Sectors that recruit in Quebec: banking, finance, insurance, administration
French Abroad (FAE): Can you tell us about the specificities of Desjardins Group and the professions that make up its activity?
Jennifer O’Donoughue (J.O’D.): Desjardins Group is one of the main employers in the country with more than 53,000 employees. It offers the full range of financial products and services and brings together expertise in wealth management, personal and damage insurance, service to businesses of all sizes, securities, asset management, venture capital as well as secure, state-of-the-art virtual access methods. Our jobs cover a multitude of fields. Beyond finance and insurance, we offer opportunities in information technology (IT), communications, human resources, risk management, legal affairs, administration, data management, actuarial, etc.
Currently, one of the main areas in demand in the market and at Desjardins is information technology (also read our article dedicated to this sector). The market is very competitive and we are currently facing a labor shortage. In order to meet our growing needs in this sector, we carry out recruitment missions in different countries. We also have an ongoing international recruitment process to hire candidates working in this field.
As mentioned earlier, we have many jobs at Desjardins. For information technology we have positions for developers, IT architects, tech Lead, scrum master, project manager (PO), IT quality assurance specialists, business analyst, functional analyst, security jobs , etc. Regarding the insurance sector, we have jobs in damage insurance, financial security advisors (individual insurance), compensation analysts, underwriters, etc. For the financial sector, we have personal finance advisor positions (savings and credit), business account managers, several positions assigned to business development, etc.
FAE: What are the main skills sought by your group?
J.O’D. : We are looking for people with essential skills for our organization, such as appreciating differences, learning with agility, being customer-oriented and action-oriented. These cross-functional skills are mandatory to hold a position at Desjardins and they are combined with the skills required by trade.
FAE: Are certain regions of Quebec particularly concerned?
J.O’D. : Many job opportunities are found in the Montreal and Lévis region. For the positions of personal finance advisor, account manager and business development, opportunities are found throughout Quebec since we are present in all regions with more than 780 service centers.
FAE: Is it possible to assess salary levels and opportunities for development?
J.O’D. : Currently, Desjardins offers a program of advantageous and flexible working conditions. The organization has adopted a salary scale to ensure fairness at the level of sectors and employees. Salary scales, also called “job levels”, are not public, but are very competitive on the Quebec market. Salary is usually discussed during the interview. Once selected, candidates receive a complete and detailed salary offer. It should be noted that Desjardins Group was named one of the 100 best employers by Mediacorp Canada and is one of the best employers for work-family balance, youth, diversity, and for its ecological commitments.
FAE: Are French speakers very present in the positions you offer?
J.O’D. : Certainly. Moreover, for all positions where the workplace is in Quebec, fluency in French is mandatory. As a result, our positions are occupied by French speakers or people capable of working in that language.
FAE: How to apply for your job offers?
J.O’D. : There are several ways to access it. Initially, all of our opportunities can be found on our career site.
On the other hand, when we carry out recruitment missions abroad, we make sure to make jobs available on the various media reserved for these events.
Also, we have certain positions that we post on the Talent Montreal platform, a platform intended for international workers looking for a job and wishing to settle in Montreal. This platform facilitates continuous international recruitment.
Once the candidates are selected, our team works very closely with the various government authorities in order to obtain immigration authorizations for the foreign talent. Several paths are open to French citizens to obtain a work permit for Canada. Thanks to bilateral youth exchange agreements, we can, for example, obtain easier permits for young people under the age of 36, for almost all positions. Alternatively, we can benefit from the “Global Talent Stream” program which specifically recruits IT professionals. In addition, our team of international mobility experts supports the future employee and his family in the immigration process, once hired by Desjardins.
