phat-dave

you know if you are open minded and flexible - maybe even a career in recruitment ? i kid you not, the people i work with are CGA & CA qualified that got bored and wanted something different... theyre now earning at least double what they did previously and having a lot more fun doing it.

if anything, it'll give you insight into the market and we can see yourself what qualifications are needed to be successful ... use them for that canadian experience while you look elsewhere...

it's not for everyone, i hate it but its a means to an end

helen_from_uk

Hi Again,

Glad you found my comments useful!

I certainly agree with what Dave said about applying for jobs from the UK - I think they see you as a dreamer as he said and when you're here its a lot better as they can meet you, and phone you. Also when you first get here through BUNAC you go to an orientation meeting and they tell you how to make your CV / Resume more suitable for Canadian employers which I found really useful.

When looking for roles from the UK, I found out the names of all of the banks and forex bureaus etc and then went on each company's website and either registered on there or emailed them my CV - it took me ages to do for not much result - none in fact.

Since getting here I've had to drastically re-think what I want to do - when I went to open an account here the guy at the bank told me you need a licence to work in certain areas of finance here - which the BUNAC visa forbids you studying for.

There are some temp agencies out there - one whom I have a meeting with is Drake - but I'm not sure if they cover what you're looking for.

Put you're CV on workopolis and monster and you might just get lucky, then when you get here all you have to do is change your contact details.

The worst part about applying for jobs is even when you spend an hour filling in an online application or just send an email they very rarely get back to you to even say they have even received you're application or give you an feedback or follow up. Its also hard to apply for anything before you have a Canadian phone number.

To be honest I only looked at apartments to live in as I came with my friend and we wanted to live together - incidentally she works in the restaurant industry and has a lot of managerial experience and has had no problem finding a job. We went to see a few places a subway ride from downtown and they were horrible! However they all had 12 month leases, except for one where we could've rented it for 6 months for a $50 a month each premium!!

Based on my experience you definitely need to bring more than $1000! Everything here is really expensive! Bring as many toiletries as you can carry as you will not believe the price of things here, $8 for shampoo! I brought $4000 and I'm nearly at the end of it now 5 weeks in - although I had to put $1300 down as a deposit for my apartment.

I brought my money as travellers cheques from American Express - mainly because I did not want to carry cash because I went to NYC first. It was pretty easy when I opened a bank account I just paid them in and the funds were instantly available.

At orientation they tell you you can claim back you're income tax and the tax on things such as subway passes, but I've since found out this is only if you earn less than a certain amount per year. You can however claim back your UK tax you've paid this financial year as a non-domicile.

Just let me know if you have any more questions - happy to help

TheGreenManalishi

I'll definitely bear that in mind, when people say 'Canadian experience' I always assumed you needed it in your respective field, didn't fathom you could get it in another field, very useful!

R I C H

I wouldn't assume anything.

My educational background (20 years ago) was in sports science/coaching, though I didn't have a single day of employment in that sector. My first employed job here was as a sports performance director. My job second was entirely unrelated and in the field that I had 10 years of experience in from the UK, but none here (digital media/marketing).

TheGreenManalishi

Thanks again Helen, lots of really useful info!!

@phat-dave

- Helen mentioned an interesting point above about needing a licence to work in certain areas of finance, do you know if such a licence is needed for management accountancy?? I am CIMA qualified, I plan to target roles specifying the Canadian CMA, I will then have to explain that CIMA is international and equivalent (but different!) to CMA blah blah etc

Cheers!

TheGreenManalishi

That's interesting, so flexibility seems to be the key (particular when securing the first job)

This Canadian experience malarkey - do they really do things so differently? I'm guessing the accountants still spend an inordinate amount of time glued to Excel?

R I C H

It's not necessarily a matter of doing things differently, it's a matter of you being an unknown quantity. Most Canadian employees will think you're a bigger risk than a local who's got references to illustrate they've proven themselves in this job market. You don't, and that's your major disadvantage.

JonboyE

You don't need a license to work as an employee, only if you set up in public practice. However, you can't claim to have a Canadian accounting designation so it is important to be clear with employers that yours is a UK one.

"International" sounds a good fudge.

