scootb

I found it easy to get employment in Canada while in the UK,the first phone call that I made landed me a job paying way more than I ever earned in the UK.
The money is good enough for me to support a family of 5 not in luxury,but still better off than what we were in the UK.
In 2 more weeks we will have been here for a year,with no plans on returning to the damp UK.

BeenTrainingDogs

I guess a general rule of thumb in the UK is that 80% of jobs are never advertised. I hear from various sources that this figure is even higher in Canada.

The way I'm currently planning for a move out if I can't do it with my current company is identifying companies I'd like to work for and writing a CV and letter specifically for them. As a civil engineering designer, I have to be familiar with Canadian design codes so after I finishing my Chartership preparation this coming week, I will be studying Canadian specific design codes and undertaking model projects which I can then use as positive evidence in interviews. Engineering principles are the same everywhere so it's just re-learning what I already know. I also know my 5 years experience in the UK are probably worth 2 in Canada, so I'll need to take a step back in role but that's ok as I know I'll work my way up pretty quickly, particularly once I'm able to obtain a PEng.

I think some of this might be applicable to you. Study marketing approaches in Canada and give positive evidence in interviews. Go beyond what is expected in preparation for interviews. This is the attitude of winners and having read quite a lot of stories on here about successful and unsuccessful emigrations, it seems the biggest divisor between those is the understanding of how different Canada is to the UK culturally and being ready to adapt to it from day 1.

Blossom23

Well here we go....

I guess many will think I'm being harsh...so I apologize right here and now..

But in my opinion I think it takes a lot of backbone and a strong sense of spirit to work towards a future in Canada, instead of coming here thinking you have some sort of entitlement just because you came...

I'm sure you have great qualifications and feel that you should just step right off the "boat" and be better off than you were in the UK .. why else would you have bothered .. right?.. However your qualifications only entitled you to land... the rest is up to you.

So what made you come in the first place... what was it ... with your life, qualifications and expectations that made you decide you needed to move to Canada?

Here in Canada you have to work... nothing comes for free... sometimes that comes as a bit of a shock when you arrive here from a country that mollycoddles ...

and while I appreciate that it comes as a shock and it turns out to be hard work ... those of us that are still here managed to do it. Was it hard.. you bet .. did we give up ... hell no! ... we continued with the courage of our convictions to make it work. Sometimes it means a bit of a step back and working back up again, but we all did it...

Maybe there are other personal issues in your life that didn't allow you to truly commit to a new life and all that it entails.. moving to Canada would never fix that.

As I said ... it takes backbone and spirit...

99problems

There have been a few posts like this and I can genuinely see it from both sides. My wife and I are 12mths into our Canadian adventure and both have jobs (lower paid than before) and are looking to buy a house soon. It isn't easy particularly in the first year to accept some things you find deficient or to understand why processes don't work the way you feel they should.

Its also different for everyone as an experience, some I believe, have it rougher and harder. I'm probably on the fence as to whether Canada offers us a better existence overall but I came a long way (geographically and in other ways) to seek a better life for the two of us and I'm not going to give up on that. For those that Canada doesn't work there are other options, I've certainly changed direction a few times. Probably the worst thing for me has been putting on weight as concentrating on a healthy diet here is harder than you might think(!) but I'm getting better at it and now summer is close I can exercise outside more.....

Blossom23

Good comments ...... My irritation was with the OP... Stick with it ... it's hard...been there, done that, ... nothing worth anything comes free or easy. In my opinion you've done the worst... the first 12 months is hard... I don't really think I felt 'at ease' earlier than a bit longer than that ... but I never felt better when I went back to the UK either. Now it's almost 25 years since I landed ... was it easy .. no... do I regret it ... no ... would I change it .. no... do I miss England ... absolutely.. but my children have done so much better here than they would ever have done in the UK...are there things I regret ... maybe .. it was hard not seeing my parents as often as I would have liked .... but phone calls got really cheap and Skype came along...and I got to be there when my Dad died.... sad but precious...

