At Remitly we understand the challenges facing immigrants; many are a long way from their families, as they strive to succeed living and working in another nation. So we want to help make settling into a new country as easy as possible for you.
If you’re settling in Canada and looking for a job, you have to be ready for interviews. The possible cultural differences from interviews back home can make it seem like a daunting experience, but we’re here to help. Here’s everything you need to know about job interviews in Canada.
Preparing for a Canadian job interview
Understanding Canadian workplace culture
Although every employer will be slightly different, in general Canadian workplace culture is collaborative. There’s a focus on equality in the workplace and work can be less hierarchical than in other countries. Respect is afforded to all employees, regardless of their position or rank, so it’s common to call colleagues by their first names.
Generally speaking, work hours in Canada are Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm. This won’t vary much regardless of where in the country you’re job-hunting; Canadians respect the work-life balance and will not normally expect colleagues to be addressing work matters outside of those hours.
As a result, Canadian work culture values punctuality highly, so they won’t wait more than 15 minutes if you’re late to a meeting. When it comes to attire, unless you’re told otherwise, it’s normal for Canadians to dress conservatively and formally to work. This is especially true if your work involves face-to-face interaction with clients.
Common job interview formats in Canada
The most common format for a job interview in Canada is one-on-one. In a private job interview, a member of the company you applied to will ask you behavioural and technical questions to get a better understanding of your potential contribution to the company.
Private job interviews can be conducted in person or online. Canadian companies tend to favour in-person interviews over digital connections, though online interviews are popular for initial screenings of job applicants. In general, you should expect to meet with somebody from the company in-person at least once during the hiring process.
Sometimes, companies will interview applicants in a panel format. This means that you’ll meet with multiple representatives of the company at the same time. This provides the opportunity for different key contributors from the company to get to know you.
Finally, some companies will conduct group interviews. In this format, one or more interviewers representing the company will meet with multiple applicants at the same time. This style of interview is a great way to highlight your interpersonal and collaborative skills.
Researching the company
Before you attend a job interview, get as much information as possible about your potential employer. Their website is an obvious place to start; you can typically find an “about” section or a page that discusses the company’s foundational values.
Another good practice is to find out who’ll be conducting your interview and looking them up on the company website or on LinkedIn. This will help you understand who you’ll be meeting with, giving you time to think about specific questions you might ask.
You can also use third-party websites, such as Glassdoor, to gather information about the company. Many third-party websites allow companies’ current and former employees to leave a review about their workplace experiences.
Common questions in Canadian job interviews
Introducing yourself effectively
Your introduction should include all the information that an interviewer needs to know about you. You should also include details that reveal your knowledge of the company and the position. At the same time, your introduction should be concise and to the point:
- A short greeting
This can be something as simple as “hello.” You can also use a friendly phrase like, “I’m happy to be here” or “Thanks for meeting with me.” - Your name
Always introduce yourself using your full legal name. From there, you can include any preferred names or nicknames. Canadian work culture is inclusive and diverse. If you’d like to include preferred pronouns, this would be the time to do so. - Relevant experience
Share your role or key skills and the number of years of experience you have. - Company-specific details
You should include the title of the position to which you’re applying. You can also include some short details about why you’re excited about the role. - Career goals
Including some goals that you have for the future will help the interviewer understand how you might contribute to the company.
Here’s an example of a complete personal introduction that could be used in an interview setting:
Thanks for taking the time to meet with me. My name is Alexandra Smith. You can call me Alex and I use she/her pronouns. I’m a copywriter with five years of experience in marketing, particularly focused on social media marketing and SEO strategies.
I’m excited about the opportunity to work on the social media team at the Royal Bank of Canada. I’m looking forward to discussing more about how my skills could help increase your following, especially with a younger audience.
Common questions
Many questions asked in job interviews in Canada are open-ended. This means that the questions create space for you to answer in many different ways. These questions are intended to help the interviewer understand your past experiences, skills, and personality.
By gaining a deeper understanding of you as an individual, they’ll be better prepared to make a decision about how you could contribute to the company. Here are some questions you’ll likely encounter in job interviews:
- Tell me about yourself.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Why should we hire you?
- Describe a challenging situation you have overcome at work.
- Do you have any questions for me?
As you navigate these questions, focus on being specific and answering the question fully. You can also focus on Canadian cultural values, like collaboration, teamwork, and diversity.
Highlighting your personality
Regardless of whether you’re outgoing or a bit shy, you can excel at a job interview. There are some tried and true methods for connecting with your interviewer and highlighting your personality in a job interview. Many of these become more important if your interview is conducted online.
- Be genuine
Although it’s important to research the role and the company, you shouldn’t script your interview responses. Instead, think of the interview as a conversation with an acquaintance who’s looking to learn more about your work and experience. - Share anecdotes
Tell stories from your experiences in the interview. Actual examples of workplace interactions you’ve had will help provide context for your skills and personality traits. - Be aware of non-verbal communication
Make eye contact with your interviewer. Use positive body language to indicate that you’re engaged and actively listening. This can include maintaining good posture and nodding your head while listening—especially important in an online interview. - Align with company culture
Try to highlight parts of your personality that overlap with the company culture. Discussing shared values is a great way to build a connection. - Frame your responses positively
Although topics like challenges, weakness, and failures often come up in interviews, it’s important to remain positive. You can share what you learned from these experiences or how you’ve grown from them in order to keep the answer from becoming too negative.
