PlacidCasual

Hi, I'm making the move to Halifax soon with my partner and was curious if anyone here could share their job hunting experiences with us?

I already have a good job lined up so this is purely for my girlfriend who is coming along but unsure of the job prospects in/around Halifax.

She's got a degree in Design, but since university has retrained as a painter and decorator.
She does fairly well here, but we've been looking online at wages for her trade in Canada and so far it's not looking good. It's easily a £12/hour job here but we've seen a few jobs in Nova Scotia offering as little as $10/hour.


Moving away from trades then, what sort of jobs and companies would you recommend to look at for work in/around the city?


Wages aren't too important, I'll be working long hours and working away from home at times so she really just needs a bit of routine and the opportunity to meet people.
Preferably something mon-fri without weekend work.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Former Lancastrian

Job lined up or job secured BIG difference.
is the job LMIA exempt or do you have an LMIA?
How long is the job for?
How long as she been your girlfriend and do you qualify as common law? If not she may have problems being allowed to stay for over 6 months.
More details required.

christmasoompa

A quick look at the OP's previous posts shows that they're being nominated under the PNP, and are common-law.

HTH.

PlacidCasual

This is correct.

I have already secured a permanent job with relocation to Canada, contract signed so I'm coming in as a skilled worker under the PNP and my girlfriend is common-law and coming along with me.

I don't want any advice on permits or visa's as all that is being sorted - just a bit of basic advice on the current jobs market in Halifax.

She's worked in retail and customer service before, so wouldn't be opposed to doing that sort of work again to start with. Though looking on Indeed.ca there seems to be a great number of administrative positions (in healthcare/police/education etc) and was just curious what may be available to a UK worker with no Canadian qualifications.

criodain

Placid Casual. Nice username! SFA ok.

I was always under the impression that Halifax wasn't the best for work opportunities?

PlacidCasual

Haha, cheers - wasn't expecting anyone to pick up on that reference!


I've read that too, but I was wondering if that was people looking for "careers" rather than just a job?

She works self employed here, and would consider doing the same in Canada eventually - but that's a can of worms I don't want to open up just yet as we'd be on temporary work permits until residency comes through etc...

Regardless, early on it'd just be great for her to get any job that will give her the chance to meet people and make friends.

criodain

You could try and get a job as an extra on the set of Trailer Park Boys. Now THAT would be fun

Howefamily

Admiral insurance are hiring, they advertise that they have no seniority and 4 weeks annual leave (or maybe three I cant recall) but I hear them often on the radio. Maybe worth checking out....

Howefamily

NS Power advertise as well - google them and their parent company Emera.
Otherwise, networking will be your thang and careerbeacon. The network often helps you secure the interview in the first place, the rest is up to you.

Having said all that I know many that have secured work without networking, they just applied and were the right candidate.

DandNHill

I worked for TD Ins for a while and the benefits were amazing by Canadian standards. They recruit 16/20 people at a time and train them in a classroom first. If she is interested I'm sure one of my old colleagues would be happy to recommend her as this should guarantee her an interview...the rest would be up to her

PlacidCasual

Admiral would be perfect, I know a couple people who work for Admiral in Cardiff and they all love it there - I've seen now that they're advertising renewals staff in Halifax on their website so thanks for the heads up there!

I've had a look through the current opportunities at NS Power and it looks like they're all technical roles - though I'd imagine they have a call centre for fault reporting and team support so I'll get her to keep checking the site regularly. I'm in the power industry myself and will be working for Emera, once I get there I'll have a flick through their internal vacancies too.


Sounds ideal, we'd really appreciate that if you wouldn't mind too much.

We don't have exact dates just yet but are targeting April - if it's ok with you I'll send you a PM when we arrive.



Thank you both for your help!

Howefamily

Pleasure. Emera is a great company to work for.

DandNHill

The pay at TD is higher than at Admiral as you have to be licensed to sell insurance in Canada whereas you don't in the UK. That being said I have a friend who works at Admiral who I can ask to make introductions if you decide to go that way. When you know what's going on send me a PM and I'll contact my friends in both companies
Good luck

PlacidCasual

Thanks for that, we really appreciate it.

Both companies are advertising now so hopefully there will still be some opportunities there in a couple months time when we arrive.

Do you know if either company offers flexitime or the opportunity for extra hours on weekends etc?

DandNHill

Not sure about flexi but lots of opportunities for overtime. Rate of pay is good for Halifax and overtime is paid at time and a half for anything literally over a minute!!!