Ive just been reading a Thread on this Forum titled "Moving Back to the UK".

I have read through a lot of Forums, Websites, Diaries etc and have noticed that there is a really big problem with finding decent employment when landing in Canada.

Reading the posts makes me very nervous about the whole whole job issue as I am seeing this time and time again.

I have done my homework about the types of jobs in the area that I wish to settle in (Burnaby Area in BC) and when I was visiting Canada, there seemed to be a lot of jobs available to try and apply for. What I did do is to call a couple of companies and ask to speak to the sales manager (My Previous Job was Techinical Sales). I di in fact have an hour long interview with him whilst I was in Canada and he seemed very positive of maybe offering me a position when I got landed status (which can be 15 months from then).

Was the meeting with him just to humour me because I had been persistant ?. I know not to rely on that meeting as a firm offer of employment, but there were many other competitors in the area that I could call up and offer my services.

This is confusing me a lot. I hear that people can't even get interviews, but I did a bit of cold calling from the UK and got a meeting set up even though they didn't have a vancancy to offer.

Im confused.
What sorts of professions are we talking about here. Are we only talking about the specialised professions (Doctors, Accountants, Lawers etc...... The Big Earners), or are we talking about the run of the mill Technical Sales, Electrical Technicians, Production Support Technicians (the medium earners!!!)

I hope to get about $55K ish to give us a similar lifestyle as in the UK.

Has anyone had success in these sorts of professions. I would love to hear some success stories!!!

My husband was once told at an interview that he got a job and they would call him and they never did. Apparently that happened a few times that we know of.

He got lucky with his jobs as it was more of 'right place, right time'

Also we are planning to leave Canada this year, and my husband has a friend at work and told him that and he said that he shouldn't be too sure about getting a reference from his comapny as he would be leaving with it being very difficult to get a replacement, so they could say no.

But there really is no so much job security here, he works in IT and doesn't even have a contract.

Come over with considerable savings, be prepared to network like crazy!

Everyone I know have found a job - but in some cases (in IT) it has taken well over a year.

Have you joined the Brits2Vancouver yahoo discussion group? It can help with the networking when you get here.

Clare

I'd just add that my borther who Is British and hasn't lived anywhere else but the UK and got his BSc(hons) degree in IT last year hasn't been able to find a Job in the UKyet in that field. My friend who graduated the year before me with his BSc(hons) in Computer Science had only jsut found a reasonable job a year later when I moved to Canada and that was a local council job not in the private sector. The only people I know from university in the UK who walked into jobs in the IT sector has Masters degrees. So at least in that respect when people complain about the IT sector here in Canada, which is certainly crappy, it's also crappy in a lot of other places as well, even for non immigrants. In that respect you have to remember that if local people with well recognised local degrees are struggling finding work in that field then an immigrant with no expereince of working in that country and an unfamiliar foreign degree is going to have an even harder struggle.
You can't just move to a new country and expect to be on the same exact level as someone who grew up there, it just doesn't work that way, migration is difficult.
I have read many many stories on the BBC of the problems immigrants in the UK have working as proffesionals liek doctors etc. the BMA is just as anal about licensing as anywhere else. In fact I know someone moving to Canada to be with his fiancee because she is half way through a Canadian Dental degree program that can't translate to the UK so she'd have to start again.

The biggest word you hear is networking and it's true. I found my job through someone in my wife's family and my wife found her current one via her mother's work and the one before form making friends with the owner of a bookstore etc. You atill have to have the right qulaifications and we went through various interviews but witohut the network we would never have even known the jobs existed. People would rather hire someone quickly and with less recruitment cost who comes with a recomendation from a worker they trust than spend a lot on large advertising and hiring campaigns etc.

It also depends on yoru industry. While the IT sector may be depressed and saturated with all the guys like me who thought an IT type degree would be great 5 years ago but graduated into IT hell. However if you are in construction say then coming to southern/central Ontario would be great because the industry is booming. You might have to spend a while just labouring on a few sites and getting local experience but as soon as they see you can do it you will be in there. It's the foot in the door.

