The TWs

Hi Vincent - if you're a DOP and have an agent in LA you may be ok, but I would speak to IATSE before leaving for sure. Neither of us work in film or tv anymore. There just hasn't been the work to sustain any sort of a lifestyle. Jonny has met several ex-pats in the industry and in the last year many of them have changed careers, given up or are in the process of going back.

I know of 2 out of work editors as well that are looking for other types of work. Now it might just be that the last few years have been bad - but if you want to keep shooting and editing as careers I would try to have some jobs lined up before you come. I can't tell you how depressing its been for both of us to not be able to work in the industries we spent years building careers in.

black_adder

I quite agree with this one. I have even been told by couple of HR managers that the recruitment process is at 'referrals consideration' stage after which any other candidates will be considered.
Perhaps its just for certain industries or lines of work, but mine seems to fall right into it.

ann m

For the TW's - I notice from your opening post in Nov 09 you were potentially thinking of returning to the UK. Your signature now says you are thinking about Toronto.

Just being nosy really, but wondered how you were getting on, what has directed a possible change of mind, and how is the work situation nowadays?
Has a bit more time been kinder to you, or are you still frustrated at the employment world?

Reading back through this thread, Helen Parnell mentioned a two year settling in period is common. I too would agree with this.

Mistress Miggins

I think half way through your third year and you realise you have a built a life and a community, it just takes time and hardwork to do it. Nothing in life worth having is easy got - eh?

Mrs M x

canadian_bacon_boy

I am due to move to BC next year and am an I.T manager. Can I PM you so I can ask a few questions. Thanks

Londonuck

Is there an opposite to a Karma button?

The TWs

I didn't realise our profile still said that - LOL! Well... after a trip back in March to take our baby daughter to visit DH's parents I had decided that we definitely needed to move back after our house sold.

While I was away DH was bitten buy Olympic Gold Medal Hockey fever and decided he didn't think it was so bad here after all.

Anyways fate intervened (as it has an annoying way of doing!) and 2 weeks after I got back from the UK DH was offered a, totally out of left field, not in any field he's ever worked in, very exciting job. The job is at least an 18 month commitment which crosses over with when we want to have baby #2 (and I had such an incredible experience w/my midwives and pre&post natal care here) so we've decided to stay for at least 3 years and then re-evaluate the situation then.

At the moment we're still planning on keeping our flat in the UK so if we do decide to go back we have a landing pad. His job should give us some extra travel opportunities to go to the UK too which will help.

We're still selling our house here so we can basically do what we should have done when we arrived - buy a small townhouse with a VERY small mortgage so we can be a bit more flexible when things (like a world economic crisis or unemployment) hit!

I can't say I feel totally feel settled here - I still buy most of my clothes in the UK, we listen to a lot of UK radio and miss pub culture (especially now we have a child - we think its ludicrous we can't go into any pub with her) but for now this job is the best opportunity and the most security we've had since we've been here so I think its worth giving it a chance!

HPJOS

Not sure what pubs you can get into in the UK but with our 4 month old we were asked to leave out of one in Hertford last year when we tried to meet up with a few friends. Apparently "family friendly" only applied up until 8pm. It was not my idea of a suitable meet-up (place or time) but it was our second last day in the area and the only chance we had of seeing this particular group of friends. In the end we walked around the town and chatted for 30 minutes then went on our sleep-deprived way.

Helen

ann m

Well, good for you being flexible - like you say, all sorts of things crop up to put a spanner in the works, like a good job! - but it sounds like an interesting and exciting time, so just go with it and see what happens.

And changing those things you can change (like the house) always make you feel like you are achieving something anyway! Best wishes

hrt2fnd

4. Research your job prospects thoroughly. We didn't and ended up fairly broke. Good jobs here tend not to be advertised with salaries and are often gone very quickly as they are tend to be filled by personal recommendations. This is a 'who you know' job network country, and if you don't know anyone the good jobs can be hard to find.

agree. before i came i did some research on jobs. i didnt want to believe that it took me so many applications before i got a job. i'm not complaining because i was really lucky. i quite understestimated the 'canadian experience' thing and the 'who-knows-who' mentality, though.

Hermione

Hi TWs

Thanks so much for this post - certainly food for thought as we plan our move to Edmonton for mid Aug. I've fortunately managed to secure a permanent transfer from UK to Canada with my Firm and we're in the throes of selling up here, but planned to rent for 12 months before deciding exactly where to buy. We have some friends who moved over there about 3 years ago who've given us lots of advice and we're thinking of buying somewhere close to them, but still want to look & learn for ourselves before we decide.

My husband is in the police over here and has applied to join Edmonton Police Service but due to the recession, they have changed their policy on overseas applicants inasmuch as they now won't progress his application any further until he has permanent residence status - we're going over on TWPs & applying when we get there - so he'll need to find something to fill in with while we go through the whole PR process & we don't really have any idea what kind of job he'll find. I think this will be our biggest challenge but we're aware that the first 12 months will be the hardest and have agreed to give it a minimum of 2 years to settle. We've heard stories of people coming back after a couple of months because they hated it and we don't think they gave it enough a chance. We need to keep focused on the main reason we're emigrating which is hopefully for a better life for our kids and our own job satisfaction will always be secondary to that.

But useful advice certainly and I'll be pushing hubby to start looking/applying for jobs now before we go as, although we could survive on my single wage, life would be much easier with 2 incomes!

Best of luck everyone!

H

heading-west

great thread

we are hoping to join the canadian ranks later this year, although we are also considering the possibilty of landing this year and then returning to UK for the winter and return in to Canada in spring for job hunting.

we already have a network building up nicely with great friends over in the Lanark Highlands ON. Hubby is a carpenter so we think spring should herald more work in his field.

our initial settling will be an hour away from Ottawa, who knows where we will finally settle. our hearts and minds are open on this one.

chumley

dont have an oil tank you could lose everything

The TWs

I would just be careful with regards to that network - we had a well established network as I grew up here and but people were overly optimistic about what they thought we would get/how much they thought we would make, etc.

People want to be helpful and Canadians are naturally positive people when it comes to helping people - but that doesn't necessarily make what they're saying true!

JET747

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

The one thing I would say is if you can somehow get through it, DO, for your child's sake. I am generally very positive in my outlook but I don't have a lot of positive things to say regarding the state of the UK. Your child would be much better off over in Canada.

However if it has become unbearable, maybe I would consider moving to another part of Canada where prospects are better.

Whatever you decide to do all the best

JET