canadian_critic

I've been in Canada 5 years of which I've been out of work about half that time. I'm in Vancouver area, which is one of the most popular areas people emigrate to. One thing I would warn people about is the considerable cost of living coupled with a lack of job opportunities in areas which are in high demand elsewhere, especially UK. I would thoroughly recommend anyone considering a move to Vancouver area to secure a job before moving. Regrettably this is highly impractical in most cases, as employers and recruiters don't take people seriously until they are here.

The job market in Vancouver is mostly filled through personal referrals. This makes it really difficult for newbies to land positions unless they start with a significant social network.

Most jobs are simply not advertised. The recruiter asks their mates and contacts if they know a Wingly Dongly specialist or someone who knows about Wingly Donglies. They'll then get perhaps one vaguely suitable person who will then get the job uncontested and without it ever being advertised. But in many cases the person does not turn out to be suitable or the best fit for the job. And a couple of months down the road they're "being let go" or sacked as people in the real world like to call it.

My experience in the workforce in Britain is entirely different to this. For every job I've ever had I've always been selected from a choice of at least 2 and sometimes many many more. The company invests time to decide on the best candidate and then they're hired and stand a good chance of lasting. But my experience in Vancouver is entirely different to this. There's like an underworld of job activity which newbies (and I consider myself new still) have little access to. But because of the nature of job vacancy fulfilment, the churn rate in Vancouver seems ridiculous. Few people seem to last more than a year.

I have many grievances with the entire job finding process in Vancouver. Salaries are almost never stated which is crazy. What could waste everyone's time more than finding that the candidate and the recruiter are just miles away in terms of salary expectation.

The application process is poor, in fact I'd go as far as saying traumatic. There seems to be a complete lack of communication here, with even common courtesies being neglected. Apply for a position and unless they want you for interview, you won't hear from them again. That's incredibly unprofessional and discourteous. At what point do I conclude I've been unsuccessful? I would say 1 week or so, but I've had responses nearly a year later. Like I'm really going to hang around that long. It's so easy and practically free to collect email addresses of applicants and fire out ONE email to say unsuccessful. But companies seem to consider themselves too important and busy to bother with the unsuccessful candidates. This is incredibly short-sighted because those same candidates will be in short supply when the market swings around.

I have to say that certainly from my own perspective the job market here is nothing short of a nightmare. Yet I'm still on the mailing list for many agencies in London and getting tonnes of leads. In fact I am on Jobserve both in UK and Canada and I get daily bulletins, with the exact same search criteria. Tonight's results are typical and are as follows:

Jobserve UK: 235 jobs
Jobserve Canada: 2 jobs (nearest is 2500 miles from where I live)

I highly recommend being aware of this before committing to a move. Canadian employers really don't consider employment as any kind of commitment. The companies I've worked in here seem to just wipe out scores of people when it suits them and then just hire back another load when their fortunes change before repeating the cycle. I find this intolerable and unethical. Also if you have a family of 4 you are going to need to earn serious money here.

There is a myth that Canada gives people a better standard of living than UK. Well of course all of this is subjective, although I'm struggling to find the benefits. To me having a higher standard of living means lower stress, or more disposable income. But I'm finding the exact opposite.

No doubt this post will get attacked by the usual shit stirrers. I'm just posting my experience here with some practical examples. And quite contrary to the "troll" label that I often get, I'm motivated not by causing trouble but by letting others know what it's like here, well at least from my perspective. When I came out here I was so tired of Britain I would have moved to Bagdad to get out. But 5 years here for me is enough. And the moment I get the opportunity to (bearing in mind the move will cost $50k or so) I'll probably be out of here.

If this post has been useful please tell me publicly. And if you want to slam me for posting my experience don't bother.

Thanks

rubberduckofdeath

You've written a good post and it's worthwhile people knowing this.

This forum provides a decent mix of opinions, many of the people on here say that Canada's great and they're not looking back. Many say quite the opposite.

