American jobseekers less picky than Canadians

There may be very little geographically that separates Canada from the US, but for HR professionals whose offices stand on both sides of the border, it’s important to recognize that the attitudes of job seekers can differ greatly.
When Express Employment Professionals surveyed 1,500 unemployed people on each side of the border, the company found stark differences in approaches to job hunts.

Americans were more likely to have given up looking for work, at 47%, versus 39% in Canada. But perhaps that’s because they’re also receiving fewer interviews and job offers: nearly half of unemployed Americans reported not being invited to any job interviews in the past month, but only a third of Canadians said the same. On a similar note, the tighter job market causes Canadian candidates to be pickier than their American counterparts: only one in five Americans had turned down a job offer, but one in four Canadians had done so.

“…[W]hile the two countries share a border, they don’t share the same job market — even in this era of globalization,” said Bob Funk, CEO of EEP. Funk, who happens to be a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, added that the Canadian job market was a major factor in the different attitudes. “Indeed, the unemployment situation in the U.S. and Canada has some sharp differences. Overall, Canadians seem more resistant to giving up — but also choosier when deciding whether to take a job.”