wantaeflit

Just looking for some general observations/conjecture/opinions on the job market in Canada. How easy will it be for me to get a job do you think with this experience:

Degree: BSc(hons) Internet Software Development. Unfortunately haven't done anything with it, graduated last year.

12 years working in various theatres, front of house (ushering) and laterally, managing front of house team.

almost 1 year doing data entry in a call centre environment.

I am willing to do (almost) anything to start out with and plan to go to Toronto in the first instance and (hopefully after level 2 of my French classes) be partially bilingual by the time I get there....

I just wondered if anyone has got any similar experience to me and how easy they found it to get a clerical/customer care oriented job.

Cheers!

moving

Hye,

If you get your French all right you could get a job easily in a call centre...especially if you are prepared to work evenings and weekends. Been 2 weeks that I have landed in Toronto and that is what I have learnt so far.

All the best

***************

willmore

I don't know if this will help or not - I hear through friends living in Toronto that an organization called "The Shopping Channel" are always looking for people (either full, part-time or on-call), apparently there have been ads looking for "on-call" people in the Toronto area newspaper I know that you are looking for full-time employment but sometimes a "foot in the door" may lead somewhere!!!!!

Might be worth your while to check out their website - I don't know what it is off-hand - but trying www.theshoppingchannel might get you somewhere.

I know that they are located in Mississauga - so.....even if you can't find any "official looking ad"s - might be worth your while (if it's not to far from where you live) - to pop down there and drop off your resume.

Now that they are seen in Quebec,having french would be a great asset.

Hope this is at all helpful for you - and that I don't give you a "bum" lead heard - I'm just passing on info that I've heard.
[QUOTE=moving]Hye,

merdealorsen

Call centres are always an option for working in Toronto. Even more so for technical support. Being bilingual (French-English) is a bonus. However, the French they speak in Quebec isn’t the French they teach you in school! Experience in call centres or customer service, which you should be able to get in the UK, will increase your options and pay. There are many reasons why there are so many call centre jobs in Toronto:

-Ridiculously high employee turnover rates (often 200% per year)
-Toronto is the Canadian headquarters of most companies
-The low dollar means that Canadian call centres serve US markets on the cheap (American Express, Compaq and IBM are some examples)
-50% of Toronto’s population was born in a foreign country! Attracting native English speakers is illegal and very difficult.
-Toronto is the capital of Ontario

Call centres want three things:
-People skills in clear English
-Higher than average IQ (verified by having a college diploma or university degree)
-No criminal record

Salaries can be as low as $8 an hour to as high as $20. They are usually around $14 per hour in Toronto. Moncton NB is the call centre capital of the country. But the pay is crap. I have a buddy who started in tech support with me at a Toronto company at $12 per hour and now makes $30! He is the exception, not the rule. You will make way more in London UK.

I’ve worked in about 20 call centres in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, London (UK) and Belfast (UK). Despite my job hopping I had no trouble finding work. That said, you couldn’t pay me enough to work in them now...


http://www.geocities.com/merdealorsen/immigration.html

I hate the Beer Store ! : http://www.geocities.com/merdealorsen/index.html

wantaeflit

Thanks for all the info everyone. Good to know about high turnover etc.

I am going to go visit a couple of temp agencies when I am over inn Toronto on hols and will see what they say too.

je dois pratiquer les Français,