mogscat

Former Lancastrian

Police Officer UK, Border Services Officer Canada.

scrubbedexpat091

Worked in the airline industry and hotels in the US before Canada.

In Canada mostly the same airline industry and hotels with some retail mixed in.

BristolUK

UK Civil Servant (DWP)
Rental owner/landlord.

Hurlabrick

Business Architect for a UK Financial Services company, then Retired in Canada!

scilly

School teacher in England, Research Assistant/Research Technician in Canada


Don't mention the variety of jobs I had in the UK before finishing uni ............ temporary Christmas postie, shop assistant at a high end ladies clothiers and at Woolies (sublime to the ridiculous!!), working at Pakamac, hotel maid/stillroon/waitress, punching holes in bars of plastic for an electrical board ..... that's what I can remember!


Still, I reckon I learnt what I could do and not do, and what I would be willing to do and not do in the event that I had to earn a living. I even had to learn the Banquet French service when waiting tables at one of the hotels

suzeandmatt

mogscat

These are really interesting!
My further ed career and quals don't appear to count for anything in Canada so I'm wondering what new directions others have taken in Canada. What's the pathway from high school teacher to store manager? I'm really encouraged to hear that you are enjoying life not only in new country but with new careers too - hoping to achieve the same!

Former Lancastrian

Depends on the type of store. I have seen many young people with Manager on their badge whom I suspect don't have a degree in business or similar. Retail stores in malls seem to have few if any full time staff although some will or those not located in a mall. Some achieve this by staying at the store for a period of time especially in stores with a high turnover like the Best Buys, Hudsons Bay, The Brick, Canadian Tire etc.
Do you have any retail experience or experience in management that would get you a job as a store manager and what type of store are you looking at?

suzeandmatt

scilly

I have to agree with Suze ................. I was considerably less stressed when working in Canada that I was working as a teacher in the UK.

My time after work here was my time to spend with family, instead of spending hours each week night and at least one full weekend day marking homework, researching further into subjects to improve or make more fun for my classes, setting exams and working out mark plans, etc etc. It was endless.

There was also the exhaustion factor ............. it would often take the first week of vacation before I got rid of the tiredness and was able to begin to enjoy life. My Dad got used to me arriving home for 2 weeks or the "long" 6 weeks in the summer and sleeping day and night for several days.

People always say that teaching is an easy life ................. no way, Jose!!

Those who say that have not put in a year's worth of teaching, not even a term's worth.

I had the opportunity to teach over here, but decided it wasn't for me, so basically it was MY decision to search other opportunities.

I did much later have the enjoyment of an ex-student making contact with me on the old Friends Reunited site, telling me she had enjoyed having me as a Form Teacher, and that I was the "best teacher she ever had" ............... that let me know that I hadn't been the complete incompetent!!

We have several family members who are teachers in Canada, and I see them working the same way I did in the UK, and stressing because they do not know if they have a job for next year. School boards can move teachers from school to school, it's not like the UK where you were employed by the school ............. here you apply to the School Board and they assign you to a school for the school year. In a big city you might be at that school the following year or not .... and that applies even if you have got off the TOC list and onto permanent employment.


Let me also add this, as I know you were looking at college or university teaching/lecturing

Depending on the discipline/faculty you are in ............... that life is also exhausting and apt to take up lots of your family life, especially if you are really concerned with and about undergraduate students.And it gets worse if you become more involved in administration, committees, outside societies, etc.

I'm married to a university faculty member and we deliberately bought a vacation property that was off-grid and out of cell phone range just so we could get there for at least a long weekend and get him away from the constant phone calls re some matter or other that "just had to be dealt with NOW". It didn't, it never did ...........

.......... but I might not have a husband alive if we hadn't been able to get that respite away. I watched his face turn greyer and greyer with tiredness and stress during that period.

mogscat

Perhaps rejection of teaching quals is blessing in disguise. In many ways it would be nice to be 'set free'! I am thinking as long as I can find a job with or leading to similar income relative to outgoings (hopefully I am not asking too much - I'm on under £30K here in UK) then I can always be a volunteer adult literacy tutor or similar if I want to retain my teaching skills. I just need to be confident that this is realistic before we pack up and head off, particularly as I have dependents.

scilly

Have you thought this through??

£30K currently equates to just over $52,000 pre-tax in Canada ......... that's not a lot if you are the only income earner and have a family. It would pretty much rule out Metro Vancouver ans southern Vancouver Island, for example.

HGerchikov

mogscat