jandro

It is indeed hard to find decent IT work here in Canada as I can say from experience. If you do not have a computer related post secondary degree it is going to be much more difficult. The ideal would be do have a degree, some certifications and a specialty, like Java, Unix Admin, Citrix etc. Unless you have hot skills your're unlikely to land a job from the UK unless you know the right people. Most job postings, even for technical support, ask for a computer related degree + experience + (optionally) certifications. In the UK the same job posting would never ask for a degree. Furthermore I'll underline what others have said, in that networking and making contacts is key to finding. Trouble is not everyone is good at that. This is the Canadian way of doing things.

bombayshuffle

absolutely spot on.
and you forgot to mention security clearance, and the ability to speak fluent french, if you are on the east side of the country
been here nearly 3 months, second time round, and not a sausage.

good luck all the same...

NGB

Hi, thanks for all the replies on this one.....I guess the answer is to carry on regardless........it just seems strange with 10-20 agencies calling in the UK and now over 600 views of an online CV.....not a single contact from Canada.

Will keep up the good fight.

Cheers,

Neil

Dorothy

Sorry, I have to disagree with the fluent French bit. I have lived in eastern Canada for 43 years and have only passable high school French up to grade 10. My husband has worked as an engineering electronics technician for 22 years and can't even say "oui" or "non". He gets on just fine.

bombayshuffle

apologies
when i say east, i mean ottawa and surrounding areas.
i can only go by what i have come up against agency-wise. i am classified as 'unilingual', and when looking at agency job postings, most require french & security clearance.
i have been informed by various agencies, that its because ottawa is the capital, and one has to speak both official languages.

as you can probably gather, i am not having the greatest success jobwise, so blightey may well be on the cards.
shame, but one can't live on "love & fresh air" as a south african matey once put it.

give www.excelitr.com or www.roberthalftechnology.com a go.
hope you have more luck than i am having...

cheers

jandro

Well that's what I'm existing on at the moment.

I had an interview the other day for a teir 1 position with a web hoster and I was made to feel I was applying for a senior role. The chap told me this was just a preliminary 'get to know you' meeting and if I passed this I would be given a second technical interview and then if successful a third 'culture fit' interview with senior management and HR. Nevertheless he asked me all the typical questions you get in a standard job interview. He claimed that he was the 'gatekeeper' and he had to ensure that every applicant had to 'run the guantlet' before being accepted into their 'exceptional' team. We're talking about a tier 1 level technical support job here that probably paid peanuts. In the UK I can't ever remember having to attend more than 2 interviews (mostly just 1) for a position. In my opinion this is a just sign that it is an employers market here in B.C. and there must be thousands of applicants.

By the way I'm Canadian and from Ottawa but established my IT career in the UK. I studied French for years at school and university. I lived in Quebec and France for a time but have still not mastered the language. I sat the French bilingualism exam with the Federal Government once but failed. It was too difficult with questions about obscure grammar and verb tenses rarely used in real life. So, without a computer related university degree I'd be toast if I moved back to Ottawa and will only do so when I'm rich.

bombayshuffle

interesting - have you read this...

http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/story/ot-bi...m20060519.html

http://www.languagefairness.ca/home.htm

it appears it is a current bone of contention.

most annoying when its not even worth applying for jobs that state you have to be fluent in french - not the sort of thing one can blag at an interview.