“Looking for Work But Nothing Seems to Work”: The Job Search Strategies of Internationally Trained Engineers in Canada

Abstract

This exploratory mixed-method study focussed on the experiences of internationally trained engineers in looking for and finding suitable employment in Canada. An online survey was conducted with 309 internationally trained engineers. The internationally trained engineers used a range of job search strategies to look for suitable employment in the engineering field, often with little success. Those respondents who had secured jobs in the engineering profession were significantly more likely to have been referred by another employer (p = 0.05) and less likely to have placed or responded to an advertisement in the newspaper (p < 0.05) than those who did not hold jobs in the engineering profession. No significant differences were seen between these two groups regarding other job search strategies used. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 of the survey respondents, and this paper details the diverse strategies used by these participants to find suitable employment. The findings of the study emphasise the role of systemic-level barriers in the job search experience of internationally trained engineers.