Attributes that are most sought by Canadian employers

A job application requires two major components, viz., qualifications (education, work experience, etc.) and qualities (Character attributes or behavioral attributes).
These qualities, most-wanted by employers, include:

1. Attitude (your personal values)
   
2. Communication Skills (verbal and written)
   
3. Task-related Skills
   
4. Problem-solving
   
5. Decision-making
   
6. Interpersonal skills or Teamwork skills (the ability to relate with other people)
   
7. Commitment to the Job
   
8. Strong work ethic
   
9. Honesty and integrity
   
10. Motivation and initiative
    
11. Flexibility and adaptability
    
12. Computer skills
    
13. Analytical skills
    
14. Organizational skills
    

On the same shelf:

Job Seekers | Career Resources | Top Skills Employers Want

What Canadian Employers Want in Employees

EXTRACT: To be successful as an immigrant in the Canadian labour market you need to know what the Canadian employers want and are looking for. Then, you have to market yourself and communicate to the potential employer that you do have the attributes and skills they are looking for.

The CACEE Campus Recruitment and Benchmark Survey Report ...

Verbal communication skills and analytical ability are the dominant skill attributes that Canadian employers seek from their new graduate hires.

Character Development Initiative Ontario boards and schools

Figuring Out What Employers Want, YMCA of Greater Toronto

And don’t forget the following basic attributes of all great job candidates.

Communication: Candidates should actively listen, understand, and learn. They should be comfortable working with the text- and graphic-based written materials used in a particular role

Thinking: Great applicants know how to think critically and act logically to evaluate situations, solve problems, and make decisions. They use math skills to understand and solve problems, then make use of the results. They're comfortable with the technology of business, and can choose the right tool for the job

Learning: A commitment to lifelong learning can make a strong impression on a potential employer

Canadian Experience: Myth or Reality Poll

This blog asked bloggers to vote. The results are:

Myth: Yes (18 %) / No (0 %)
Reality: Yes (43 %) / No (0 %)
Don't know (43 %)

On the same shelf:

Will the Canadian Experience Class program help ease the construction industry skills shortage? weekly poll

Employment Equity - Myths and Realities

The Canadian Model of Diversity in a Comparative Perspective

What does being Canadian mean to you? - Yahoo! Answers

No Canadian experience - no job : fact or myth? : a qualitative ...

New rules to fast-track skilled immigrants

The revised list (eligible skilled workers' category) is now reduced (for e.g, removed from this category are:  0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers / 3131 Pharmacists ):

be a skilled worker who has had one year of continuous full-time or equivalent part-time paid work experience in at least one of the following eligible occupations within the last ten years:

• 0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers (Cap reached)
• 0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
• 1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management (Cap reached)
• 1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
• 2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
• 2151 Architects
• 3111 Specialist Physicians
• 3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
• 3113 Dentists
• 3131 Pharmacists (Cap reached)
• 3142 Physiotherapists
• 3152 Registered Nurses (Cap reached)
• 3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
• 3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
• 3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
• 4151 Psychologists
• 4152 Social Workers
• 6241 Chefs
• 6242 Cooks
• 7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
• 7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
• 7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
• 7242 Industrial Electricians
• 7251 Plumbers
• 7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
• 7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
• 7371 Crane Operators
• 7372 Drillers & Blasters - Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
• 8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

See also:

Dentists eligible for immigration to Canada under the Federal Skilled Worker program

38 job categories listed in bid to clear backlog; critics say the move offers'no solutions'
Nov 29, 2008 04:30 AM Toronto Star

If you're planning to move to Canada, you'll have to check the list first.
Thirty-eight in-demand occupations were unveiled by the Harper government yesterday, setting out a new selection criteria for skilled immigrants, allowing those with relevant skills to be fast-tracked into the country.
The occupations include jobs in the field of health, skilled trades and the finance sector. Details of the long-awaited "ministerial instructions" were posted on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website (http://www.cic.gc.ca/), and come into effect immediately. continue reading @ Toronto Star

See also:

• Fast-Track Occupations List

Not all opportunities are equal -- Canadian job market is no exception

Quotable quote: They came to Canada in 2002, but sadly, writes Rashid, "in terms of
finding jobs, up until now I have noticed that no place except McDonald's welcomed us." more extracts in The Story That Brought Me Here

NB. Before you read, there is a punchline now in 2008: The Canadian Experience Class
And the fine print says: "...when an employer tells you you have no Canadian experience, there is at least one thing you can say, “No, I don’t, but my training is considered to be equal to…. [PDF] No Canadian Experience?”