When I first arrived here myself and my wife (Canadian) were both working for $9/hour and that was enough to rent an apartment and get groceries and phone and cable and internet and commuting into Toronto etc. Now 9 months later she swapped jobs to increase to $15 for now and I went up to $10 after 6 months and the company I got in with is starting huge expansions around here and so there will be a wealth of oppertunities to move up to a better job. So it might be true that beign a university graduate working for $9/hour sucks but it is the same I was making in the UK after graduating in the only job I could find temping for an insurance company. However soon I will have a years worth of continuous work on my resume with a large company and they will combine the fact I have a degree (no one has ever commented on the fact it is British except to say they think UK degrees are good) with the comapny experience and it will help.

You have to make a sacrafice at the start to getin there and build. You are starting from scratch in a new country, you can't just transfer your old life to Canada (or Australia etc) and just replace the UK's weather and crime with hot summers and safe cities etc. and carry on like nothing happened.

I think maybe one of the things that is a disadvatnage to people moving who are older and more established in the UK is they can afford to buy a house as soon as they move to Canada and cars etc and expect it to be the same as in the UK or as good as their neighbours, but they haven't had to work for or build up any of it in Canada. They are kind of newcomers impersonating established Canadians and wondering why it's not quite the same. It might be worth maybe not going straight for the giant Canadian dream house and 2 cars and just renting in a city so you can easily move around until you find somewhere you like and if you live in a city like Toronto you don't need a car and you can start and build a new life rather than trying to transpose an old one across into a new one.

Drew

Babsi - your friend was mistaken. Legally, the place where your husband works HAS to give him a reference - they cannot say "no". This is stated in Federal and Provincial Labour Codes, as well as Human Rights Codes.

SunnySussex:

basically, in Canada your UK (or any other country for that matter) qualifications/degrees etc. count for not much at all. I worked in Toronto for a couple of years, and frequently met taxi drivers who had a Ph.D in Engineering, or an M.D. from the UK or Europe, or a M.Sc. in computing science - and couldn't find work in their area because of the stupid, backwards self-protecting attitude of many of the Professional associations here in Canada. The same can also be said for the Trades - electrical, plumbing, pipe-fitters, automotive. If you ain't got a Canadian certificate or diploma (which in my experience is a hoot! because the standard of education here is very, very low - you know that your "O" level is equivalent to the first and second year of studies in most Universities here in Canada!), then you ain't gonna get a job.

and networking - what a laugh! used to be that all jobs had to be posted through the Government Employment site... not now... unless you're looking for a low-paying $7/hr job! Networking basically means going out to BBQ's with the boss, taking him to lunch, and generally making an idiot of yourself. Here in Canada, most emplyees now look at who you know, not at what you know or what your work experience has been.

If you're happy in Sussex, I would stay there! really.... or have you thought about the EU? Nice cultures and places to work in there over in Europe. You will also find that most Canadians here are generally shallow, selfish and mostly ignorant about the world... lacking in a certain finesse, should I say? lol

Stay is Sussex, mate... the grass is not greener over here, believe me.

Ouch - I'm not a Canadian but I find that statement hugely offensive. Besides, it sounds like you're talking about Americans!

Does anyone have any sort of success stories, or know of someone that has made it!!!.

How come all these people with PHD's that are Taxi drivers still stay in Canada ?.

I dont believe the grass is any greener in Canada than the UK. Ive sussed that out on my first trip over there.

All I want is to get the same job that I have in the UK and be paid a resonable wage for it.

Im not a brain surgeon or anything fancy, just middle class with a reasonably skilled job.

Is getting the same sort of thing too much to ask for ?????.

:lecture: :lecture: :lecture: :lecture: :lecture: :lecture: :lecture: :lecture:

Having O levels, A levels and a Canadian degree, I can assure you that is not the case.

If it was the case, I would wonder why more O level students aren't NASA flight surgeons (like one University of Calgary graduate), or the prime minister of Canada (like another)...
Yes, me. Well, I wouldn't say a success - I'm not a millionaire or anything - but I thoroughly enjoy life here. I will say that I think that going to university here made a big difference, both in terms of building a social network and in getting into the employment grapevine.
Because driving a taxi in Canada is better than being a doctor in Romania. An offensive comment? The taxi driver will tell you that themselves.

