This may be just a silly idea.. but have you talked to any Canadians and asked them how they apply for jobs? See, my brother moved to Belgium, sent tons of resumes and never got called to an interview... and then a Belgian neighbour helped him, looked at his resume and told him that he's not doing it right. The Belgian way was totally different: they openly praise themselves etc. whereas Finns tend to just honestly explain what they can do.

After my brother re-wrote his resumes the Belgian way, the next three resumes got him a call to an interview and one of them got him a job :)

And something more: I know how you feel. I've been feeling rather miserable lately as well, because of the fact that I don't have a job and I don't really know where to find one. I've been looking, but I think I'll have to start doing it twice as actively as I've done so far. The problem is that I don't really know what I want to do or what I can do.

I feel so bloody useless sometimes. :(

Outi, why not try the temping agencies?

There are quite a few out there, eg. Eilakaisla, Staffpoint, VPS, Proffice, Clerical. More from the Yellow Pages, the web etc.

See their websites for open positions, and if there's nothing to your liking, leave an open application / CV. At some point, they'll interview you to get an idea of the sort of tasks you might be suited or already have the skills for, and also what you might be interested in.

You'll get the opportunity to try different jobs, sometimes for a day or two, sometimes longer, which at least might give you an idea of what you don't want to be doing in the future :).

Some jobs might require specific skills (such as accounting, coding and the sort) but at least in the office branch, simple MS Office skills and a willingness to try and learn can take you far.

There's also the bonus of being able to say no any job assignment offered, and when the perfect employment opportunity knocks elsewhere, quit temping altogether very quickly. There's also the possibility of temping in the same position or for the same customer company for longer periods of time, and perhaps ultimately being hired by them directly.

On the minus side, the income may not be great or even steady. Also the job assignments might not be very satisfying - making an inventory, packing, typing, answering phones, copying, running errands etc. In some cases, the employment benefits offered by the temping agencies are not great either, I hear.

All in all, it might be something you might want to consider if you're having difficulty deciding, or feel you're not qualified for a regular, full-time job, or want to start with something easier while you keep looking, or simply want to get out there and do something for change.

(And that was an awful lot of "something"s, and a looong comment ;).)

Maybe you should give it a thought as well, dearest, if they do temping in beautiful Vancouver? At least on this side of the world, outsourcing and renting out IT professionals has become fairly common.

I know how you feel as after two years of the same sort of frustration in Finland and not knowing the language very well if at all, I was very close to accepting defeat and going home when I finally found something. Look on the bright side as you know the language and summer is coming which can sometimes work in your favour with fewer applicants in the pool. I'm sure you'll find something. Hang in there, I know how hard it is.