Using the STAR method
There are plenty of ways to answer the behavioural questions you’re likely to be asked during job interviews. To ensure that you answer the question fully and provide relevant information, you can use the STAR method in your responses:
- Situation
Provide a specific experience that relates to the interviewer’s question. You should include details about when this happened and where you were working at the time. - Task
Be specific about what your role or involvement was in the situation. Describe exactly what it was that you had to do, including any deliverable materials or projects you had to complete. - Action
What did you do to fulfill your responsibilities and help the team succeed? Here, you can include details about the skills you used to resolve the situation. - Result
Describe the outcome of the situation. You should consider discussing who was impacted by your actions; your coworkers, the whole company, clients or customers? You should also include any lessons or takeaways that the experience provided and how those connect to your future work.
Examples of how to use the STAR method
Below are some common interview questions with answers that adhere to the STAR method.
- Can you describe a time you handled a high-pressure situation.
| Situation | When I was working for company X, I was given a huge graphic design project with a quick turnaround time. This project was developed by the marketing team to launch company X’s TikTok presence. |
| Task | My role was to perform the final edits of all of the graphics coming in from designers. At the time, I was managing a team of twenty graphic designers who were each tasked with ten graphics. So, I had to edit 200 graphics in a two-week period. |
| Action | With the deadline looming, I started by organizing a meeting with all the designers. I presented a timeline that would help maintain the constant pace of production needed to complete the edits on time.
I conducted one-to-one check-in meetings with each designer at the end of the first week—the project’s half-way point—to check in on their progress. |
| Result | The result was successful delivery of the project. The team and I were able to develop, edit, and submit all of the requested graphics by the deadline. I really had to rely on my time management and interpersonal skills to make it all happen. |
- Would you be able to handle changing responsibilities in the middle of a project?
| Situation | At company X we had a client for whom we were designing a new website on a tight deadline. Halfway through the work period, the client changed their mind about what they wanted the website to look like. They extended the project deadline by two weeks. |
| Task | My role was to write the code for the website. I had to ensure the finished product looked good on cell phones, which is where most of the client’s customers would be viewing the content. |
| Action | Based on previous work experience, I knew that a client that changes their mind once is likely to do so again. I developed an easy-to-complete feedback form on Google Docs that I sent to the client at the end of every workday. |
| Result | This allowed me to start work the next day with targeted feedback from the client. It ensured that I was able to meet the extended deadline and provide a product that the client was happy with.
Keeping the lines of communication open with the client was a key aspect of the success of this project. I’ve come to enjoy communicating with clients to make sure they love the final product that I deliver. |
- What do you do when you disagree with someone at work?
| Situation | At company X, my managers wanted to move away from in-person classes and deliver clients pre-recorded, standardized lessons. Because I was an instructor and had direct contact with our clients, I knew that one of the reasons our company was successful was because our customers valued the personalized lesson format. |
| Task | I was responsible for gathering insights about our clients and developing a curriculum of standardized lessons. |
| Action | I gathered client insights and developed a feedback page on our website where clients could request specific lessons. Using this information I developed a standardized curriculum that responded to our current client base. |
| Result | Although sales initially suffered because of the impersonal classes, I discussed the insights with management. They decided to reinstate a premium in-person class option. The combined offering of the standardized recorded classes and the premium in-person option doubled our overall sales in a six-month period. |
Advantages of the STAR method
The STAR method provides a structure to answer open-ended questions that often come up in job interviews. It can help you provide a relevant, complete answer, and it’s a great way to highlight your skills by discussing actual experiences from your professional life. It can also help minimize feelings of insecurity and nervousness during the interview.
Interview etiquette and best practices in Canada
General etiquette
As well as doing your research, dressing professionally, turning up promptly and introducing yourself, there are some other, more complex etiquette considerations.
Handling potentially illegal questions
In Canada, it’s illegal to ask questions in job interviews that can lead to discrimination. Questions that directly ask about your age, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, place of origin, citizenship, and gender identity are not allowed in an interview setting.
One possible challenge for immigrant candidates in Canada is the question of “Canadian experience.” This is when an interviewer specifically asks about Canadian work experience, which might suggest Canadian education or training is superior. If you’re asked this question at a job interview, you can focus on highlighting your skills and experiences that align with Canadian values like collaboration and diversity.
If you feel that you’ve been asked an illegal interview question, you should contact the company’s HR department.
After the interview
After you attend a job interview in Canada, you should send an email to your interviewer personally thanking them for their time. This should be sent within 24 hours of the interview.
Generally, an interviewer will discuss the next steps or timeline of the job application process at the end of the interview. If the discussed period of time has passed or you haven’t heard from the company in about a week, you can send a follow-up email. This will indicate that you’re still interested in the job while also giving you an update about the hiring process. Good luck!
FAQs:
Where can I find virtual interview resources and videos?
You can access interview resources on sites like LinkedIn and Coursera. You can also find information about job interviews on college and university websites. For online job interview preparation, consider testing your technical setup in a call with a friend or family member.
What should I do if an interviewer asks for my desired salary?
You should research the market value of a position before the interview so you can provide a range that you feel is appropriate to your skills, experience, the cost of living where the job is advertised and the context of the work. This is a chance to indicate whether you’re willing to negotiate on your compensation package, too.