The Job Hunt

In the first five days I have applied for almost 40 jobs. Most of them are construction jobs ranging from general labour to tilesetting to concrete work. There really is a lot of work available, although I'm not quite experienced enough for all the jobs--they need workers so quickly that they want someone experienced so they don't have to waste time training. I finally got a someone to bite on Thursday. The job was to be a concrete finisher's helper. I called and he told me to meet him at 8:00 that night at a Tim Hortons.

This is probably a good time to explain Tim Hortons. When my wife first described it to me she called it, "A Canadian legacy." My first trip to Tim's was her father to ask for his blessing to get married (after meeting him the night before). Ti'm's is basically a donut shop, but everyone goes there for the coffee. People line up around the block every morning to get their 'double-double' (two creams and two sugars). The craziest part is that there is no shortage of Tim Hortons-they're everywhere. This map shows four Tim Hortons in South Calgary within 2.4 km of each other.

I'd say something about Tim's being the Canadian Starbucks, except Tims started first, and Tim Hortons controls 62% of the Canadian coffee market. It's so important that it's found on seven Canadian forces bases worldwide, including Kandahar, Afghanistan. Their donuts are pretty good, but I mean, they're just donuts. 

Back to the job search. So I pull in and see an Island Concrete truck. I get out, he gets out. He tells me that it will be hard work, I tell him about my immigration predicament and he's willing to help, but he's not very handy on a computer. So I tell him I'll put the paperwork together and bring it to him the next day.

Later that night, Courtney had me printing off nearly 20 pages of paperwork. Due to a new law this year the employer is also required to pay a $275 processing fee. I called him to tell what I found and he said he'd meet me Saturday afternoon. I got the paperwork ready and took it to him. I get to start as soon as the Labour Market Opinion is approved, which is soon, hopefully, because this job is only seasonal, after which I'll have to find another one. But you have to admit, finding a job as a foreign worker in just one week isn't bad at all.