"But that one moment, that one line 'screamin' from beaneath the waves' crystallized this vision and became proof that the inner struggle, though unwinnable, is the only fight worth fighting."*
After I chucked up my job as a dishwasher I set my sights on Toronto.** Finally, I'd be leaving the dishroom, and what was better I'd be in Canada's cultural center instead of Danville. Unlike Danville Toronto had something to offer to everybody, and I was looking forward to finding a job that had something to do with what I liked instead of cleaning slop. I have always preferred working in a CD store, or a book store, or a movie theater if I had a low-paying job because music, books and movies are the things I'm interested in. In Danville it's hard to do this because the unemployment rate is high and because we only have one CD store, two book stores and two theaters. But I was sure I'd have plenty of opportunities to find employment at those types of businesses in Toronto since it was a big city; it was bound to have more employment opportunities. And I didn't worry about my six-month work visa being a problem either. My experience working low-paying jobs is that the turnover rate is high, and I was certain it was likely an employer would be willing to hire me for a short period of time. I could not have been more wrong.
Most of my time in Toronto was spent trying to find employment, and I did everything I could to get employed. At first I tried the walk-in method. I'd walk around the city in the bitter Canadian cold submitting my resume*** at different places, and I was usually told they weren't hiring or wouldn't hire me because of my six-month work visa. I remember one time when I submitted my resume at a Second Coffee the manager smiled, looked at my resume and noticed I was from the United States. My hopes went up. "Finally, maybe I've found a job and I can stay in Canada," I thought. Then I told him my work visa was good for four more months. That smile quickly disappeared and he sternly told me "Sorry, we can't do employment like that." Although I was getting rejected at a rate I had never experienced before I stubbornly persisted with the walk-in method. Surely in a big city somebody had to be out there who was willing to hire me. If I just stick with the walk-in method I'm bound to find employment. I finally changed my mind after I got blisters on my feet after playing soccer in a gymnasium. All that walking had worn my feet out, and I spent that night hobbling around the hostel I was staying at.
The next method I tried was looking for employment online. At the SWAP office**** I'd spend hours sending out resumes around the city, hoping that someone would take a chance on me. This was effective. I was able to get employers to interview me, but the result was the same--rejection. And I was rejected to the point of absurdity. I did find a business that was looking for a temporary employee to work the cash register, and the interview went well; and I was told they would contact me about the job. Again I got my hopes up. Maybe this would be the job that would keep me in Canada for the duration of my work visa. But when I didn't hear anything from them for several days I called back to check on my resume. The manager informed me the store owners had decided to ask back the girl they had fired.
After this I decided the sending-out-resumes-online method was not working. The only thing that was left to try was temping. One of my roommates, who had a five-month work visa, did this and he was able to find employment soon after he arrived in Canada. I had given my resume to a temp agency a couple of days after I arrived in Toronto, but I didn't hear anything from them, and I even submitted my resume twice. This time I decided to submit with a different temp agency. After about a week the agency did find me a job, but my cell phone was recharging when they tried calling me, and it was one of the few times I recharged it during the day. This was probably the biggest mistake I made while I was in Toronto. But that same day my credit card got canceled because of potential fraud use. At that point I had spent about three months in Canada--half the duration of my work visa. So since I had little cash, no job and now no credit card I decided to go back home.
Going back home was like an anti-climax; I had high hopes of finding employment in Canada. But hardly anybody was going to hire me because of my six-month work visa. Most employers figured if I was just going to be in Canada for six-months I wasn't worth hiring; and a six-month work visa was the longest visa I could obtain because of the SWAP agreement the United States and Canada have. I don't know why it's like that because having a six-month work visa makes finding employment hard. It's like fighting an up hill battle that can not be won. But somebody told me it was like that because the U. S. and Canada share a border; they're two countries that are close to each other, so they don't want people from the other nation taking jobs away from their citizens. But I have no regrets about going to Canada--even if I was bound to fail finding employment. I met alot of great people in Toronto and had a great time. If there is anything I learned from falling flat on my face in the bitter cold it's if you don't take any risks you won't get anything out of life, even if you fail.
