Re: Positive Experiences.
 

How so?

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Emigrating for a better standard of living, except when it comes to things like access to state funded education. I'm not criticizing you - it just struck me as a little ironic.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Its hardly state funded being that its a Student LOAN, meaning I have to pay it back once I have my degree. I wouldnt get a similar loan in Canada. Here Im entitled to it because I have never been in Higher Education, and being that for the last 9 years I have looked after my wife who is ill, I think its about time I started digging myself back out of the hole we've found ourselves in.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Fair point - state subsidized then.

As I said, I'm not judging your decision or motivation to emigrate. I wish you luck with your endeavors.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

I agree that £35k would probably be a bit unrealistic for a new graduate, but £35k isn't a particularly high wage for an engineer with a bit of experience. My husband (hardware engineer) was on that amount when we left the UK 6 years ago (11 years after graduation and in NW, not SE) and if I recall correctly, I was on somewhere in the region of £25k as a software engineer (temperature controllers) about 12 years ago (5 years' after graduating)...both of us with just BEng in Electronics - no Masters.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Whereabouts in Canada are you hoping to emigrate?

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

I agree with looking at the positives, to balance out the negatives.

However, generally before you emigrate and are living in the UK reading this forum, when people write negative stuff about their Canadian experiences, the tendency is to discount it, as you don't really want to hear it (guilty as charged).

However what you discover when you do live here is that most of what has been said by posters is bang on - this goes for both the positives and the negatives.

I don't want to rain on your parade, as there are so many wonderful things about living in Canada, and we have enjoyed a lot of aspects of life here, but ultimately not enough for us to stay long term.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Check out the overseas rates here - for many provinces they're lower than the rates you'll get charged domestic in the UK. I think Canada has one of the lowest overseas student rates in the western world.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

We just caught 7 raccoons in the ceiling of my office building so I would agree on the wildlife aspect. The rest is a pile of bollocks.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Sorry not all positive here, in fact I'll play devils advocate a bit....

So I agree with your point about the wide open space, and I'm not allowed to put my bin out too early just in case I end up with a bear on my doorstep...
but why do you think you deserve to be paid more anywhere, and why would you think you will here - bear in mind that (whatever people say about it) generally speaking the UK and Europe has a fairly advanced engineering sector with some really good people/companies, doing really good things, backed up by some really good Universities.
Okay for whatever reason you're not going to be earning the same as an investment banker, but take a good hard look at the chance of you finding an engineering job anywhere in the world in that sector with no post-grad experience, then bear in mind you are competing with India, China, a whole bunch of people in Silicon valley who are having hard times at the moment...
Having worked in the better paid end of the electronics industry (IC design) for quite a while, I'd say that really 25K to 30K starting is reasonably good, and Canada is not the place to come to get paid vastly more (salary wise at least, I do get paid more in Canada but only because of the current exchange rate). For that you want to go to the US but refer to the above point about your chances of getting a visa/job there.
As pointed out to me by the divisional director at my first graduate job, engineering is not something that will likely make you rich, but rather just comfortable; I've come close to the former, and often wondered about the latter, but generally I think that's true. Engineering is more a job that you do because that's the thing you want to do - fortunately mechatronics/robotics probably gives you the oppportunity to do something cool and interesting, which is why I guess you are doing it?

On the other hand it has given me the opportunity to work in other countries and with other cultures, and has given me the opportunity to move here; though to do so I had to give up what for me was almost my perfect engineering job in the UK at a very good British company (from which perhaps you could infer that I too saw some significant upsides to Canada to tip the balance)

Before making a giant continental step, have you looked closer to home, if not the UK, perhaps Germany?

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

It amazes me that even when a thread specifically asks for "positive experiences" people still come on and talk about the bad stuff. :huh:

He said he has read plenty of "moving back" stories and now wants positive things so why can't we just do that?


For me the weather has been great compared to UK (except last few weeks where they've had a bloody heatwave) I've learned to ski and go every week in winter, sometimes twice. I have made plenty of friends, have my own business, spend most weekends at the beach in summer which is a few minutes away and the views never cease to amaze me on my daily travels, lakes, mountains and roads that are busy at times but not congested in the same sense that the south of England suffers from.
I have never thought of going back to my previous life not even if Primark started selling bacon sarnies. :lol:

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Good point.
Okay. I too can go skiing every weekend if I want to and even after work - even 60cm of fresh one evening!
I live 10 to 15 mins drive from the ski-lifts, and a 15 minute walk from the beach with an absoultely breathtaking view, and also live up a mountain in a rainforest which is very pretty. My house whilst somewhat pricey (and probably even more eyewateringly so if you are from northern England) is very nice even if it is made out of wood, we have a great neighbourhood, and daycare costs half what it did in Britain

However since the OP made a big thing about the fact he wanted to leave the UK because he couldn't earn enough there in his newly chosen field, it may be a good idea to also consider the fact that in that respect at least the UK really isn't bad at all.

Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Because someone doesnt give up 5 years of their life and risk losing their family to return to education, especially at my age, just to earn the same wages they earnt before getting a degree,

A fair point, except for the fact I already have a reasonably amount of experience and qualifications in Electronic Engineering already, all I am doing by getting a degree is specialising and formalising that experience


Engineering is something I have come back to after a substantial break, and yes I've always enjoyed it. I chose Mechatronics because it is a very specialised field (the other choice was Nanotechnology, but Im not disposed to handling things that delicate... :p) and was also one of the degrees most likely to allow me to immigrate.



I dont speak German, and neither does my family and I have no wish to learn. Ive looked at all the big 4, US, Canada, NZ and Aus and Canada is where I feel ticks most of the boxes for me.

And to be fair, I didnt make a big deal. I quoted it as one of the several reasons I wanted to move, somebody else made it a big deal and turned my Positive Experiences thread into a Engineering wages thread.



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Re: Positive Experiences.
 

Thanks Printer, nice to know that at least some people can read.

To all those that chose to ignore me and write something that had nothing to do with the thread title, I'll write slowly coz I know you dont read so good.

Im not some half witted kid fresh out of school, with his thumb up his ass. Im nearly 40 y/o with a wife who is ill and 4 kids in school. Because of this, I have done and am still doing my research. I've read the horror stories of the "Moving Back" forums, Ive looked at house prices and sizes, Ive looked at the cost of various important everyday essentials ie. groceries, gasoline, insurance, etc. I have done my research on the jobs market and I have seen advertised the jobs that pay substantially more than they do over here.

For you people with your doom and gloom stories, I feel sorry for you that you nothing positive to offer a thread entitled Positive Experiences, but I suspect you are the people that are never happy regardless of how things turn out. Me, well Im an optimist. Do I expect my immigration, regardless of country, to be all positive IF we decide to immigrate? No, but thats life. You take the rough with the smooth and hopefully get more out of the good than the bad takes from you. Far better to regret something you tried and didnt like than regretting never trying in the first place.

Now you people have a nice day/evening, Im goona go and do some more research. :thumbsup:

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Re: Positive Experiences.
 

You may not like the answers you were given, but this is a public forum and therefore 'thread drift' is to be expected, as are replies that may not be exactly what you want to hear. Anybody is free to write whatever they want, as long as it's in line with site rules.

I'd suggest you take the time to re-read the site rules, particularly rule no. 1 - treat others with respect, rather than an attitude like that pls.