What job do you do in Canada?
 

Hi everyone,

Just wondered what kind of job everyone has found now that they are in Canada? Has your job changed significantly beacause you moved to Canada or are yous till doing pretty much the same thing?

I'm working in the research industry and I really enjoy my work. I find the Canadian workplace to be pretty laid back to, so I'm enjoying that aspect! Just miss the holiday we get in the UK!!

Int.

:)

Re: What job do you do in Canada?
 

As most of you regulars know I'm "some kind of engineer". Design / manufacturing / process / materials / quality, you name it, I do it! I came over as a materials engineer (last UK job) and have had all the rest added to my job over time. Was also briefly a full time quality engineer. Couldnt agree more about the laid back attitude, love that! Also agree that the holiday entitlement sucks, fortunately I enjoy my job enough that it doesnt bother me too much. Who else is out there?

Iain

Re: What job do you do in Canada?
 

I had to change careers completely as a ten year stretch in one career in the UK counted for nothing. After yet another pointless two years at University to get that all important joke of a Canadian degree, I am now working with some of the most marginalized and often despised sectors of the population. I cannot be more specific as I have to protect their right to confidentiality. It is interesting work, badly paid by UK standards and despite being a government and union job, the vacation entitlement and benefits are poor by comparison to my old job.

IT....networking, programming, security, software development, project management, web design, hardware et al. Getting back into this field wasn't easy, but I love the jobs and the perks that come with it.

Also run a little IT business, from one of the garages, that way we get to write off some taxes.

It's not all honk dory though !

Re: What job do you do in Canada?
 

You dont work with politicians do you?:D:D

But seriously, after what you have been through is life better in canada than it was in the UK, or do you regret making the move?

Just by the exchange rate my salary is also probably less than what I would get in the UK now, but I find that with the high cost of stuff in the UK I can buy a nicer home here and drive a nicer car despite the actual $ value. What is your experience?

Iain.

I moved out here about 6 months after graduating and most of that was spent waiting for the visa so I never got past a few temp jobs in the UK. My degree is a BSc(hons) in the IT field but I couldn't find anything related to that when I moved out here. I took a job I thought would be transitory whilst I tried to find a way into the tech sector but have since become really interested in the business side of things and watching the IT job sector flounder around has put me off trying to get back into it as I see a lot more security in the job I do now which is working with retail purchasing, specifically the natural food industry.

As far as wages go I started on a crappy rate of $9-$10 an hour which is, if you do a direct exchange, about minimum wage in the UK. However I don't think you can compare the incomes so literally because there is no way that I coul dget in the UK what I have here for the same literal income. Before my wife changed jobs we both earned less than $10/hour so that gave us a household income of less than $20/hour and yet we could afford to rent a 2 bedroom apartment and have cable tv and internet and buy commodities like dvds and cds and eat out etc. We didn't / don't run a car which saves a fortune but we don't really need one as it would take longer for me to drive to work than to take the subway given the traffic in Toronto and the extortionate parking rates.

I think you can almost just swap the currency symbol, maybe add a little on so £40,000 is kind of like $40,000 maybe more like $50-60K but certainly not on par with $90K.

My take on it is that you are a newcomer in a new country and a new job market so you can't expect anyone to take anything for granted. I agree they need to sort out a better system for equating qualifications like degrees/certifications/professional credentials however you are always going to have something to prove when you first arrive and if you have the skills then it shouldn't be long before they are recognized and you can work your way back up.

I think a lot of people expect to just walk into an identicle job to what they had in the UK and apply a literal exchange rate so their £50K UK job turns into a magical $125K job in Canada and they can buy a giant house and 2 cars and a cottage and all the trappings of the Canadian ideal they saw on vacation. However in reality it doesn't work like that and moving to a new country is hard and it's always going to be hard and you have to take some hits and start all over again in some cases but it's certainly not impossible because hundreds of thousands of people do it every year, and I am fairly sure there aren't 200,000 people leaving Canada every year or there wouldn't be the huge strain on infrastructure from all us new immigrants.

One thing we should all be glad of, coming from the UK, is that we speak the same language as here in Canada, or at least the anglophone parts, and we have a reasonably similar culture and so adaptation for us isn't as hard. Imagine the new immigrants coming from radically different cultures and language backgrounds who may be just as qualified as us but have that added hurdle.

Drew

My job...erm take a wild guess (clue its in my signature)


+ moderator of this forum:)


Ray

Work in a Brewery..... :beer:

Rear insects .

Labatts, sleepmans? Tell me you can organize a piss up in one please :D

Re: What job do you do in Canada?
 

;) Let us just say that I do have to deal with politicians as a result of some of the decisions that are made about certain of their constituents. Politicians are really quite funny over here, mostly hot air and products of marketing.

Do I regret the move? Honestly, if I consider just me, then yes. It was a terrible mistake and cost me personally and professionally. I did not expect my 19 year marriage fail or to be so unemployable. My fault, I should have been more cautious. I did not consider the many pitfalls for professional women at the time. If I look at my children - then no, I do not regret giving them the chance to grow up in a relatively pollution free environment and have a less frenetic life. Things now are more chaotic than they were back home, as working full time with four kids is not easy. However, I am at a crossroads as they say and have been offered a job in Ontario (London) and a job in either Leeds or Manchester back home. Ironically, these offers stem from the addition of the Canadian degree. I am trying to decide what to do, as me eldest is in her final three years of high school and I am loathe to disrupt her. I welcome advice from anyone who has moved a Grade 10 student from one jurisdiction to another - how did they cope?

I do believe that you make many of your own choices as I indeed have made mine. Those events that are not in your power to influence are usually the most devastating and like anyone, I would have preferred to have not experienced them in another country. But I will have many tales to tell my grandkids, as I travelled extensively in my much younger days! You will never know until you try eh?

Re: What job do you do in Canada?
 

Ah.....where were you during all that corruption scandal? By the sound of things, maybe you should take the london ( ont ) job, it's way out there, but if it means your daughter finishing her schooling and then moving back to blighty, then it might be worth it.

It's your decision after all !

Fortunately, my Canadian wife has a decent enough job to allow me to stay home and bring up my 2.5 year old daughter.

I have been applying for plenty of IT jobs during this time, but have yet to receive any positive feedback (or should I say any feedback!). I do some part time freelance software work in the evenings at home, but it's only supplemental income, and some is voluntary.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do over the next few years with regard to my career - it looks so gloomey here, and the only chance I have to continue my previous 7 year career in IT is to move back to UK or somewhere else in Europe.

I'm quite content caring for my daughter - certainly fun and challenging, but I am itching to get back to full time IT work. It's tempting to move back, if anything to get away from the in-laws -My wife loves England, hates Canada - I'm borderline - but at the end of the day, whatever environment proves more fruitful for our family will be the one we finally settle in !

Listen....if you guys had to get a babysitter/nursery, you know it's going to cost you dearly every month, so in otherwords, you guys are saving money.

I don't know what part of the country you are in, but if you pm me, and tell me more about your area of specialty, I can see what we have internally.

Myself and others have been in that position before, and you just have to persevere, and literally go out there, and knock on doors to drop of your resume.

cheers