As written in my previous posts, I came to Canada alone and all by myself without financial help from anyone. I was able to apply for student visa successfully by using a sponsor for show money purposes. I documented how I did it in this post. Now that I am in Canada, I need actual money to spend for tuition and living costs.
Once I got settled in my apartment, I started printing my resumes. I updated my resume with my Canada address and my local number. I also deleted professional experience since as a student, I can apply only part time positions and usually these are survival jobs. In my opinion, you don't have to write your professional experience in your resume specially if you are just applying for a survival job since aside from the fact that your professional experience might really not be related to the position you are applying to, this might just intimidate employers in hiring you.
I didn't know anyone when I came to Moncton, New Brunswick. I just chose to study in this province because when I did my research, tuition fees here are cheaper compared to bigger cities like Toronto or Vancouver.
Before I came to Canada, I had already put in my mind that I will be starting from scratch and I should work in any legal job to sustain my life here. I walked around restaurants and grocery stores near NBCC and dropped my resume. I should also note that networking is very important. I have submitted multiple resumes but I only got a call from the pizza place where a Filipino I met in Facebook Filipino Group Page was working.
Restaurants and grocery stores are the usual place for students to work part time because they didn't require any background experience to hire you. I found a part time job in a pizza place as a cashier and order taker. I honestly cried the first day when I worked there because I am not used to that type of work and my body really ached from standing, cleaning tables and mopping floor. Yes, I applied for cashier and order taker, but usually when it is quite or no customers, we have to do other stuffs like what I mentioned. My drama lasted only on the first day though. Like I said, I had conditioned my mind that this will be the type of work that will help me survive while I am studying. I get paid the minimum wage. For New Brunswick, minimum wage is $11.35 per hour. I get tips too!
I have very limited budget specially since I am just earning a minimum wage. But I had learned to live within my means. I buy meat on sale and just keep them frozen until I'm ready to cook them. I cook my own meals and never eat out. I shop for winter clothes in thrifstores. I buy needed items in Dollarama. (Thriftstore and Dollarama are very near NBCC). I had never went into the mall while I was studying. Aside from not having the budget to spend there, I didn't have the time too since I study weekdays and work weekends. I also didn't feel ashamed to get bags from NBCC food bank. I go there once a month.
My part time in the pizza place lasted for 2 months. I decided to find another job because the pizza place cannot give me the maximum 20 hours that I am allowed to work and I need to maximize this to earn as much as I can. As international students, we are only allowed to work for a maximum of 20 hours per week. A friend of mine referred me to a homecare as a support worker. This was a night shift job and they gave me the full 20 hours. 10 hours on Friday night to Saturday morning and another 10 hours on Saturday night to Sunday morning. I was never a night person, but this schedule works better for me so I can study and finish all my school works on weekdays. I got paid $12.75 per hour in this job. In this job, aside from cleaning and mopping, I learned to clean toilets and make toilet bowls shiny! LOL. I also help seniors getting ready in the morning by washing/cleaning them and putting their diapers up. Tough job but I learned to enjoy it. I lasted in this job until I had to leave because I had to work as an intern for 7 weeks as part of my program in NBCC. I was lucky and so blessed to find an internship with pay. Out of all my classmates, I was the only one who got a paid internship. We have to apply to companies for our internship program. Since I have 7 years professional job experience, I got an edge over other candidates.
The struggle was real but I kept the faith, continued to persevere and believed that all my hard work will pay off and my Permanent Residency goal will be within my reach!
Hi! Thank you for sharing this. I am planning t enroll in NBCC also, this is very helpful.
I have a question, does doing part time job (20hrs/week) can really sustain your tuition fee and other expenses?