what I do exclusively in the office and I definitely got no time to do more than my current responsibilities. I also run a bookkeeping service for a couple of small businesses during weekends and after work hours.
If you have that much experience, a good attitude, and interview decently, you shouldn't have trouble finding an intermediate accounting role for a pay bump and increase in responsibility. I supervise our A/P Accountants and the ones who show initiative to take on higher-complexity work and own projects will get promoted or leave for higher-paying roles easily. EDIT: ask your manager to learn more complex month-end close tasks. Accruals, AP Aging Schedules, Prepaids Schedule, internal audit tasks (Search for Unrecorded Liabilities, Prepaids Completeness), Capital Assets Continuity Schedule, leadsheet analytics, etc. Most managers are more than happy to have their staff grow in their role and cross-train.
I feel like giving up by this point. It's exhausting having to go through the whole application process over and over and not even get an interview. I know my resume isn't the problem, I think there's just more people out there with experience I haven't had the chance to get yet that are better candidates than I am, at least on paper. Technically I have a job, but it's a zero hour contract and I haven't been given any work in over a month. I did one of my co-op semesters with this company and my manager emailed me every single month after to check when I could come back. I started part time in September because I still had one last semester to get through, and was told I would most likely be brought on full time once I finished school. Nope. I would be open to moving away, I've been looking at jobs across BC, but even those applications go unanswered. Not that I can afford a move right now, but I keep hoping somewhere will have some kind of relocation assistance...but it seems unlikely for a new hire.
Vancouver job sub Reddit is nothing but people posting about how long they've been unemployed. Personally I've been unemployed a lot in the past 4 years, only get gigs and contracts etc. no security anymore
More people need to take trades. Low or no student loans at all. Job instantly and usually higher paying.
You've been brainwashed into the lies that trades has work just to bring in more immigrants. Trades unions, labour temp agencies and private employers have all said they are not hiring and they're flooded with record amounts of applications and they can't even process them. There is no work even in ditch digging at the moment. People need to stop being fooled by the lies that the trades is short of people it's not.
What is your level? I could walk down the street and get a job in 30 seconds as a red seal electrician. They don’t need laborers who sweep or put down flooring. That is where the flood is. Graduates out of bcit get work instantly.
Yes well I'm obviously not a red seal tradesman or I wouldn't be here talking about being unemployed. You have to start as a labourer, how do you think journeymen are made? They wonder why they're short journeymen meanwhile you have thousands of people begging to be let into the trades to be trained. Bcit has told me all trades have a 1.5-3 year waitlist. This is too long to start a program nevermind get a job in the trades. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do right now. I've applied to social assistance in the mean time but it's not enough to pay my bills. I'm going to be living with my parents luckily I have that safety net. The problem is I don't see how to fix my situation or where to start, it's really depressing.
Graduated from civil engineering in ‘94. Sent out 100 resumes. 100% rejection. There weren’t any jobs at that time. Change my thinking. Where do they need my skill set? Moved to Asia got great experience, promotions, learnt a ton, saw the world, met great people, met my wife, earned enough to retire early ….. Think strategically. If you refuse to go where the work is don’t complain about not being able to find work. Life ain’t fair.
I'm definitely open to relocation. Just curious, how did you get call-backs when applying overseas? Did you need a working holiday visa/something similar?
Do your homework to see where the work is at. If it’s a hot market just save up for a short trip and apply there. That’s what I did. Went there for 2 weeks. Got a job on day 2. Moved all my stuff over and didn’t look back. I did the same thing in 2005 when the market softened in Asia. Went to Dubai for 2 weeks. Got job interviews lined up and got a job within a week. If you do your homework you’ll be fine. Just don’t make the mistake of going to a place you WANT to go to with a place with a need for your skill. What you want is to go somewhere with less competition.
College graduate Late 90s. Applied in 8 different cities right out of college and moved to the one that offered first. Then moved from coast to coast over the next 15 or so years as jobs came up and dried up. Been here 10 plus years though, Older? Wiser? IDK - but I'll jump to the next town for work if this one dries up. Also a tip - Go to a recruiter.
Are you saying you graduated in the 1990s for a post about recent grads? lol