A month isn't a long time when you're looking for a job here.

Why Toronto?

Last time I called someone about a job, I was told I have to be available for an interview the following week at the latest. In your opinion, should I start sending out resumes? I am rather doubtful about that, since I know I have no Toronto address yet, and my resume might be rejected because of it.
Why Toronto?
After much delibarations, I have decided it's the best place to begin my life in Canada. Since it's the biggest city in the province, I figure that's where most career opportunities would be. Toronto is also a large cultural center, and I'm afraid I'm the kind of person who needs occasional visits to the theatre and museums. Weather-wise, southern Ontario would be the best for me, as I can't tolerate extreme cold (like in Winnipeg or Calgary).
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I figured so far.

Originally posted by Glaswegian
    > A month isn't a long
time when you're looking for a job here.
    >
    > Why Toronto?

Last time I called someone about a job, I was told I have to be
available for an interview the following week at the latest. In your
opinion, should I start sending out resumes? I am rather doubtful about
that, since I know I have no Toronto address yet, and my resume might be
rejected because of it.
Why Toronto?
After much delibarations, I have
decided it's the best place to begin my life in Canada. Since it's the
biggest city in the province, I figure that's where most career
opportunities would be. Toronto is also a large cultural center, and I'm
afraid I'm the kind of person who needs occasional visits to the theatre
and museums. Weather-wise, southern Ontario would be the best for me, as
I can't tolerate extreme cold (like in Winnipeg or Calgary).
Maybe I'm
wrong, but that's what I figured so far.


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Let's clear up one thing first, Toronto isn't the only place with theatres and museums - Calgary has museums, opera, ballet, etc.

We also have rodeos, a decent hockey team, etc.

It also gets cold in Toronto - don't believe anyone who says it doesn't. Last time I was there in winter it was well below -20C.

I though most career opportinties would be in Toronto too - but so do a lot of other new immigrants.

I made contact with agencies before I got landed - it was wasted effort in Toronto, but worked for Calgary, although it didn't get me a job.

In the end it's your choice - nobody can decide for you - just make sure you have a plan.

you're right, of course, and that is exactly what I am trying to do: come up with a plan, and then a backup plan in case the first one doesn't work.
What I'm trying to do, is talk to the few people I know there, see if they can think of something. But mostly, I want to land and immediately start contacting agencies myself. I am hoping to get interviews even within two weeks of landing, and then finding *something* soon after. I'm not picky. I mean, I am willing to work at anything, not going to say no to waitressing even. A job is a job, right? and in the meantime, I'll have money coming in and look for something better. How's that for a plan?

as for the cold, I'm well aware of that. I spent two winters in north America. But still, as far as I know, there is no comparison between the winter-cold in southern Ontario and, say, Alberta. Calgary is much colder on average.

Calgary generally has a 10C to 20C swing between day and night temperatures, that makes a mockery of averages.

Chinook winds confuse the situation further - it can be -20C at breakfast and +20C by the afternoon. It drives some people completely crackers.

It starts snowing here around September and continues until May, but we have mini chinook driven thaws that melt the snow on a regular basis.

Daytime temperatures in April hit 27C and it was lovely an sunny, then May arrived with sub zero temperatures and heavy dumps of snow.

Like I said, the weather drives people nuts and a lot of people just can't take it.

Calgary cold is dry cold, Ontario cold is wet cold. It's all down to interpretation and what makes you feel cold.

I don't like rain and I'll happily run outside until it's down to -20C.

Having said that, -40C is cold by my estimate, even with low humidity.

Emigrating is a big adventure - you can't really take anyone else's advice or base your expectations on their experience.

If you've thought about the eventualities and you have a plan, you have probably thought about emigrating in greater depth than a lot of people I meet.

What a load of rubbish! There are more jobs in the UK than Canada - simple!

Forgot to include who I was saying that to in my last post!

That's because there are a lot more people in the UK!

You've hit the nail on the head.

There just aren't a lot of jobs.

Alberta is almost double the size of the UK with 5% of the population. It took me a year to realise that one!

There isn't any equivalent in Canada to the population density of the SE of England.

There is also more crime and more pettyness, not to mention more expensive properties, Oh, and more people crammed in an area the size of Prince Edward Island, the smallest canadian province.


Back to the debate...I am not sure I know what "wet cold" is. The winter certainly dries my skin out around here, and its certainly not wet in the UK winter sense. Never used to moisturise in the UK, but its a necessity in the winter here. RH seldom makes it to double figures.

It is kind of pointless discussing the pros and cons of TO over Calgary. People will make there own minds up, based on their own preferences. Dont forget having the Rockies on your doorstep in Calgary, but then there are all the lakes around TO

Iain

Yep - they're very different cities.

I've got a bit bored with the rockies this year - they're big, they're rugged - that's pretty much it.

We've been heading off to look at the eastern end of the province at the Saskatchewan border - it's very different over there.

RH is just that - it tells you the humidity relative to complete saturation at your location.

Calgary is almost as elevated as the peak of Ben Nevis, so the air is thinner. The kettle takes longer to boil and the atmosphere holds a lot less water. When it gets cold here, you can watch the moisture crystallise out of the air.

Double figure RH is drier here than the equivalent over in Ontario.

It feels really cold here when we have wet weather followed by cold - the increased humidity makes it feel way colder.

Neither Alberta or Ontario have made me feel as cold as I did during springtime in Edinburgh.

The first winter in Calgary scared the hell out of me - I remember driving around with my wife, and I got all excited at all the snow - I just wanted to get out and touch it. Big mistake!!

Now I'm at least building up a shield to it, and actually enjoy walking back from the pub at 2am when the temp is -30oC. The constant need to de-ice nostrils is interesting.

And as a lover of anything aviation, nothing beats watching planes land at Calgary airport during a thunderstorm in the summer.

The summers almost make up for the cool winters, I just miss not having nice secluded beaches and an ocean to swim in.

A nose hair trimmer is an important purchase to make.

It stings less of there's no hair in there for the ice to form on.

Hi wandering bard,

We are not in teaching but have had the same dilemma as you - whether to apply from here for jobs knowing we will not be there for another month, or what? We ended up contacting the 'major players' in our field and by that i mean researching on the net and finding the names and email addresses and phone numbers of relevant people not just emailing the generic address on the webpage. We contacted just 3, got our resume sent to another one and as a result have 4 'information interviews' set up. they know we are looking for a job, we know we are looking for a job but ostensibly we are finding out how the system works there!

Not saying it will work, but it is something and I know that meetings are set up and once we are there and can contact more people...hopefully more meetings and eventually I hope, a job!

good luck.