midnight007

[F]Hello,

I have posted here a little while back in regards to the lack of teaching jobs in Ontario but I am back in the hopes that maybe someone can provide me with some advice.

I moved to Ontario with my wife last September and have been unable to find work. I have tried basically everything I can think of, temp agencies, the local college employment center, asking my neighbors etc etc...and I have come up with nothing.

I have a degree in Chemistry, and a PGCE in Education and had been second in science before leaving my post for good back in England. (or at least what seemed like for good at the time.)

Now, I knew ahead of time that teaching basically was not going to happen, however, I did think that I stood a pretty good chance at landing a job in administration of some kind. I am expert with programs like Excel/Access etc and can write VBA etc. However, this has not been the case either. I cannot even find a job in a local office. It's been harrowing.

Now...My wife and I were thinking of packing up and moving back to England, but we did think that possibly relocating to somewhere in Vancouver MAY be an option as the unemployment rate is slightly less. My question is, Do you think it would be really tough to find some work out there? Anyone know what the situation is like at the moment?

I dread to think that we will have to end our stint in Canada because I have failed to secure a job here, but it's getting to a point where financially we will have no choice. We do own our home here so that is good news, but we need more monthly income to keep us going.[/FONT]


Any advice?

ExKiwilass

When you say Ontario, do you mean Toronto? Or a smaller town in Ontario?

midnight007

Hour away from Toronto. Have applied for positions in Toronto too. Travelling to and from work was not an issue. Just haven't had any replies to anything. My resume was looked over by some people at the local college and they said it was fantastic and they had no other real advice on how I could make it more "attractive".
I am assuming that what is stopping me from finding work is competition and possibly lack of Canadian experience.

ExKiwilass

Hmm that could be an issue for you here too.

I really don't know how to advise you, tbh. YOu could come and find work easily or you might not. I don't know what to say, maybe someone else has a better idea.

midnight007

I have been working a little bit for my wife's company and am currently building a database for them so that they can streamline their work as they are just a small business. They said they would give me a work reference. I have recently added them to my resume. Still haven't had much luck.
Thanks anyway!

Novocastrian

It's not impossible to get into teaching in Ontario, just bloody difficult. I read your earlier posts and I believe you have OCT recognition?

Could you survive on an evening / part-time job as a tutor in chemistry while volunteering a few days a week as a teachers' aid in a local high school?

Shard

Sorry to hear that. I think judging employment chances by looking at unemployment rates is very unreliable, it really depends much more on industries and skill sets. You could always look for employment in Vancouver from Ontario, that would be a more prudent way to do it, and help you gauge your chances. Alberta should not be ruled out either. However, given the relative size of Ontario (assuming you're in the GTA) it's probably your best hunting ground.

midnight007

I think we have come to the conclusion that it's too difficult to pursue at the moment. I applied for loads of jobs with places like oxford learning and other tutoring agencies and have had no luck thus far.

The other issue is that I have a provisional OCT (because my chemistry degree is from 20 years ago and was for PURE chemistry, they couldn't approve me for general science) they said a way around it was to get a qualification in "drama" (so that I can teach more than one subject). After looking at that option, and cost, I decided not to pursue it. My wife has some Canadian friends who have been seeking stable teaching for 5-6 years and are still doing supply.
So, I think I'll have to face facts that the odds are stacked against me on this one.

I would like to know however, what the general job market/outlook is like in the BC area, and what it is like to live there? I guess our plan would be to apply for some jobs first, and then fly out there for interviews.

Novocastrian

Ha! As a university chemistry lecturer/researcher in Ontario, I can confirm that chemistry (in any form you or I would recognize it) is not taught in high schools here. Drama eh? Stupid twats.

Siouxie

I understand completely your frustration at not being able to secure a job. The problem with applying for administrative positions, I have found, is that they have hundreds of college leavers with qualifications applying for the jobs too - which leaves the rest of us at the bottom of the pile.

Requiring 'Canadian experience', by the way, is illegal in Ontario.

