IT Skilled workers
#16
Re: IT Skilled workers
Are there many IT people looking to come over?
if so what areas are you looking at?
There are several IT based companies here in Kamloops that are really struggling to fill IT Skills posts. We are not looking fr fresh graduates - The local University provides lots of them, but the 10-15 year working in the field skills are in great shortage. Our company has had a 10-15 year seasoned senior programmer post available for nearly a year, we are also looking for an experienced networking person. When I talk to Directors of other companies I hear the same thing - both Windows / ASP.Net and Linux / PHP skills.
We will be working on raising the profile of this City because either you guys aint coming over this way or you are not finding our city.
if so what areas are you looking at?
There are several IT based companies here in Kamloops that are really struggling to fill IT Skills posts. We are not looking fr fresh graduates - The local University provides lots of them, but the 10-15 year working in the field skills are in great shortage. Our company has had a 10-15 year seasoned senior programmer post available for nearly a year, we are also looking for an experienced networking person. When I talk to Directors of other companies I hear the same thing - both Windows / ASP.Net and Linux / PHP skills.
We will be working on raising the profile of this City because either you guys aint coming over this way or you are not finding our city.
ORACLE DBA
UNIX
XML
SQL PL/SQL
PRINCE2 Practioner
ITIL
CISCO Networking
and other stuff (won't bore you)
However when I initialy started to look into moving to Canada and working in IT everwhere who replied to me said yeh great but you don't have a Bachelors Degree in computer science (or the like) and we would be requiring that.
#17
Re: IT Skilled workers
My job requires a degree in Computer Science... but I don't have one. It's just another way to weed out applicants, and with lots of foreign experience you won't necessarily have a problem.
#19
Re: IT Skilled workers
I live in Kamloops and work for the largest IT 'employer' in town. I arrived in town last july with just a suitcase and had not 'networked' prior to coming over as I didn't know anyone.
I don't have any post secondary education, just 15 years work experience and I got a job no problem. In fact during my first few weeks I was constantly asked if I knew of a good SQL DBA and after much persuasion I managed to convince my best mate to join me and he is currently waiting for a positive LMO.
They had this position advertised for over 1 year and in the end were more than happy to recruit a foreigner!
I cannot really put my finger on what was putting Canadians off? the pay was above average for Kamloops, holiday started off on 15 days, full benefits, blah blah blah.
I don't have any post secondary education, just 15 years work experience and I got a job no problem. In fact during my first few weeks I was constantly asked if I knew of a good SQL DBA and after much persuasion I managed to convince my best mate to join me and he is currently waiting for a positive LMO.
They had this position advertised for over 1 year and in the end were more than happy to recruit a foreigner!
I cannot really put my finger on what was putting Canadians off? the pay was above average for Kamloops, holiday started off on 15 days, full benefits, blah blah blah.
#20
Re: IT Skilled workers
Speaking as an IT person who has 8 years experience in a wide range of areas (most of which are as useful as tits on a man) I find that the skill sets a lot of the senior posts want are clearly designed by someone who likes to cover every letter in the alphabet. I'd say this is one of the main reasons jobs like this stay unfilled for so long. Not location.
When a job requires the candidate to be not only skilled in but also an unparallelled master in every programming language from A+ to ZZT-oop then I'd say it's time to revisit the description. Or at least get realistic about the pay grade.
Besides, working as an applications programmer/developer over here is akin to being Chicken #1258 in a battery farm.
When a job requires the candidate to be not only skilled in but also an unparallelled master in every programming language from A+ to ZZT-oop then I'd say it's time to revisit the description. Or at least get realistic about the pay grade.
Besides, working as an applications programmer/developer over here is akin to being Chicken #1258 in a battery farm.
On the flip side of that I have found that since writing adverts and Job descriptions over here I have gradually navigated to the A-Z requirements. The reason for this is to widen the field rather than narrow the field. An advert may only get two applicants in two months with a very narrow focus. I never expect an applicant to have all the skills and my experience is that a lot of Canadians know they dont need all the skills, certainly by judging from the resume's they send. It would appear that employers are happy to see as many resumes as they can get and then filter through them to see which are the best or nearest fits. I remember in the UK when I saw 200 resumes after a 2 week advert and promising to reduce the requirements and make them tighter for the next advert.
However I like your points and will pass this view onto other IT employers in the city to think about.
#21
Re: IT Skilled workers
We are aware that there is a money issue Kamloops does not try to compete with big City sallaries.
It is like the UK - some cities have a lower cost of living and therefore pay less and some cities have a higher cost of living and pay more.
I remember the London UK wages compared to those in the Midlands - but having moved to a Lincolnshire village I found that a lower cost of living and a lower sallary often actually meant more spending power locally.
Lincolnshire vs London is like Kamloops vs Vancouver.
