Distance learning.
 

Just a quick thought.

The wife is a pupil of the International Correspondence School here in the UK. We've recently found out that it is governed/run by Thompson Learning; A US based entity who also run distance learining in the US and Canada.

I've banged an email to them asking if I can gain Canadian qualifications whilst living in the UK. All I'm asking is has anyone else tried this? (Or does anyone know someone who has?)
And, from some of your experience of the Canadian job market. What reception do you think these qualifications would receive. (Or in other words, do you think it's worthwhile?)

Thanks.

Re: Distance learning.
 

I'm a Canadian citizen currently living in England and I am currently taking a couple of courses from the BC Open University - http://www.bcou.ca/ They shipped all the course materials to me here and the course is web-based so I don't need to attend anything in BC. I submit essays and assignments via email attachments and on a course discussion area on the BCOU website.

I'm taking the courses for personal enrichment rather than any specific qualification but they are 'real' courses and would count towards another degree if I wanted them to. The BCOU is very similar to the Open University in the UK.

The downside is that the courses available internationally are limited and they are more expensive for international students.

In my past life, I was an employer and I would have had no problem accepting BCOU qualifications as the BCOU is a legitimate university.

I think every employer is going to have different requirements regarding qualifications. I was/am rather ambiguous about them. My company was involved software development and though a few of the main programmers were university graduates, some were high school dropouts - and from their work performance, it was impossible to tell who was which. I'm sure there are other employers who would do things differently than I.

I think the saying "it's not what you know but who you know" is much more applicable in Canada than in the UK. The importance of making contact, talking to people, showing an interest in working for Whatever Co, maintaining contacts, etc can not be stressed enough.