dbd33

I'm sure that's true if what you have to offer is an MBA. Do you also have skills? Are you, for example, an accountant or a lawyer, a computer professional or an expert in procurement?

jayn200

I have a Technical undergraduate degree, multiple IT certifications, know my particular subject matter area extremely well, am constantly upskilling and have multiple successful projects to speak to. I did know before I came to UK that MBA is not as valued in Europe and UK as it is in Canada and USA. The only companies I've interviewed with in London that cared that I did an MBA were american tech companies (Google, Amazon, Paypal) and consulting companies.

I'm just surprised I even got any debate on this to be honest. This is all information told to me by brits in London. I heard multiple times that most job postings aren't real and that all jobs just go to internal referrals anyway. The brits I spoke with about this don't even bother applying to postings on job boards. Is this not the case? I guess it's possible the companies I worked in with a high % of referral based hires were not representative of the larger London job market.

dbd33

I've been in Canada for evah and so cannot comment on the UK job market or the perception of qualifications there. It is the other half of the comparison that shot my eyebrows up my forehead. I don't think merit is much of a factor in hiring for permanent jobs in Canada, contracts yes, but, in Canada, even the job of Prime Minister is subject to nepotism. Maybe business is the same everywhere, Ivanka Trump's career trajectory suggests that connections are as important in the US as in Canada.

Siouxie

Funny, that's what Brits and other immigratnts are repeatedly told by Canadians (and other immigrants) about jobs in Canada... it's not what you know, it's who you know.. I'd suggest reading a few of the many threads on the subject on BE.

scrubbedexpat091

If you read deep enough into some job postings you can often see some very specific things listed that seem tailored towards a specific person....

I do know the federal government does this in some fashion, when my ex-wife was hired, it was basically all formality, they had to post the position to the public so she could apply, but they had no intention of interviewing or hiring anyone else. Ex-wife dad works for the feds and pulled strings, there is no coincidence that you can find families with everyone seemingly works for the same federal department but different locations. In my ex-wife's case it was corrections, dad, mom, uncle, 2 cousins, my ex and her sister all working for the same federal department, interesting isn't it....ha ha

Port jobs in Vancouver pay well, but unless you know someone or related to someone your not getting into the union.

christmasoompa

Depends on the industry then I assume. My husband finished his MBA and almost instantly was headhunted for a much more senior job (he wouldn't have got it without the MBA, and he didn't know anybody there). He's never been offered a job by somebody he knows.

What you're saying about London is what the majority of the people on the forum say about Canada.

dbd33

I heard a story today which amused me and is relevant to this thread. I met this chap who is a manager of maybe 30 computer people, his title will be director or AVP or some such. We were waiting for a meeting to start and got to talking about parking (local rates just doubled so everyone talks about parking). He was very proud of having a place in the nearby lot and explained that he's been with the firm for seven years, when he joined he negotiated for, and got, three weeks holiday. He then applied to HR for a parking pass and the person assigning them looked at his records, saw he had three weeks holiday, assumed he was a big shot and gave him a premium spot. "I work long hours", he said, "I deserve it".

LondonM

It is amusing that 3 weeks annual leave is considered so good you have to negotiate for it.

Gozit

Yep. As someone used to taking school breaks to travel going into the workforce full time is going to be a bit of an adjustment to me with only 2 weeks mandated paid holiday in Ontario.

I would take unpaid holiday but even that is spotty as employers "need the work to be done" so to speak and won't always go for it.

Long weekends are going to be my friend I guess.

CanadaJimmy

It surprises me that the social-democratic NDP party don't capitalize on these kinds of missing workers rights for policy. 4 weeks vacation should be in their platform.

BristolUK

I think, regardless of annual leave, school to workforce is quite an adjustment.

Much longer days; no breaktime morning and afternoon; no 90 minute lunch break; being in the minority instead of the majority.

I left school on a Tuesday and started work the following Monday while everyone else was still there for weeks to come. During that period, going to the park with my mates to play football (round ball ) I was aware I was running around like some crazed beast having been released from its cage.

On the plus side, you didn't have to raise your hand when you wanted to go to the toilet.

Is this there where people say you haven't needed to do that for decades?

spouse of scouse

You missed the most important adjustment - you have to start paying for stuff

dbd33

People now ask by Skype or Teams. That way the boss can easily stalk them to see how long they take.

BristolUK

Well that's only fair now you are getting paid.

There was a period in the 70s when my pay got add-ons according to cost of living/inflation adjustments.

My parents felt I should add what ever extra I got to my usual housekeeping contribution. Completely fair since they were paying for the stuff that was going up. Of course, I didn't see it that way at the time.

scrubbedexpat091

I always in a way wished long weekends were a thing in the jobs I have had, would certainly make the lack of annual vacation more tolerable with a few longer weekends, but I always worked in 24/7 operations or retail neither of which bring you long weekends unless in management, retailers only close for Christmas really here, and hotels and airlines of course don't close any day of the year, so its just 2 weeks a year and well few employers have ever let me take 2 weeks in a row, so it ends up being a week in January and a week in September since there is always the no vacations during busy season which is basically March to Sept, and Nov to end of the year only leaving January/Sept/Oct as viable months to take time off.

As for unpaid vacation, generally not something employers have gone for in my working life.

But mileage may vary, obviously white collar professionals tend to get better things in work vs blue collar lower skilled folks.

My last job they literally refused to negotiate and it even says so in the hiring package, first page big bold, pay, benefits, and time off are set and equal for all employees, to maintain fairness and ensure all employees are equal in pay and benefits, we will not negotiate individual pay or benefits, then on to list the pay, benefits etc, same with raises, unless the company was going to give everyone a raise, nobody got one in an effort to be fair.

So there really was no point in working much above the least productive worker, I mean if your not going to get a raise for being more productive why be more productive?