Property in Vancouver is well over double the cost of property in Kamloops but the wages are not well over double - so in the end you may be less well off living in the big city with a high sallary than you are in a small city with a modest sallary.
It is like the UK - some cities have a lower cost of living and therefore pay less and some cities have a higher cost of living and pay more.
I remember the London UK wages compared to those in the Midlands - but having moved to a Lincolnshire village I found that a lower cost of living and a lower sallary often actually meant more spending power locally.
Lincolnshire vs London is like Kamloops vs Vancouver.
Property in Vancouver is well over double the cost of property in Kamloops but the wages are not well over double - so in the end you may be less well off living in the big city with a high sallary than you are in a small city with a modest sallary.
#22
Re: IT Skilled workers
Interesting point - the hours and the leave entitlement.
These two factors are common discussions. The more we look to Europe for experienced workers the more we must consider them. In our company we have now raised the leave entitlement to 15 days standard with reward days for people that feel this is important to them and prove their commitment to the company. It is also interesting that the new generation of people comming into the workforce also feel that leave time is more important than money so there may be changes in that area across canada.
The other side is that living in a smaller city means no traffic ques to get home - you can be on the golf course by 5:15pm after leaving work or on the beach, at the tennis club or whatever you like to do. This means that in total you have more leisure time. My wife and I found that house cleaners are very cheap and have our house cleaned on a Friday, easily get our weekly grocery shopping done even on a Friday with no queue's at the checkout and can be home for 6:00pm on a Friday and then have all weekend to ourselves. The hundred or so lakes and all the golf courses, the ski slopes, hiking trails, campsites etc withing less than an hours drive means we have found a far better quality of life without the smaller vacation time than we ever had in the UK.
Oh yes - did I mention the weather? 40 degree Centigrade peak in summer very little rain most of the year - no need to go anywhere for the weather so every weekend from March to September is a weekend in the sun.
http://www.venturekamloops.com/movetokamloops.htm
http://www.kamloops.ca/media/placeinthesun.shtml
These two factors are common discussions. The more we look to Europe for experienced workers the more we must consider them. In our company we have now raised the leave entitlement to 15 days standard with reward days for people that feel this is important to them and prove their commitment to the company. It is also interesting that the new generation of people comming into the workforce also feel that leave time is more important than money so there may be changes in that area across canada.
The other side is that living in a smaller city means no traffic ques to get home - you can be on the golf course by 5:15pm after leaving work or on the beach, at the tennis club or whatever you like to do. This means that in total you have more leisure time. My wife and I found that house cleaners are very cheap and have our house cleaned on a Friday, easily get our weekly grocery shopping done even on a Friday with no queue's at the checkout and can be home for 6:00pm on a Friday and then have all weekend to ourselves. The hundred or so lakes and all the golf courses, the ski slopes, hiking trails, campsites etc withing less than an hours drive means we have found a far better quality of life without the smaller vacation time than we ever had in the UK.
Oh yes - did I mention the weather? 40 degree Centigrade peak in summer very little rain most of the year - no need to go anywhere for the weather so every weekend from March to September is a weekend in the sun.
http://www.venturekamloops.com/movetokamloops.htm
http://www.kamloops.ca/media/placeinthesun.shtml
#23
Re: IT Skilled workers
We are looking to come over to BC. I am only 8 months into the long wait. Looking on the bright side, we are coming to Kimberley in March for 2 week snowboarding and exploring BC. (hope to miss flight back to UK
I have worked in IT for over 15 years. What IT jobs are there in Kamloops?
We would come tomorrow if we could get a jobs out there.
Whats the best websites to look on. I have registered on the Canadian Job bank?
I have worked in IT for over 15 years. What IT jobs are there in Kamloops?
We would come tomorrow if we could get a jobs out there.
Whats the best websites to look on. I have registered on the Canadian Job bank?
#24
Re: IT Skilled workers
To me this forum has been a great place to hear about and discuss employment related issues and I often feed infomation I obtain from here to our Local City ecconomic development board. We actually have stands in the UK at immegration events and the more we understand the better.
#25
Re: IT Skilled workers
Kamloops is on my list, so if you have names of it companies who are in need of it-profesionals, that would be very helpful. :-)
My husband will be 30 this year and has 9 years of it experience (most recent with c#.NET). We expect to move to Canada in September-November.
We first were looking for the Vancouver area, but to be honest I'd like to live in a smaller place...
My husband will be 30 this year and has 9 years of it experience (most recent with c#.NET). We expect to move to Canada in September-November.
We first were looking for the Vancouver area, but to be honest I'd like to live in a smaller place...
#26
Re: IT Skilled workers
Actually my one of my two best mates in Canada is trying to convince me to come to Kamloops....
