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It varies. The bigger stumbling block is if you need a visa. Most companies don’t want to go through the hassle of arranging a visa if there is a perfectly acceptable candidate that doesn’t require one.
Otherwise, as long as you’re professional and capable, there’s often not a problem with not being white. It does help if you are physically attractive, for both sexes.
^ agree. It’s lot harder in USA. Although, in Canada MBA graduates receive 2-3 post graduate work permit so I guess this work permit doesn’t increase the burden of visa on employer. And I do feel that learning more about sports, culture, and other aspects of country to get yourself comfortable talking with local people always help.
If the visa is not an issue (I like the 2-3 year thing Canada does, the US should do the same), the only other thing I would do would be to really work on eliminating any thick accent.
It can create a stumbling block in networking and interviews if it’s heavy enough that people are struggling to understand your message. If you’re seeking a front office or client facing role that will require speaking skills it is important as well and will only increase in importance as you move up in the organization.
But as you said, learning about the culture and sporting events can be a great move as well. At my first major job out of college my manager was into college football so I began watching games and following sports center to create a conversation topic. It’s nearly 10 years later and I’m still watching, haha.
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I’m not big on self-help books, but this one is a classic.
On-topic, my department is all client-facing, and we have several international (or first gen) people in our organization. I agree with BS. As long as people can understand the words coming out of your mouth, your ethnicity shouldn’t be an issue (aside from the visa thing).
Can be a good thing as well for certain roles. Had a guy at my old office who was higher up in sales who came to the US by way of Canada starting out with the company in India who generated leads and business through the indian community. Obviously that was more bus-dev so your relationships are your lifeline but it doesn’t need to hamper you in any way. The bulk of the company was HQ’d in canada and there were plenty of indian employees.
Also atush, in person is always the best way to network. everyone gets rather low hit rates on random linkedin invites. (I only respond/accept people I know/have met or people from my university reaching out)
Sadly, I’ve actually seen it become an issue. I have personally known people that refused to call back a perfectly good candidate, simply because their resume “looked black”. (First name was something akin to “Shaniqua” and her alma mater was the Univesity of New Orleans)
Admittedly, this is worse in West Texas than it was in San Antonio.
This is really sad but I guess as a candidate if you already know that recruiter won’t hire you because of your name then you should move to other cities where this crap doesn’t happen. But it happens in real life…just sad.
I was shocked the other day when reading a job listing that stated “Candidates should note that ‘ABC Co.’ has a policy of not sponsoring applicants for work visas.” This was right at the end after a descriptin of the company and the position. I would think this would be breaking some employment law??
Yes, in person is the way to network. But I prefer to go through some reference if I could for example asking a prof or any Alumni who can introduce me to someone. Going through a reference always build the trust. LinkedIn is good for alumni who are very busy and who can’t meet in person. So I just drop message to them to get their phone number. Usually you don’t get the response quickly but they do reply depend how busy they are. . One difficulty I face that it’s very hard to beyond that passing resume thing. Almost every alumni asked me for resume to show around in their office or to a manager but I really don’t know how effective is that? Maybe I should follow up after a month or so… And what are the thoughts about hiring a professional resume writer? Because I have received few emails after sending my resume to alumni that my experience is good but resume could have been written well.
Kingston? KW?
No, unfortunately a large number of companies have stopped sponsoring work visas completely unless they are filling a specialized and difficult to recruit role. Apparently it costs them like >$10k so they just don’t do it.
It is illegal for an employer to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, based upon an individual’s citizenship or immigration status. Nothing requires an employer to sponor an applicant though.
My company has sponored a few people in recent years and it is rather expensive.
Its a numbers thing. Unfortunately you are in a tough spot. An indian going for the CFA in Canada. That REALLY doesnt stick out as there are soooo many. Even if you were white its not like jobs would just come to you the canadian CFA market is oversaturated. They take your resume and pass to around people take a look and eventually you may get a nibble. Sometimes teams arent hiring, sometimes they have family/friends or other people in mind for a position, sadly its just the way to go. Knowing people from the start is still and always has been the best way to find work. I feel for you, as someone working BO who would like more interesting work I can agree that networking isnt easy and I cant tell you how many networking emails I have sent and never received a response from.
Am I fu&ked ? I need a H1 sponsor after graduation, that’s why I switched to Mathematics/CS.Accounting was too simple to a get sponsor for a visa.
the visa thing is a pretty huge hurdle, probably moreso than people give it credit for.
in a client facing job, your looks and accent will have more importance. But if your a junior person crunching numbers in the back, it shouldn’t be a huge concern
Should have stayed in accounting. Big 4 firms will sponsor visas almost without question because they need people. The big issue now is hitting the H1B cap so quickly results in people having to hit the H1B lottery.
The cost of sponsoring the visa is one issue, lack of familiarity for employers is another. I don’t know the exact cost being that I’ve never seen the lawyer fees, but the US government fees alone run into the ~$3,000 per filing.
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