Also, don't just target roles requiring a designation. Smaller companies, in particular, may be prepared to take on someone without a Canadian designation if they have the ability needed - as long as the wages reflect this!

phat-dave

Agree with what Jonboy said. Also if you're applying for AP/AR roles or even accounting clerk roles - don't have your resume that you were the senior accountant previously... as horrible as it sounds you need to "dumb it down".

as for "Canadian experience" ... it's not how they do things differently, it can be as simple as language in the workplace - we all speak English in my office yet out of the nine people I work with the only one that truly gets what I say is the Englishman!

A prime example was I asked our payroll lady if we got paid fortnightly - she had no idea what I was talking about ... bi-weekly! it is the small things that when youre having business relationship meetings with folks and they don't actually understand what youre talking about... that is difficult.

david_oz

as another aussie on a working holiday visa, i thought i'd chime in

i agree with most of what dave is saying. canadian employers definitely look down on foreign qualifications and experience (no matter which country). it is very difficult to find anyone who will give you the time of day, and i found recruiters to be less than helpful (sorry dave).

having said that, dont think its impossible. it took me 2 months and about 60 applications for everything from ap/ar through to cfo. but i got 2 interviews, and 2 job offers out of that.

there are people in there who are tuned in and a bit smarter than the average. when the visa situation came up, my former boss (the guy who hired me) said "if i hire a canadian in calgary, i cant guarantee they will stay for 2 years, especially if the market turns around". with the visa situation, i made it really clear to everybody i talked to that it need not be a limitation. it was my intention to stick around, and if need another visa or PR to do that, then thats what i'll do. also i told them if it doesnt work out, it wont cost them very much and would be a comparatively painless process for them.

there are plenty of people from the uk who come over here with no visa and try to find an employer willing to go through the LMO/TWP process. you've got a 1 year head start on them. and you can always take a crap job while you're looking for something better, just be aware that crap jobs pay really crap here (abt $10 / hour and they tax you big time as well).

personally, i think the canadian experience thing is garbage, and some sort of excuse for them to believe their qualifications and experience count for more than it actually does. working in an office is the same anywhere in the world, and my co-workers actually apreciate having someone around who is a bit different. the unfortunate thing is that many employers believe in this canadian experience crap - you'll know who they are because you'll apply and hear nothing back from them

anyways, having said all of this, my 100% recommendation would be to give it a go. bring a lot of cash, be willing for a struggle to find a job. but in the meantime, enjoy one of the greatest countries on earth. ive been here 1.5 years now and might never go back. if i hadn't found a job, i would have been disappointed, and have far less money than i do now, but i look back very fondly on my 6 months here when i was spending every day in the mountains, skiing everywhere and meeting tons of people

hope this helps, and if you make it to calgary give me a yell.


btw. phat-dave, are you the same dave who i met at sunshine that day??

Blendin

You should apply for the MRA which exists between both accounting bodies.
http://www.cma-ontario.org/multimedi...IMA_FormON.pdf

Blendin

Local experience is always preferred. In the UK, would a ACCA/CIMA with UK experience have better chances than a ACCA/CIMA with experience gained in Russia ?

david_oz

yes

but would you agree that an australian CA, uk CA, and canadian CA are largely equivalent in terms of their difficultly to obtain, and value in their respective labour markets? i think they are anyway

when UK CA's come to australia they dont have trouble with people not recognizing their qualifications. same with australian CA's in the UK. but both seem to have huge trouble in canada

of course if i was competing for a job with a canadian CA, i would expect them to go for him first. knowledge of local laws and practices counts for a lot.

but i definitely dont expect the door to be completely shut to me by 97% of employers and recruiters (approx 60 applications, 58 no-answers) because i am an australian CA. this seems to happen with a lot of UK CA's in Canada. you can tell when you meet with recruiters that this attitude exists, and most of them openly acknowledge it.

i dont want to sound so negative, because i found a great job in the end. but if i was recruiting and someone came to my door with a UK/Australian CA and big 4 experience id be calling them back at the very least. whether i would actually employ them is another question, but i'd at least be picking up the phone

ExKiwilass

It's an interesting question.

The impression I get is that CA/USA take each other's quals fairly seriously, but any quals outside of that are an unknown quantity. Typical north american-centrism? I just made that word up btw. Right now BC is trying to standardize with Alberta in the industry I work in - they're not even thinking outside of Western Canada. They're somewhat interested in the US, or rather certain US states that are geographically close i.e Washington.

I do think there is more cultural crossover between OZ, NZ and the UK. We're more familiar with each other. We travel in each other's countries. etc. We take each other more seriously, like you said.

Blendin

Why not convert your Australian CA to a Canadian CA by passing the CARE exam.