Missed the time when the CRS score cutoff was ~ 455 ish so had to get an offer without PR in order to move to Canada and get PR . On H1b with priority date early 2017 - The following things really helped:
Indeed Canada is really helpful - apply for jobs irrespective of location, currently, they will do an online interviews. This really helps in preparing for interviews. My strategy was to apply for smaller firms first and gain a interview experience and then apply for the ones which you like. For some reasons, LinkedIn was not that useful in Canada but this is just my experience.
Leetcode: a decent number of LC problems should really helpful if you are aiming for tech positions.
Since we are remote - this is a perfect time for preparing, applying and doing interviews.
Took 4-6 months in total to land an offer.
Polish your resume - my earlier version of the resume didn’t have many hits but once I updated - I was started getting the calls.
Congratulations on the offer. You mention that LinkedIn didn’t really help much, can you share how did you go about it then? Any other online job portal or referrals?
Indeed! The response rate on Indeed jobs was better than the response rate at LinkedIn. Even Microsoft advertise their jobs on Indeed in spite of LinkedIn being its child company No doubt, LinkedIn is far much better here in the United States.
@swamiom Belated congratulations on the offer! I’m also in the U.S and I’ve been unable to secure a work permit. Very frustrating. Software Dev with 2 years of experience.
I’ve tried applying to many companies in Canada and they get back to me saying they only interview residents or would be PRs.
Did you have a special category of companies you applied to? How did you know they would sponsor your work permit?
Do you mind pointing out the resume templates you used? perhaps there’s a specific style/keywords I’m missing?
@softwaredev I applied to the product companies - Typical interviews start with HR round or email conversation, here is the point where you have to nail it, say what you can bring to the company - if they are impressed by you they will start with first round of interview and say we will discuss later if we can sponsor your visa or not So now it all depends on you - I had 4-5 companies which promised visa sponsorship and I did well in the interview but did not give an offer. But you have to keep the persistence. Resume template - any fancy 1 pager latex one will work.
. On H1b with priority date early 2017 - The following things really helped:
. Wish you the best with the move to 
.