kitsunegari

Hi Folks, first post here .

My other half and myself (not married, just living together for a year now, been together for two) are looking to move. We are considering Canada and Australia - lots of research gone into Australia so far, but I really would prefer Canada, and the areas I'm really keen to look at are Victoria BC, or Calgary, Alberta, although these are not set in stone - I've been to Canada before (Vancouver) and loved it, although Vancouver was a little large for me I think - I'm sure however that I would still like it.

I have a degree in Computing Mathematics, and my partner is a qualified and practising Optometrist. We've done some searching, and she can easily find a job, subject to a visa naturally, and in any area we're looking at.

Myself however, will be harder to employ (I think!). I'm in the process of doing two qualifications (MCSE/CCNA) that are highly employable, but at present I do a highly specialised job that I cannot do in any other country - I am unable to go into any more detail in regards to this, but suffice to say it requires security clearance.

My concern is that she can get into the country without any great difficulty, assuming visa sponsorship, but I don't want to be in a situation where I'm looking for a job once over there - assuming this is even possible, so some [thorough] advice on the state of the computing industry as a whole would be fantastic .

Thanks.

jericho

Yawn.

Oink

With the state of the economy I'd stay where your degree and your partners qualifications are recognized. Why put yourself through the trauma of moving to a slightly poorer country than the UK?

Alan2005

I think I agree.

The computer "industry" is about the same here as it is in the UK, but with less emphasis on the financial sector and consequently less pay. The same sectors exist though: gaming, web, industrial, retail, financial etc.

pthom

My OH is a computer engineer, pretty specialised and jobs are few and far between in Calgary. He works remote for a US company contracted out to Germany!

G77

MCSE and CCNA are obviously recognised - think carefully how you can describe your secret squirrel work to them though, putting "I can't tell you" or turning up to an interview and saying "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you" just won't wash....

An Optometrist would earn enough that you could go work in Timmies though right? So shouldn't be much of a concern....

Novocastrian

Guys, give the OP a break.

It's not my field but I think you'd be better off looking at Toronto for computing. At least that seems to be the received wisdom around this forum.

I can't be bothered to check, but I assume optometrists are on the list of 38?

kitsunegari

Where your other 900 posts as helpful?

Of the two countries we're looking at I'd just rather live in Canada, that may be because I know more about the country having been there a few times though.

No obviously I wouldn't say that in an interview, and I have letters from my employer to explain a bit more about the situation .

And yes I could work in pretty much any job and the OH would earn more then enough - not really what I'd like to do though!

Yes optometrists are in demand, which is an advantage we have in that it's the case in a lot of places. I must admit Toronto hadn't entered my mind as I haven't been there, but I'll definitely take a look.

Thanks.

Dave+Jules

My suggestion is too choose where you want to be and then conduct some more detailed research. There are plenty of options via the web and google. Even within a province as small as NB there are different IT job markets.

In my experience security / privacy is a hot topic in computing in Healthcare and provincial government. One of the great things about IT qualifications is that they are very portable. Once you have found your target landing site, get over on a research visit and set up several "information Interviews" with local organizations. This will enable you to connect, and check each other out, plus they do not feel like they need to have a job in order to interview you.

I would also check out the licensing / certification requirements for you OH. Canada is very provincial and different provinces have different licensing requirements for professionals such as you partners. (complete guess by me, but I would check it out).

There are jobs around but the competition is high. Unless it is an extremely specialised job the employer would more than likely choose a local (because they are the lower risk and more likely to fit in).

I landed without a job in a province that is seen as hard to get employment, and received two job offers in the first week. But there was alot of work / preparation over the previous two years. You can check out my story in the wiki plus there is some useful information on Job Hunting in Canada

Tangram

Stop promoting your story Dave, you don't get extra credit for views ;-)

Dave+Jules

I am just trying to show you can get what you want without having to resort to moving to one of the major cities.

PS

How is the new job going (in FREDERICTON)

cov-canuck

One other thing to bear in mind - I work with a guy (in IT) whose wife is a recently qualified optometrist here in Canada.

I don't know how it works in England, but here optometrists are generally considered self-employed, and thus they are not eligible for many benefits that would be provided by a company if they worked for one (think along the lines of private healthcare/drug plans, maternity leave top-ups, etc.)

The guy I work with and his wife want to start a family, but even though they are both earning good salaries, if his wife wanted to take a year to stay home with their child, they would not be able to scrape by due to her not being eligible for full mat leave benefits.

Keith

I worked for General Dynamics Canada in Ottawa from July 1963 til I retired in 1992. They always seem to be looking for people.
http://www.gdcanada.com/content/deta...cronym=careers

BTW it was called Computing Devices of Canada from 1948 till around 2003.

morungos

I applied for a lot of positions from the UK with little success at first. Canadian experience is a *huge* benefit. You need to find a job where, essentially, they can't find a Canadian, and having Microsoft and/or Cisco certification will help, but I haven't seen them on the "essential" list of much advertised here. And there will be a lot of Canadians with those qualifications.

In the end, I got a position in Toronto, for a small company in the finance sector. The job was in one of the 9990.* categories - an LMO exempt route for skilled information technology workers. These are easier to get a work permit for.

Without knowing what your skills actually are, it's hard to say, but I had 20 years + experience in IT, and it took me about two years to find the right job. And I was not at all specific about location - open to anything.

I'd suggest looking to see what you have that's distinctive, see if you can make it work for you, and be totally open minded about location and sector.

nooka

I'd say that if it's really important for you to have a job you enjoy, and your partner's skills are more portable, then look for a job for you first, and then move to where that job is based. Although you can go two ways, either look for where your specialised skills are in shortage, because then you being non-Canadian really won't matter, and although getting the job may be expensive (flying over for interviews etc) you might get some help with relocating (we had all our moving costs paid which was fantastic). In that scenario the more specialised you are the better, although it may take time and money before you arrive. The other scenario is to go where you think that there are enough jobs in your sector generally, get your partner set up and a SOWP for yourself. Then when you apply you are not asking your prospective employer to jump through any hurdles. But you may have to accept a lower entry level job and hope to work your way up. Either way there are some big gambles involved, so make sure you aren't going to stretch yourself too much, either financially or emotionally, and be prepared to be flexible on location and role, if you really want to move.