Jay, an Asian-Canadian business development executive, was educated in Toronto but had no Canadian work experience. Newly married in Hong Kong, he wanted to settle in Toronto to begin a life for himself and his new bride and relocate to be close to his parents.

Despite his impeccable work record (with clients such as Google Alphabet), he struggled to find an appropriate job. From September to January (before working with Westgate), he had had not one job interview. We worked together to build his brand, uncover his signature stories and in less than 90 days he had a job offer (and with no Canadian experience) in a brand-new industry.

Jay: “Maureen, I felt like I created the job market myself. You know, it was hidden in the sense that I didn't think of it first. But, when you and I had decided on my top five companies…that led to a plan, right? And I ask my team of account managers all the time, what's your plan? And I needed to treat it the same way. What's my plan to sell myself into a role with a company that I want to be with? So, once we had the top five target companies...that launched into planning around who do I need to network with?”

The hidden job market is comprised of 80% to 95% of jobs that are never advertised, or that are not advertised yet. There are 95% of executives competing for 5% of those advertised jobs, versus less than 1% of executives who are actively mining the hidden job market. There is virtually no competition in the hidden job market.

In our conversation, we discuss the challenges he overcame from working in Asia and then Toronto, relocating and adjusting to the North American market, and then navigating the hidden job market to land his next opportunity.

We also discuss his struggle to position himself effectively through his signature stories (one involving his work with Google as his client) within only a few bullet points on a resume. We discuss the different strategies involved to ensure those signature stories get heard by the right people.

On Father’s Day, Maddison Shears, a member of our team here at Westgate enjoyed the day fishing with her Dad at a local shoreline here in Nova Scotia CANADA at Lawrencetown Beach. They fished while the tide rolled in, bringing in Bass. Lawrencetown Beach is the most well-known surf spot near Halifax. Nova Scotia has become a recognized spot for year-round surfing. We have thousands of kilometers of south-east facing coastline, empty point-breaks, and tropical storms—all contributors for ideal surfing!