– Participated in online recruitment consultations with 10 companies including BMO, a large Canadian bank
– Hosting a metaverse mentoring event inviting experts in promising occupations
The KOTRA Toronto Trade Center held an online job fair in May last year, focusing on industries where demand for manpower is increasing in the post-COVID-5 era. The event, which was centered on IT and logistics occupations, consisted of a 10:1 recruitment consultation attended by 1 job seekers located in Toronto and Montreal and a mentoring event using Metaverse, with 65 job seekers participating.
Event Outline
Toronto is ranked as the city with the highest number of high-tech jobs in all of North America. Low labor cost compared to major regions such as Silicon Valley is highlighted as the biggest strength. In addition to research institutes of global companies such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Uber, and Nvidia, Carrot Market, Megazone Cloud, Amo ( Aimmo) and other Korean startups are also actively entering the market. In addition, the logistics industry is also growing due to the revitalization of e-commerce due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, in the case of Korean companies that have entered the local market or companies run by Koreans, there is a great demand for manpower who can speak Korean and English.
This job fair was held entirely online in consideration of the spread of COVID-19. The recruitment consultation held an online individual interview only for those who passed the documents, and the mentoring event invited Korean experts working in the IT and logistics field to help them prepare for a job in Canada, such as the employment process and strategy, interview preparation tips, etc. made up of contents. Both events utilized major social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook, and promoted them to universities in Korea, Canadian Korean media companies, and Korean Associations. Taking advantage of the advantages of the online process, not only Korean students studying in Canada but also young job seekers living in Korea were recruited without limiting borders.
<Overview of Canada's Hot Trend (IT/Logistics) Online Job Fair in the First Half of 2022>
[Source: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]
Main contents of the event (1) Recruitment conference
This recruitment conference was held mainly in the IT and logistics fields. 4 IT companies and 6 logistics companies participated as job openings. Applicants who passed the document screening conducted a video interview with the company. According to the convenience of each company, online platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams were used.
(IT) Bank of Montreal (BMO), a Canadian global company and large bank, hoped to be hired in three jobs, including web developer, and was characterized by being able to work entirely from home. Megazone Cloud, a Korean startup that has entered Toronto, hoped to hire a cloud engineer, and at Keywords Studio, a local game company in Montreal, he was fluent in Korean and English, so he could translate and proofread English video games. I was hoping to find talented people.
(Logistics) Due to the high demand for jobs in the logistics sector, many companies wanted to hire them. In particular, he hoped to hire Korean-English-speaking talents from Korean companies that entered Canada, such as CJ CheilJedang, Pantos Logistics, and Nongshim. Recruitment was carried out in various fields such as international transportation management, air cargo management, warehouse management, logistics planning, and forklift operation.
Event Highlights (2) Metaverse Mentoring Event
We invited Korean mentors who first got a job and established themselves in IT and logistics fields, where the demand for job openings is increasing, and prepared a time to listen to their employment preparation process and employment strategies. In addition, during the mentoring event held last year, many job seekers wanted to learn how to write a personal statement in English suitable for employment in Canada and receive interview coaching. To this end, we collaborated with Pacemaker, a non-profit organization that supports Korean American employment, to plan an event that can support the entire process of employment in Canada.
This event was held on the Metaverse platform, Gather Town. The existing mentoring event was conducted in the form of a webinar, but there were difficulties such as having to listen to the presentation of a mentor in an unwanted field as mentors from various industries presented one by one sequentially. However, through the metaverse, participants were able to have a sufficient conversation time with the mentor they wanted, and a heated question-and-answer session of about two hours was possible.
An IT room and a logistics/career coaching room were opened within the Metaverse platform, and after the K-Move business was introduced by the person in charge of the trade center, the participants moved to each room. Afterwards, there was a question-and-answer session after listening to the mentor's presentation, and the participants were able to freely move around the room and listen to the mentor's presentation.
<Canadian employment metaverse mentoring event in the first half of 2022>
[Source: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]
<Information about mentors participating in mentoring events>
[Source: KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]
Robert Song, who participated as a mentor (IT room), selected skills, English, and network as the essentials to be a game developer in Toronto. He also explained the hiring process for programmers based on his own experience, and gave detailed information about interviews with HR managers, executives, and managers.
Following the presentation, Youngyun Namkung introduced the opportunity to change his career from UX and UI designer to software development engineer, and the job preparation process. In particular, she helped the participants understand the interview system of Canadian IT companies by guiding them in detail about the interview process, which was conducted in a total of four rounds of personal experience.
Afterwards, a conversation with the mentors followed, including questions received in advance. As much as the interest in the Canadian IT field was high, the questions were varied. Mentors actively shared their experiences on a variety of topics, including the content and answers of technical questions they were asked during the interview, the skills expected of new developers, the differences between Korean and Canadian companies, and the possibility of working from home.
(Logistics/Career Coaching Room) Logistics mentor Aiden Han introduced the Canadian logistics industry prospects and employment strategies. Mentor himself also graduated from the Department of Logistics, so based on his actual experience, he introduced the universities with the Logistics Department in Canada and the Logistics Professional Certificate, and specifically announced what preparations should be made for employment.
Career coaching expert Ralph Lee followed. We introduced how to write an English resume in a concise and conspicuous manner, emphasizing that the applicant's performance should be actively expressed using active verbs and specific figures rather than vague expressions. In addition, it was suggested that the interviewer first think about why the interviewer asked these questions during the interview, and then answer them in detail in relation to their abilities and experiences.
In the question-and-answer session that followed, questions about the interview in English were focused. In response to questions such as what kind of interview questions Canadian logistics companies ask and how to make a good impression at the beginning of the interview, appropriate methods for responding to the local culture were shared.
<A view of the event held at the Metaverse platform, Gather Town>
[Source: Photographed by KOTRA Toronto Trade Center]
implication
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian job market has shown a stable trend. The unemployment rate in March fell 3 percentage points from the previous month to 0.2%, the lowest level since the unemployment rate was announced in 5.3.
In the field, the voices of job seekers who are experiencing a shortage of workers can be heard. There is a shortage of job seekers compared to the abundance of jobs, but in the case of IT jobs, it is difficult for companies to find more suitable talents because they require specialized knowledge.
Due to the nature of the Canadian job market, job demand is mainly generated when vacancies occur, and companies prefer to hire people who live in Canada and can start working immediately. However, it is difficult to find suitable talent even in Canada, so there are places that provide employment visas to foreigners.
In addition, as the Canadian logistics market grows, logistics companies that have entered the local market or are operated by Koreans are complaining about the shortage of Korean-English manpower. If you have work experience in logistics in Korea, you can apply. In the local area, you need to make good use of the current opportunity by studying at a university with a logistics department or acquiring professional knowledge, such as obtaining a certificate.
Meanwhile, the KOTRA Toronto Trade Center is planning to hold an offline job fair in the second half of this year. This is an opportunity to talk directly with the interviewer at the job site and interact closely with the mentors. I hope it will be of great help to job seekers who are preparing to work in Canada.
Source: Comprehensive data from CBRE, Statistics Korea Canada, and KOTRA Toronto Trade Center