Adn I am in IT. What kind of positions are you looking at hiring? I'm not a programmer (though i'm well familiar with them and programming), but tend to drift into workflow management and the like - adjacant but not programming itself. Services i'm also quite good at - hope to have mcse's complete by the time i come over. Have masters degree, will travel ;-)
Adn I am in IT. What kind of positions are you looking at hiring? I'm not a programmer (though i'm well familiar with them and programming), but tend to drift into workflow management and the like - adjacant but not programming itself. Services i'm also quite good at - hope to have mcse's complete by the time i come over. Have masters degree, will travel ;-)
If you send a resume to [email protected] she would be able to take a look and provide a good view of the types of employment opportunities in that field. Venture Kamloops is the City Economic Development Center and they are well educated about the shortage of experienced skilled workers.
Our City has pretty much narrowed the skills shortage down to an experienced skilled worker shortage - skills without experience are not in short supply to the same extent.
#27
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 806
Re: IT Skilled workers
There are several IT firms in town. BC lotteries, ASL internet, iCompass, Idea Lever, Visual statement and lots of other smaller companies that employee IT based people.
If you send a resume to [email protected] she would be able to take a look and provide a good view of the types of employment opportunities in that field. Venture Kamloops is the City Economic Development Center and they are well educated about the shortage of experienced skilled workers.
Our City has pretty much narrowed the skills shortage down to an experienced skilled worker shortage - skills without experience are not in short supply to the same extent.
If you send a resume to [email protected] she would be able to take a look and provide a good view of the types of employment opportunities in that field. Venture Kamloops is the City Economic Development Center and they are well educated about the shortage of experienced skilled workers.
Our City has pretty much narrowed the skills shortage down to an experienced skilled worker shortage - skills without experience are not in short supply to the same extent.
Can do work experience too! 2 years office manager, 2 years helpdesk first line, some time at second line, almost 2 years work flow manager, some technical account manager, and now i'm doing customer service type stuff for Netherlands (all of it, mind you. Banks of all things. Think fourth line porblems aka code change though i coordinate those, not do those).
#28
Re: IT Skilled workers
I have been working within IT for 8 years with the following skills:
ORACLE DBA
UNIX
XML
SQL PL/SQL
PRINCE2 Practioner
ITIL
CISCO Networking
and other stuff (won't bore you)
However when I initialy started to look into moving to Canada and working in IT everwhere who replied to me said yeh great but you don't have a Bachelors Degree in computer science (or the like) and we would be requiring that.
ORACLE DBA
UNIX
XML
SQL PL/SQL
PRINCE2 Practioner
ITIL
CISCO Networking
and other stuff (won't bore you)
However when I initialy started to look into moving to Canada and working in IT everwhere who replied to me said yeh great but you don't have a Bachelors Degree in computer science (or the like) and we would be requiring that.
If no-one is doing the job then better to get a junior and train them - it may take 10 years to train them to the equivalent of a ten years experienced person. Another 3 years and one of my team will be the 10 year experienced person - but 3 years is a long time, and if I hire one now I will have two in 3 years.
#29
Re: IT Skilled workers
I've worked since i was 18 sans the year i did the msc..i'm now 28. ;-)
Can do work experience too! 2 years office manager, 2 years helpdesk first line, some time at second line, almost 2 years work flow manager, some technical account manager, and now i'm doing customer service type stuff for Netherlands (all of it, mind you. Banks of all things. Think fourth line porblems aka code change though i coordinate those, not do those).
Can do work experience too! 2 years office manager, 2 years helpdesk first line, some time at second line, almost 2 years work flow manager, some technical account manager, and now i'm doing customer service type stuff for Netherlands (all of it, mind you. Banks of all things. Think fourth line porblems aka code change though i coordinate those, not do those).
#30
Re: IT Skilled workers
I live in Kamloops and work for the largest IT 'employer' in town. I arrived in town last july with just a suitcase and had not 'networked' prior to coming over as I didn't know anyone.
I don't have any post secondary education, just 15 years work experience and I got a job no problem. In fact during my first few weeks I was constantly asked if I knew of a good SQL DBA and after much persuasion I managed to convince my best mate to join me and he is currently waiting for a positive LMO.
They had this position advertised for over 1 year and in the end were more than happy to recruit a foreigner!
I cannot really put my finger on what was putting Canadians off? the pay was above average for Kamloops, holiday started off on 15 days, full benefits, blah blah blah.
I don't have any post secondary education, just 15 years work experience and I got a job no problem. In fact during my first few weeks I was constantly asked if I knew of a good SQL DBA and after much persuasion I managed to convince my best mate to join me and he is currently waiting for a positive LMO.
They had this position advertised for over 1 year and in the end were more than happy to recruit a foreigner!
I cannot really put my finger on what was putting Canadians off? the pay was above average for Kamloops, holiday started off on 15 days, full benefits, blah blah blah.