Hi Guys,

I've been a passive reader of these Forums for quite a while now, (They saved me a lot of time and worry when I was going through the immigration process, so thanks for that!). Today though is the first time I felt the need to post to the forum, so please be gentle.

My situation is that I'm a single guy with a newly issued skilled worker PR visa glued into my passport (To be activated before June 2010), and I work as an embedded IT consultant/contractor. My current contract in the UK is coming to an end in the near future and given I now have my Canadian visa I'm finding it very hard to motivate myself to get a new UK based job, as I want to get out to Canada ASAP.

However the other side of it is that it seems to be hard to get a Canadian IT job at the moment in my preferred area Vancouver, this is exacerbated by the fact that none of the recruiters can be bothered even talking to me whilst I still have UK contact details.

So the question is, Is it advisable/advantageous to come to Canada now and start looking for work whilst I'm there with the given advantages of being on the ground, having local phone numbers and addresses and being able to meet people face to face. Or should I play the long game get a new UK contract and assess the Canadian labour market again 3-6 months?

I appreciate it's a subjective question, but I'd value any input people may have, or the experiences of anyone who's gone through a similar problem.

Thanks

Mark

If you have the funds available, why not come over for a week or two week reccie trip - go meet with lots of employers. You will then be able to asses whether you SHOULD move now, or whether you should wait.

Most employers prefer a face to face meeting anyway and you never know - you may find a job!

Good luck

I don't think anyone can give you an answer that you should rely on. I'm in the software industry, but not your speciality, and I wouldn't be wise to answer you.

There are definitely jobs around in Vancouver - my own employer is actively looking for good people. As to whether there are enough? You have to work that out for your self.

If you PM me I can send you some contacts for recruiters I've worked with.

Thanks for that ESarge, I will definitely PM you as soon as I've amassed the requisite number of posts to be able to unlock the PM functionality. Here's 1.

I've just voted for your kitchen on the IKEA website Amy! Hopefully telling you that has unlocked my PMability ;-)

LOL Thank You!!

It may also be possible, if you have the right skills, to get work in Canada from the UK. There is at least one london based "recruiter" who is working to place experienced investment banking IT specialists at Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto.

Yes, I'm putting out feelers to all the agents I know in the UK to see if they've got any Canadian openings, no joy as yet however.

As much as anything else my problem is I'm a bit of a specialist, I'm more into military communications, optical transmission and mobile phones than I am "normal" IT skills such as databasing and applications, so I'm narrowing the market before I begin, less competition though .

Still early days though. I'll be there soon enough I'm sure.

You might talk with recruiters focussed on Ottawa. There is (or was) a lot of military and telecoms work there.

Ooh, mobile phones. Nokia has a development office here. Give them a go, too. You should have a PM from me too.

And of course RIM does lots of R&D in Canada. And Alcatel in Ottawa.

Thanks bewillow, I did know RIM were in Canada and have sent in an application there already, but the other suggestions were all new infomation to me. So I'm researching IT recruitment firms in and around Ottawa as I type.

Keep this up guys and you'll be able to claim a scalping fee off my future employer, as you've acted as a defacto employment agency.