Cheers.

Funky Florist

Very interesting. Can you tell me what area of work you're in?

mandymoochops

I think it's an excellent post and am certainly not going to knock it (although one of the mods will move it to the Canada section of the forum that I can be sure of!!!).

The preference for 'who you know' seems to be Canada wide also. I'm sorry you've had a shitty time job wise, it appears it's happening to a lot of us.

rubberduckofdeath

Perhaps Canada's immigration slogan should be:

"Canada: Your mileage may vary"

Kynn

I'm not knocking the post...it's not inaccurate. However, I'm curious as to why a lot of it is a surprise? A quick search on here will show a lot of the same things said repeatedly. Job hunting in Canada is about who you know, not what, salaries are seldom (if ever) posted, you only hear back if you get an interview etc. Actually, I think a lot of it is in the wiki because this is Canada wide, not local to Vancouver.

So I guess I'm just curious if you're commenting because it sucks (which God knows it does - for Canadians too!), or if it actually caught you by surprise that things are done this way?

fledermaus

I agree with your post, it applies in Ontario too. Quite frankly I would never suggest anyone move without having a job set up and even then you have to realise that job security is pretty much lacking here.

I did find the not contacting you unless called for interview thing in the UK as well, but maybe not so much.

fledermaus

It caught us by surprise. We have been here 4 years and it wasn't in the wiki then. Plus this post spells it out, not passing comments in other threads. Maybe we missed the posts, maybe we were just overly optimistic, maybe we didn't believe that a country that like to think of itself as the epitome of fairness can have such a crap system.

Seems to me like you are being more than curious about why the OP is posting.

Waggles wife

Some of the things you mention are the same in the UK. I never get emails to saying your application has been received or rejected, which is very frustrating.

However I do understand that Canada and the US rely on networking to get jobs a lot more the they do in the UK. There is a book called 'What color is your parachute' by Richard Nelson Bolles which has some very good tips for job hunting in the US, many of which will apply to Canada as well.

Don't give up hope yet, just learn to play the system

dboy

Suprisingly well balanced and relevant post from you for a change.

I do seem to recall, however, that you are not exaclty in a mainstream line of work. Work can be hard to come by here though, and the wages often fall short of the cost of living.

iaink

+1

Everyones experience will be different to some extent, but this is certainly true for many.

paolosmythe

Research combined with a will to be adaptable can save considerable anxiety and heart ache, in whatever you might try to achieve.

My personal experience of job hunting in Vancouver, arriving with no offers and no contacts, was no different to my experiences in London UK.

Perhaps a sense of disappointment comes due to expectations not correlating with reality? If so, then presumably adequate research was left wanting?

It is easy to be left expecting some kind of entitlement after you have slaved through the emigration / visa / work permit process. On the contrary.... being allowed into a new and nevertheless foreign territory merely marks the start of the hard work!

iaink

A: " if you want to slam me for posting my experience don't bother"

and B: Based on C-Cs many other posts I would say he did as much research as anyone else and jumped through a fair number of hoops along the way.

Paulo, I realise you are very happy in Canada and that things have fallen into place for you. Your experience however is not universal. Yes, planning and research are important, but they dont offer any guarantees.

I used to think along the same lines as you, but now I think dumb luck probably has as much to do with my happiness here as planing etc, and that there but for the grace of god you or I could be in the same boat as C-C.

minimeeze

Good post CC! We came over here almost 2 years ago - I had work lined up and I've gone on to be very successful in what I do. My OH, on the other hand, did not have a job lined up. Of the (almost) 2 years we've been here, he's worked for about 6 months. He's now unemployed again after we spent $12,000 on a college course for him to become an apprentice electrician as no-one is taking apprentices on (unless you personally know anyone in the field). It is very frustrating. The job that he did have, he heard back about 3 months after applying for it!

Tangram

^^ What he said.