How I Got Job Interviews in Montreal
Without Sending Dozens of Resumes
Designed by Magnific – www.magnific.com
Looking for a job in a new French-speaking country can be frustrating.
I had the same experience when I arrived in Montreal in 2010, and I decided to find other ways to search for a job.
The Context: Looking for a Job Without Knowing The Cultural Codes
As I was just arriving from France, a few weeks after settling in my new apartment and taking care of the paperwork, I started searching for a job.
As Montreal is bilingual, and Quebec’s official language is French, I was wondering which language I had to prioritize.
A good friend who was a French expat gave me a good piece of advice:
- “Don’t prioritize French nor English, you already speak both, it will give you more opportunities and you will access bilingual jobs.“
So I decided to apply for jobs by email, in French or English, depending on the language of the job description.
But I barely received any answers, or negative answers.
So I decided to send an unsolicited job application to companies I was interested in, the way I had done it in France. No answers.
It was winter and I barely knew people in Montreal.
My French expat friend gave me another good piece of advice:
- “People here usually go to professional networking events in Montreal. Try it.“
I found a networking event for business analysts, a job close to pre-sales engineer when I used to work in Belgium, so I subscribed online and decided to go.
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The French-Speaking Networking Event Taught Me a Lot
The event took place in downtown Montreal and was officially French-speaking, as the event description was written in French.
But I was ready to speak English if there were English-speaking business analysts as well. I didn’t want to miss any opportunity.
The event was organized in two parts:
- A conference with experts talking about their experiences as a business analyst.
- Free time to network with all the participants.
The second part was the most interesting one, because everybody was here to grow their network.
After the conference, everybody started to talk to each other, and I admit I was lost.
I tried to talk to the organizer, introduced myself, and the organizer responded politely without re-engaging the conversation.
As I observed people introduced themselves and mentioned why they were there, I simply said (in French):
- “I used to work in GIS software as a pre-sales engineer and I’m looking for a similar job.“
The organizer responded with a polite smile, then a person behind me who was listening said:
- “I know someone in HR at an IT company looking for your profile, let me give you his contact.“
The situation was funny to see. I was keeping on talking to the organizer, and a person coming out of nowhere just gave me a strategic contact.
I contacted HR and I had a job interview two days later.
That was my first lesson about how to search for a job in Montreal.
Talking With Experienced Expats Helped Me Find More Job Interviews
My French friend had already been living in Montreal for more than two years. He gave me the idea of attending networking events.
We were talking about how to have more job interviews. I asked him:
- Me: “I noticed there are so few job offers online, why?“
- Him: “Companies here first look for a candidate within their company and their close network. Then they put the job offer online.“
- Me: “So how do I access these job offers?“
- Him: “Call HR and talk to them, it’s very common to do that here.“
- Me:”Wow… Cold call? I’ve never done that before!“
- Him: “Just try it, it’s more efficient than sending dozens of random resumes.“
That’s what I did. I just tried.
I went home and began to look for interesting companies online. I found one French-speaking IT company with the HR’s direct phone number.
I called her and began to introduce myself, explained why I was calling, as I did during the networking event.
I got lucky because she was also French, and she really appreciated my approach, and invited me for an interview.
I felt so motivated looking for a job this way that I repeated the process and called other companies. And I obtained other interviews, one of them would take place in a French-speaking GIS software company.
Why Local Work Experience Matters in Montreal
After the networking event and some cold calls, I still haven’t found a job.
Good jobs are not easy to get, and there was something very specific to Montreal that I learned later:
- It’s important to get a first work experience, so that the future companies know that you can work in Montreal work environment.
So the problem was not my technical skills, it was cultural:
- I needed to prove that I could work with local people.
As we were having a dinner with expat friends in my apartment, I was talking about this first work experience and admitted I didn’t know what to do to get it. One of my friends said:
- “If you’re Ok to find a quick job, print thirty resumes, go downtown and give your resume to every shop where you’d like to work.“
What a challenge! I never did that before in France. But I was interested in working as a seller in a shop, because I liked the sales part.
So I just did it without thinking too much, improvising, and making mistakes sometimes:
- I visited dozens of shops downtown, introduced myself and gave my resume.
- I learned how to introduce myself quickly in French and English, and how to switch languages.
- One manager refused my resume because I said “No” to work on weekends, so I said “Yes” for the following shops.
- The second day, a shop who sold cable services and smartphones accepted to receive me for an interview.
After trying thirty shops, I eventually found the right argument:
- I said I could sell products to expats thanks to my language skills (French, English, Portuguese and Spanish).
Three Job Search Strategies That Helped Me Get More Job Interviews In Montreal
As an expat living in Montreal for a few months, sending dozens of random resumes simply didn’t work.
Thanks to the good advice from my expat friends, here is what I did.
Strategy 1: Attend Networking Events
Designed by Magnific – www.magnific.com
I attended many networking events in Montreal, and after trying many times, I learned how to be efficient to find the right contacts.
When you go to networking events, you can find two situations:
- Group of people who already talk to each other.
- People who stay alone and are available to talk.
Strategy 2: Try Cold Calling Companies
Designed by Magnific – www.magnific.com
Sending random resumes was not worth it, as there was competition for good jobs, I had to do it differently:
- I did some research online on interesting companies.
- I studied them before calling HR or other strategic employees.
- I may have an interview, or the contact details to send my resume for further opportunities.
Strategy 3: Visit Companies in Person
Designed by Magnific – www.magnific.com
As an expat looking for a job in your new French-speaking country, you have to know the cultural codes in order to get a job interview.
The work habits are different in each country.
In Montreal, visiting a company and giving your resume is very common:
- It can work if you give it to the right person at the right moment.
Finding a Job in Montreal: Final Thoughts
The strategies I shared work in the context of a job search in Montreal.
It can work in other countries and cities as well.
If you just arrived in a French-speaking country and sending resumes online isn’t getting results:
Talk to local people and experienced expats, they will give you good advice to get job interviews.
Do you have an upcoming French job interview in France or another French-speaking country?
Do you need to practice your professional French and prepare your questions?
Book your Professional French Assessment to prepare your next job interview in French.
I will assess your professional French and help you understand the local workplace cultural codes, and together we will define clear objectives for your upcoming presentation.