I agree we're are all different.. but taking on the challenges of a major change in your life sorts out the 'wheat out from the chaff'

Good luck to you my friend

Dorothy

How's that? When we lived in Canada we ate a very healthy diet. Fresh fruit and vegetables (imported during the colder months) and lean meats/fish. Same as anywhere, I guess. Honestly, I found the selection of ready meals in places like M&S or Tesco's much worse nutritionally than what we ate in Canada.

Why would you need to wait until summer to exercise outside? Put on warmer clothes and go out for a walk. Get some cross country skis if there's too much snow to walk around. Go tobogganing with the kids - it's hard work slogging up hills. Put a treadmill in your basement and exercise indoors.

Blossom23

Agreed.... But after my twopennthworth I thought I'd be a bit gentle and overlook that bit....

Dorothy

Gentle is not my middle name.

I do however agree with yours and his sentiments on the job search and giving things time, though.

Blossom23

scrubbedexpat091

Cost can be a reason for difficulty in a healthy diet, produce and fruits have gotten quite pricey and don't seem to be coming down in price anytime soon as have most meats.

Still cheap to eat a processed frozen dinner though, I can get a weeks of frozen meals for less then 20 dollars, that same 20 might buy 2-3 days of dinners if buy fresh fruits, produce and meat. A pack of 2 chicken breasts for example runs 10-12 around my parts.

I want to get a tread mill myself, but the landlord wont let me since we live on the 2nd floor... I do walk to/from work most days now 2km each way, but its not enough to lose weight, so gotta figure something else out...lol


As for other things, I see it like this, no such thing as a 100% success rate, and while some folks luck out and get a good job right off the bat, and other get one within a year, there will always be a % of people who despite hard work and determination will never land that decent job, and see true success in a new country.

cheeky_monkey

I think a lot depends on where you go to in Canada and what industry you work in...personally i found it very easy to secure the same role i had in the UK for more money..in fact it took me 2 weeks from when i landed..and i had more than one offer..ever since then i get offered jobs constantly even though i am not looking. When i did change jobs over two years ago and word got out i was leaving my old company i had 6 different job offers all very well paid within a week.

Now i am returning to the UK..my old company heard i was coming back and offered me a senior role again on decent money for the UK..without me even approaching them for work...maybe the old saying 'its not what you know its who you know that counts' is somewhat true also.

MarylandNed

Totally agree that it depends on profession. My wife is a nurse and I'm in IT (software developer). We have moved around without really having any problems finding jobs. My wife was actually recruited in the UK by a Toronto hospital which was attending a job fair specifically to recruit UK nurses. I had an interview lined up for the day after our arrival in Toronto and was offered the job on the spot (the hard part was then arranging a work permit for me). Ironically our most difficult time finding suitable jobs (and opening bank accounts - another story) was when we moved back to the UK for 2 years. Later we moved to the US after I got a job offer from a Maryland company after a phone interview. My wife easily found a job as a nurse at a local hospital.

colchar

Pardon?

orly

All depends on the location and the competition really.

I came here and got a job paying more than I earned in the UK. It's a job I had no UK experience of, let alone Canadian. I was also never professionally "trained" in it. Why did I get the job? Knew what I was talking about and the pool of applicants is pretty soft where I am.

99problems

Well I like to run and cycle and I exercise very hard when I do. You can't do these in 2 feet of snow and ice, but I could have done more in the gym I guess.

The supermarkets in Calgary are very poor in terms of fruit and vegetables and fresh fish - I'm quite surprised by comments to the contrary. I'm not an idiot and know how to look for things and assess what there is - BC have better fare in supermarkets and restaurants but we have found a decent vegetarina restaurant downtown and a couple of others. Fish very expensive here and most of the veg in Safeway/Sobeys/Superstore looks like its been half eaten already. Don't even mention Walmart. We are going to the farmers market this Saturday to see what they have and to the Chinese supermarket!Red Lobster can sometimes have resonable fish dishes if you can stand eating American!