Those who are living in this land of opportunities, must remember the bottomline: immigrants are not just born, nor they are kids (only adults immigrate, kids are sponsored).
Positive outlook: To be an immigrant doesn’t mean that you have to limit your life and keep away from “ordinary” activities that most of the settled people do. This sounds a two way approach in helping new immigrants, and new immigrants making use of all opportunities to get settled as early as possible.
See also:

• Employment Equity - Myths and Realities

Related post: Not all transitions are equal -- Canadian educational scenario is no exception
On the same shelf:

• All Qualifications Are Not Equal @ Many Immigrants to Canada Are Falling Behind

Not all transitions are equal -- Canadian educational scenario is no exception

The relationship between a) inequality of educational opportunities and b) inequality of educational outcomes is a dictum (or punchline) true for both the Canadian educated and those educated abroad.

Some of the profressions require Canadian certification (see Regulated occupation). For example, if an engineer qualified in a foreign country comes to Canada, he has to complete his professional competency test in Canada.
But, there are many jobs --skilled and professional -- that donot have a certification and local assessment (see Non-regulated occupation, Skill Types, Skill Levels, plus much more). Such professionals must be tested and hired in other ways.

Interesting quote on how to find a solution for the Canadian new comers:

"...Controversially, it would make sense to assign newcomers to a particular geographic area, e.g. if you want in to our country, you must have "x" type of skills and can only live in a certain city or town. You must live there for at least five years and use your skills there, or else "no soup for you" (e.g. no landed status, no access to government benefits). Sounds rather harsh. And useless unless our government expedites the recognition of pre-existing credentials, and provides more supported "Canadian experience" programs so that employers will hire these newcomers..." Mark Swartz @ Any Canadians out there? - Secrets of the Job Hunt Network.

Please join our poll (poll is right up in this blog--right column, top side) on Canadian experience: Myth or reality. The poll is open now and your opinion is highly appreciated.

See also:

• Statistics Canada. The Dynamics of Overqualification: Canada’s Underemployed University Graduate
  More than one-half (52%) of recent immigrants with a university degree worked in a job requiring only high school education at some point during the six-year period. This was almost twice the proportion of 28% among their Canadian-born counterparts. April, 2006.
  
• Alberta Federation of Labour. Background Information on Temporary Foreign Workers
  
  
• [pdf] Like Sons and Daughters of Hong Kong: The Return of the Young Generation, Janet Salaff, Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Honorary Research Fellow CAS, HKU, (corresponding author, contactsalaff@chass.utoronto.ca) [There is global competition for skilled labor, and as a result, transnational migrants have become important resources. The term “transnational” refers to people’s connections between different global locations, as manifested in their personal moves and flows of in- formation in which they are involved. In this sense, transnationalism is a concrete embod-iment of globalism. Our qualitative research studies 24 transnational young adults, who migrated with their families from Hong Kong to Toronto (1985-1996, at ages 8-19). Ten years after the Handover, many children of immigrant families who obtained overseas citizenship and education and are now facing the choice of where to work and live. This paper analyses the factors that contribute to the residency decisions being made by the children of those who left. Our analysis incorporates: (1) Macro-level processes: the citizenship rights of this younger generation in two countries and how labour markets re- cognize their training, credentials, and experience; (2) Meso-level processes: the family, social networks, and organizations that create transnational contacts; (3) Micro-level pro- cesses: personal definitions of the situation that include their notion of home and identity.
  We find that while some of the younger generation chose between Hong Kong and Canada, many are transnational in their intentions, not choosing to permanently return to Hong Kong nor to permanently remain in Canada. We find that their social networks greatly influence their settlement decisions. Having roots in Hong Kong they are able to fit easily into society, but their return should not be taken for granted. They need to be motivated to return, their complex needs should be addressed.]

Related post: Not all opportunities are equal -- Canadian job market is no exception