Roberto1980

So continuing on our rollercoaster of emotions & questions..


Since there has recently been discussion on another thread about the difficulties in securing a job from the UK.


I'm wondering if there are people on here who have went through with emigrating (whichever method they managed to get over with) without having a job lined up?


What were your plans? Use your savings to pay cover the rent and take any job until you secured your chosen career?
Were/are you a skilled worker in the UK but now find yourself on a completely new career path?


How did it work out? Have you made a success of it or came back to the UK resigned in the knowledge that 'at least we gave it a shot'?

Photoplex

Came out without a job in 2008 (middle of the global financial meltdown). Stayed with girlfriends parents. Landed a job (in IT) within 3 weeks. Moved into my own place a couple of paycheques after that. The rest is history. Got my citizenship last year.

Roberto1980

One for the success column! lol

rivingtonpike

We moved over as PR's without jobs. Set up our business and production facility (ice cream). Once all processes and procedures in place, OH went back to a real job and is now a Director of Finance and I run the factory. Hard work but fun!

dbd33

I got a job "abroad" and it was in Canada. I was here in the blink of an eye.

"Success", well, maybe.

BristolUK

Two choc ices please (not albatross flavour) and a 99.

MarylandNed

I arrived in 1989 with no job (I'm in IT) and no PR. I accompanied my wife who was starting a new job as a nurse at Toronto General on a TWP. I did at least contact a recruiter who set up an interview for the day after we arrived. I was offered the job on the spot but was young and totally naive about how the work permit system worked. I thought they'd just give me one because I got a job! That took a couple of weeks to sort out.

Aviator

I got a job offer, which is why I came to Canada. Same job function, came in at the same level of seniority. It went OK. Success is subjective.

The immigration system has changed a lot now, so without a job offer, chances of getting in are much slimmer than they used to be.

SchnookoLoly

My husband started applying for jobs from the UK. We booked a 2-week trip to Toronto and told headhunters and recruiters roughly 6 weeks before the trip that we would be in Toronto from x to y date and would be available for interviews during that time. My husband did 11 interviews with 3 companies in the first week and had a verbal offer by the end of the first week. The job offer was in writing about 4 weeks later, and another 4 weeks after that he moved.

My situation was a bit different. My notice period with work in the UK was 12 weeks (my husband's was only 4) and no Canadian company was going to be willing to wait 12 weeks for me to start, so I resigned my job in the UK without a job to go to (though this was after my husband's job was sorted) and once I had a move date back to Canada I started getting in touch with headhunters and recruiters, then I could say "I will be back in Canada on x date and will be available to work from then." I started my job 3 weeks after moving back.

Paul_Shepherd

I moved out in June 2009, after activating my PR status the year before, I gave up my job in the UK, rented my house, and sold everything except for sentimental belongings whcih i had shipped over. I had some savings but very little. I moved over here on my own, and planned to move in with a friend in Canada until i got myself sorted (which was the plan) however he decided to move in with a new girfriend just as i arrived (which was not the plan) and surprise suprrise that arrangement only lasted two months before a big bust up ensued, we have not spoken since that day.

After just two months here i was totally on my own with no job or home! I moved out and rented a room (due to limited funds) I was really really struggling to get a job, so I tried getting a job in ANYTHING to bring some money in, retail, lawncare, even casual labour, i then got a bar tending job to tide me over.....i did that for 9 months, I HATED it with a passion, as i didnt like the area i lived in either (very clicky) but was dertmined to make my move to Canada a success and to experience what i came here for in the first place, so i stuck at it.

My plan was to give it 12 months, if a proper job had not materialised by June 2010 i was heading back to the UK (i had reserved enough money to get my things shipped back and a one way flight) Then in Feb 2010 i finally secured a job in my own field with a decent salary, i moved again to the area where the job was located, bought a second hand car to get there, and then just anther rented room while i settled in to a new town with a new job, upgraded to an appartment 7 months later, then bought a house 2 years after that, and havent really looked back since, with the exception of considering a relocation last year, but have decided against that now, here is where I stay, life isnt perfect, but im happy with it, and happy with my move to Canada.

So it was a tough start but it all worked out in the end, im hoping it continues that way for me!

If your going to doing it, you have to be be almost stubborn and pig headed that your going to make it work, as there is potential of a lot of things that can happen to make you give up on it all really easy, but at the same time set yourself a time limit that you will stay without improvement, no good making yourself too miserable, I suppose just enough time to say....I gave it my all, and it wasnt meant to be. Hopefully it will never get to that cut off point, i never reached mine, but it was a rough 9months, but certainly an interesting life expereince none the less.

All the best,

Paul.

Cyan

No is one advocating a blind leap into the unknown, but you need to be able to stack the odds in your favour. If you're in a 'skilled' profession that is reasonably in demand in Canada, can talk intelligently and handle yourself at interviews, and have a realistic grasp on your strengths and weaknesses - you should be okay. That and having enough funds to tie you over for upto 6 to 8 months worth of rent and living expenses. And before I forget, don't land in the middle of nowhere - picture postcard meadows and valleys are not necessarily going to put food on the table.

In the broader picture, emigrants from the UK probably have a better chance of being 'accepted' (rightly or wrongly) than newbies from other parts of the world. So you're already ahead on that front.

Tirytory

Would you move before your wife had passed the exams and was registered as a nurse? I'm thinking if she's registered and able to work then it should be relatively easy to pick up some form of work even if it's not immediately in a field she would prefer... I guess the risk is coming over and registration becomes a problem..

not2old

OP, back in the days of yore, 1967 it was, it took less than 3 months from an application at Liverpool to applying to emigrate at Liverpool to boarding a one way ticket on BOAC at a cost of £60, landing in Toronto it was minus 30C yet it was spring like leaving the UK, we simply froze, Froze with the fact we had little to zero money, nowhere to live, no jobs. The 'Y' for a few days, then a we lived in rooming house (shared bathroom & kitchen). The OH had a job within a week at minimum wage, it took me a month because although having qualifications, I had no Canadian experience.

Within 12 months all was OK, other than still being homesick & it took 2-years to get over that.

JamesM

Been here over 5 years.

On my 5th job.

Surrounded by idiots who over think or take their time on simple processes to avoid doing real work (all 5 jobs) (Welcome to Canada!). Bored and would almost certainly be making 50 to 100 percent more in the UK.

On the plus side I'll be watching the Ashes tomorrow on my second screen, in the office, with no one batting an eye lid. I've also walked to work for just over 4 years so have more free time to spend in Hooters.

JamesM

You make ice cream?????

That is a success!

You have just expedited yourself to being the "coolest" person on this forum at all levels.