Hi,

Just wondering if any people who have made the move have changed their careers on their emigration path to fulfilment and if so, how good or bad the experience has been. Also if anyone has embarked on any kind of retraining since moving to Canada.

All inspirational (or otherwise!) stories welcome.

Apologies if covered previously but couldn't find the thread!

Completely in my (Eamonn) case. I spent 18 years with BT (regulatory advice, product managment, project management, IT management, lots and lots of client relationship work throughout). Now (or rather, soon) a realtor. Jan worked for Shell (management assistant) for 11 years. Now an Office Manager in a real estate brokerage.

Both are significant changes of role (and environment - no more Corporate ladder) although both new career paths allow us to heavily leverage our skills and past experience. This was all decided upon with a spirit of "if we're going to change things, let's really change them". Risks are consequently higher but we like a challenge and we have confidence in ourselves to make a success of it.

If a complete change is in your minds, then research, research, research. If it still feels like the thing to do, then go for it. Or one of you change out your role and the other continue in a familiear field to have some certainty of income - that might be a sensible risk mitigation.

Kind regards,

Eamonn & Janet.

In the UK I worked in the IT (new media/marcoms) sector, my wife was a graphic designer.

Here we started our own business and run an equestrian centre. We'd never been self-employed before, or worked in that type of business.

We now work twice as many hours per week, earn less, but have far more equity. It's been an interesting, but tiring few years.

Ah Rich- if ever I could pick a career to change to, what you have done would be it! I could shovel horse poop and look after them all day long, no problem.

I guess what it boils down to is doing a job that pays your way versus doing a job you really love (but usually not paid as much!)

I'm just wondering if there are more opportunities to turn your skills to other types of work because you are going to a place which is much less inhabited and employers may be more flexible or willing to train you because they have less choice of applicants.

Maybe if you go to Iqaluit, or whatever it's called, but around here there's such a surplus of highly qualified shit shovellers that some of them have to drive taxis.

More of a full circle in my case. Since moving here, I've gone back to working for a company I worked for in the 1980s.

Nothing wrong with doing things twice. I will shortly be doing something else for the second time.

We came, I went to college, got an Ontario College Diploma with knobs on, and am now working in one job in my old profession, and in another job doing a short term contract in my new profession.

The old one pays more and I would miss it if I had to give it up, the new one is easier and less hassle. So now I have the best of both worlds but am working far too many hours a week.

Such is the lot of an immigrant

PS, I retrained because I thought my duff hearing would mean I would have to give up working with the public, but Canadians are much nicer about deafness than Britons, so I can hang on for longer.