Trouble finding a java job

[birdman]

Hello everybody,

I have relocated to Toronto at the beginning of July. I was working in Quebec at the University, as a Java developer, for 5 years in the research and development department. I decided to take a new start by moving to Toronto.

I have been approached by some recruitment firms Robert Half, Keen Technology, Maxim Group. No headhunter has been able to get me an interview yet. All they do is call to see if I've found a job and if I went to some job interviews(expecting me to give them company names).

I had 2 job interviews which didn't work.

First physical interview : Small company
The position was "Java developer". After phone interviews, quick talk about salary expectations and the usual, I went on-site and did some pair programming(unit testing only) on a medium size project. We solved few bugs. At the end, we talked about their company, their compensations(healt insurance, etc., no salary). They called me later to tell me that they didn't think I would be a fit for the position eventhough I didn't do bad at the interview. I don't know if it was about my salary expectations or my Master degree in IT.

The second interview (Medium size company) 9 developers
It was about a Senior Java Developer position. After a phone interview, I was sheduled for a pair programming interview. I was doing some pair programming on some basic Java topics with an intermediate developer I think.

My general attitude during the interview

I was explaining the problem before attempting to solve it
I was sharing the keyboard,
I was clearing my throat
talking about what I was going to do before writing code
I was looking at him in the eyes while talking or listening to him


I solved all of the questions with elegant solutions and at a moment he told me that time was up. He said he was to talk with his boss and that the boss would meet me in few minutes. I didn't solve all the problems at an incredible speed but I was satisfied with the pair programming session(interaction with the developer, my results, etc.).
The boss came in and told me "There's been a change, I think we're done for today". No explanation, and no phone call later... I don't think I did wrong at all as I didn't miss any exercises.

I am starting to run out of time/money and I am not able to get many interviews. Is it difficult for me to get a job because of the summer? Lots of jobs ask for a Java Entreprise Edition experience which I don't have. Most small/medium companies don't use J2EE(EJB, JMS, etc.) and I have never worked for a big company.

What should I do? I am looking at job offers on Monster, Craigslist and canada.indeed.com.

Thank you for your suggestions.

[Tsveta]

Sometimes we think we do everything the right way on a job interviews and still we don't get the job. This is very common and I am not all surprised. They had to call you at least to let you know what happened - this is a common courtesy.
I would call them and demand an explanation or at least check on the status of my job application.

The thing you can do is to update your online resume every day - this work with recruiters. Do you have a resume on Monster.ca?

[birdman]

Thank you for your answer Tsveta. Yes I already have a CV on monster.ca, workopolis and recruitment agencies websites. I stopped updating my resume on a daily basis, but I guess I will start again.

[lkhoury]

Hello,
Have you found a job yet? Have you ever heard of TEKsystems?
We have a couple of Java jobs available which may be of interest for you. If you get the chance, email your CV to me at lkhoury@teksystems.ca .
looking forward to hearing from you.