After I chucked up my job as a dishwasher I set my sights on Toronto.** Finally, I'd be leaving the dishroom, and what was better I'd be in Canada's cultural center instead of Danville. Unlike Danville Toronto had something to offer to everybody, and I was looking forward to finding a job that had something to do with what I liked instead of cleaning slop. I have always preferred working in a CD store, or a book store, or a movie theater if I had a low-paying job because music, books and movies are the things I'm interested in. In Danville it's hard to do this because the unemployment rate is high and because we only have one CD store, two book stores and two theaters. But I was sure I'd have plenty of opportunities to find employment at those types of businesses in Toronto since it was a big city; it was bound to have more employment opportunities. And I didn't worry about my six-month work visa being a problem either. My experience working low-paying jobs is that the turnover rate is high, and I was certain it was likely an employer would be willing to hire me for a short period of time. I could not have been more wrong.
Most of my time in Toronto was spent trying to find employment, and I did everything I could to get employed. At first I tried the walk-in method. I'd walk around the city in the bitter Canadian cold submitting my resume*** at different places, and I was usually told they weren't hiring or wouldn't hire me because of my six-month work visa. I remember one time when I submitted my resume at a Second Coffee the manager smiled, looked at my resume and noticed I was from the United States. My hopes went up. "Finally, maybe I've found a job and I can stay in Canada," I thought. Then I told him my work visa was good for four more months. That smile quickly disappeared and he sternly told me "Sorry, we can't do employment like that." Although I was getting rejected at a rate I had never experienced before I stubbornly persisted with the walk-in method. Surely in a big city somebody had to be out there who was willing to hire me. If I just stick with the walk-in method I'm bound to find employment. I finally changed my mind after I got blisters on my feet after playing soccer in a gymnasium. All that walking had worn my feet out, and I spent that night hobbling around the hostel I was staying at.
The next method I tried was looking for employment online. At the SWAP office**** I'd spend hours sending out resumes around the city, hoping that someone would take a chance on me. This was effective. I was able to get employers to interview me, but the result was the same--rejection. And I was rejected to the point of absurdity. I did find a business that was looking for a temporary employee to work the cash register, and the interview went well; and I was told they would contact me about the job. Again I got my hopes up. Maybe this would be the job that would keep me in Canada for the duration of my work visa. But when I didn't hear anything from them for several days I called back to check on my resume. The manager informed me the store owners had decided to ask back the girl they had fired.
After this I decided the sending-out-resumes-online method was not working. The only thing that was left to try was temping. One of my roommates, who had a five-month work visa, did this and he was able to find employment soon after he arrived in Canada. I had given my resume to a temp agency a couple of days after I arrived in Toronto, but I didn't hear anything from them, and I even submitted my resume twice. This time I decided to submit with a different temp agency. After about a week the agency did find me a job, but my cell phone was recharging when they tried calling me, and it was one of the few times I recharged it during the day. This was probably the biggest mistake I made while I was in Toronto. But that same day my credit card got canceled because of potential fraud use. At that point I had spent about three months in Canada--half the duration of my work visa. So since I had little cash, no job and now no credit card I decided to go back home.
Going back home was like an anti-climax; I had high hopes of finding employment in Canada. But hardly anybody was going to hire me because of my six-month work visa. Most employers figured if I was just going to be in Canada for six-months I wasn't worth hiring; and a six-month work visa was the longest visa I could obtain because of the SWAP agreement the United States and Canada have. I don't know why it's like that because having a six-month work visa makes finding employment hard. It's like fighting an up hill battle that can not be won. But somebody told me it was like that because the U. S. and Canada share a border; they're two countries that are close to each other, so they don't want people from the other nation taking jobs away from their citizens. But I have no regrets about going to Canada--even if I was bound to fail finding employment. I met alot of great people in Toronto and had a great time. If there is anything I learned from falling flat on my face in the bitter cold it's if you don't take any risks you won't get anything out of life, even if you fail.
*Liner notes from the Echo & The Bunnymen boxed set written by Wayne Coyne
**How I was able to have the legal right to seek employment in Canada is explained in "Restaurant Days: Routine Dishwashing."
***SWAP (Student Work Abroad Program) is the Canadian program that allows U.S. students to work abroad in Canada for up to six months.
****Most businesses in Canada only accept resumes, even if it's for a low-paying job.
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