Have you looked at any of these websites? I have seen a lot of jobs on them that are not advertised elsewhere.

http://www.ocasa.on.ca/job-postings/
http://www.workinnonprofits.ca/index?sel=fj
https://charityvillage.com/jobs/find-jobs.aspx
https://thirdquarter.ca/en/default.c...-view%2Ecfm%3F (you are probably to young for this one, lol)
http://toronto.amazon-jobs.com/caree...n-toronto.html
http://jobsineducation.com/employer-...t-school-board
http://careers2.hiredesk.net/ViewJob...&SortOrder=Asc
http://univjobs.com/college/canada-on.html

you find something soon...

JonboyE

It is difficult to know how to offer constructive advice. There is work about in BC. IMO it is a great place to live. However, that does not guarantee that you will like it, or find work.

It might be worth finding out if you could be a science teacher in BC. I understand this is one of the few subjects for which teachers are in demand. Also, there is more scope for securing a position if you are prepared to teach in a remote area. There are quite a few ESL schools here. Pay and conditions are not like the public school system – but a job is a job.

As for non-teaching work the immediate problem I see from your posts is that you are looking for administrative work. I don’t know what that means. It could be anything from an office clerk to running a department of thousands. I don’t think that being an all-round generalist is going to help. People like to hire specialists. I think you would be better off having 20 resumes showing you are a specialist in 20 different disciplines and using an appropriate one for each application. I think you would be even better off writing a new resume for each company you apply to showing that you are a specialist in resolving the kinds of problems they experience. After all, if you are not, why should they hire you?

You need to make sure you don’t appear to be a teacher looking for other work until a teaching job comes along.

Business culture in Vancouver is quite laid back, more so than the Toronto culture I undersatnd. You might find your face fits better here. (Of course, you equally might it doesn't.) Networking is important, particularly for someone new in town. More particularly so for someone who doesn’t fit into a convenient box for recruiters. If your skills and experience are not getting you a job you have to sell yourself.

ExKiwilass

Also, you could try private schools.

Agree with JBE here - it would help to know exactly what kind of admin role you were looking for.

I was thinking of you for project administration - it's pretty hard to find decent project admins. Do you have any construction or other project experience? Project management or coordination? The project administrators I work with have quite impressive backgrounds: PR/media, MBA, multiple languages, etc. You sound like you have a good skillset, but being a man you might find it harder to get into it (I don't agree with this by the way. Like Novo said, twats).

Anyway, something to chew on. building a database sounds good. Having really good IT/computer skills is desirable in that job. Being self-motivated and a problem solver is good too.

Mimzy

I live in Vancouver and I work in IT, I just moved here with my family last year August.
Here is my 2 cents. Your IT/database skill should be very useful. You can look for IT support roles, or Database Analyst roles here in Vancouver. Just like someone also suggested, try Alberta. I know companies are constantly looking for IT people. Having a Scientific background is usually always an advantage. I am a Mathematics graduate myself and this was about 18 years ago. I have not had a problem getting a job.
There is no harm in trying to look for jobs here in Vancouver and Alberta, judge by the response you get. As long as you do not require the company for visa sponsorship, I think you stand a good chance.
Good luck and I hope it all works out for you. If you need any more information, you can PM me.

midnight007

Thanks to those of you who have replied with suggestions and advice, we appreciate it (And will look into some of the work websites we haven't looked at yet)

acer rose

In my experience, you need a lot of luck, an excellent network or high demand skills to secure a good job in Vancouver. You need to secure a good job in Vancouver to have the financial means to take advantage of living here, as opposed to back in the UK or elsewhere.

I don't know any science teachers. The teachers I do know are well established in their careers (i.e. have seniority) but even for them, with a wide-array of skills (e.g. elementary school teacher with French immersion, ESL, special needs experience and Master's level teacher-librarian qualifications), finding a new position in a different school district can be challenging. There does seem to be a big market in tutoring though, particularly in areas in which the parents are keen for their kids to do well (to get scholarships etc).

Chemistry careers have a very low (non-existent) profile here with chemical engineers seeming to have carved out a niche for doing jobs that chemists may be doing elsewhere.

Specialized IT positions (e.g. proper coders) can be hard to fill (OH has been trying to recruit for the last year) so you may have some luck if you can package your experience appropriately.

Vancouver is a great place to live but it is also easy to be poor and miserable because of it here.

My 2c.