Good grief you guys!!!!!!!! It must be the winter blahs or something. I haven't seen such a bloody load of wingeing for months and months.

Don't listen to the moaners. There are probably many, many more people who have come to Canada and made a success of things.

After all - Canada is mostly immigrants. Doesn't it make sense that if people hated it - they would go home and there wouldn't be any people left in Canada!

I love it here too, I guess I made it. As a junior engineer in the UK there was no chance of me owning my own house anytime soon, I was sick of all the petty crime and small mindedness around me, and the lager and football society. Although I earn a little more here then in the UK, the cost of living and property in particular where I live puts me way ahead of where I would be if I stayed in the UK. I have everything I want in life on an Engineers salary, nothing extravagant, but I am comfortable. I had the advantage that I had a job waiting for me, so I did not have to go backwards to get ahead when I first came over, however I have been layed off in the past, and the job market can be brutal, you really do have to sell yourself.

Although it was initially an economic decision for me, and to be honest a bit of an adventure, I can honestly say now that I love the way of life here, people work hard, and they play hard, Canadains generally are quick to laugh (when they get the joke anyway!) and there is a definate sense of community where I live, neighbours become friends, and help each other out, which is something I never experienced in the UK. The only downside is the measly holiday allowances.

To be realistic, if you dont have a job lined up, and most dont (I work in a niche market) YOU WILL NOT come over and step straight into a similar job to where you are now, you have to get canadian experience, but in a few years (and they will probably be hard, so start saving!) you will be earning a reasonable amount and have a much improved quality of life. I know probably half a dozen expats in my small town, and not one of them would go back to the UK if you paid them now. I find most of the people on this forum who are disillusioned moved to a large city, Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary, and are strugling to find work. IMO this is because so many people go to the large places that they saturate the market. Its a huge country, so take a good look around before deciding on a location, and when you get here dont be afraid to move somewhere else in Canada if it is not what you expected.

Good luck

Iain

The wife and I emmigrated here to BC 3.5 years ago, fortunately we are both working now, although it was a struggle to begin with, at times at least one of us wasnt working at all.

I studied over here for an IT diploma but couldnt get any work at all since I had no experience and there were already tons of people with way more experience than me.

It is a case of not what you know but who you know, especially in IT, so I left IT without even working a single hour in it, then I got a job after seeing an advert on the company on a local television station rearing insects for growers which is certainly a niche market. Have been there for 1.5 years now and loving it, although job security really is non existant and is a constant worry.

Not all low paying jobs start at 7 bucks , the minimum wage is $8 in BC while the training wage is $6.

There are lots of jobs starting at 9-10 that you can get while looking for better work

As for the comments from George Lost about the people and education I would take with a grain of salt. Seems to have a large chip on his shoulder. By the way george there are no O levels any more its GCSE now and has been for about the last 15 years.

Generally speaking most companies now operate a policy of only confirming that an employee worked for that company in whatever capacity between whatever dates

Nearly all companies are now too scared of being sued for a misleading reference to offer any detail of the employes performance and reasons for leaving the job. At least this is the case in Ontario.

Iain

It’s generally the case anywhere. Even in some US states. In NY State, not only can you not deny someone a reference, but you cannot give them a bad one nor can you state the reason for termination! If someone gives you a bad reference, they are liable for slander.

Now, back to the real topic. I don’t think you should move to Canada if you’re really trying to cash in and make a lot of money. And, no, you will not get $55,000 after just moving there. Without Canadian experience and a Canadian degree, as everyone here has said, you will be at the bottom of the barrel and have to work your way up.

The job market in Canada (and, indeed, much of the world) is very sluggish. There are many, many Canadians out of work. Many of them are skilled professionals with the “Canadian experience� and Canadian degree which is oh-so-desired.

I think being blunt is the best way of putting it.

I don’t know, Canada is not the same country as it was ten years ago. I think it’s declined somewhat. There was more opportunity back then. However, I do see a silver lining in the clouds. I think Paul Martin will bring some much needed fresh air to the political scene and I think he has better ideas than his moronic predecessor. Should be interesting. Maybe things will get better with Martin.