Mitsuru Shimizu

Hello,

Despite of my name, I'm a Brazilian guy thinking about immigrating
to Canada. I work for an big American company down here in Brazil
on the IT area.

I've been hearing some contradictory information about the IT
jobs availability in Canada. Some people say that the job market
is good, but others told me that the market is dry.

1) What's the truth? Are there IT Jobs available?
By IT jobs, I'm not meaning necessarily
software engineering in hitech software companies, but also
as system administrators, DBAs etc (that, I suppose, is needed
at banks, corporations etc).

2) My qualifications: I have a Masters and Bachelor's degree
from the most important Brazilian university - does it count or
is it meaningless for a Canadian company?

3) Browsing the workopolis pages I can see that there are a lot of
jobs, but I have no idea on how much competition there is for these
openings. Can someone provide some input about this?

Thank you very much for any help!

Mitsuru

Tim

Don't go by workopolis. I'd say about 20% of those jobs are genuine (the
rest are either old or made up - just agents trawling for Resumes). Things
are pretty slow and theres competition out there. If you have good
experience (and I mean good, good enough to be up there with the best) then
its then just a mater of getting your voice heard above all the noise -not
an easy task when every IT job gets 100's of replies.

I picked up a book at binkos (or whatever its called) the other day about
how to use the internet to find a job. It basically started of by saying
that somthing like 1% of people looking for jobs on the internet actually
get one from the internet.

The problem with these Job sites is they make the openings too accessible.
That is wether it's and agent or company that advertises there. ie they
receive thousands of responses for every Job. Same goes for applying for
Jobs itself via online sites by the company itself.

A much better plan is to get the names of the agnecies that are advertising
on workopolis and just phone a few up. Ask them what they feel but remember
you represent $$$ to them so phone up a few you may get to speak to someone
who's going to talk honest. See what they say.

Also there is a feeling that white US, UK or Europeans with good english get
favoritism. The rest often getting the excuse of "sorry, no Canadian
experience" unless they are first class. You may want to ask some of the
agencies why that crops phrase comes up so much in peoples experience on
this site.

Tim


"Mitsuru Shimizu" wrote in message
news:2dc35933.0209301154-
[email protected]...
    > Hello,
    > Despite of my name, I'm a Brazilian guy thinking about immigrating
    > to Canada. I work for an big American company down here in Brazil
    > on the IT area.
    > I've been hearing some contradictory information about the IT
    > jobs availability in Canada. Some people say that the job market
    > is good, but others told me that the market is dry.
    > 1) What's the truth? Are there IT Jobs available?
    > By IT jobs, I'm not meaning necessarily
    > software engineering in hitech software companies, but also
    > as system administrators, DBAs etc (that, I suppose, is needed
    > at banks, corporations etc).
    > 2) My qualifications: I have a Masters and Bachelor's degree
    > from the most important Brazilian university - does it count or
    > is it meaningless for a Canadian company?
    > 3) Browsing the workopolis pages I can see that there are a lot of
    > jobs, but I have no idea on how much competition there is for these
    > openings. Can someone provide some input about this?
    > Thank you very much for any help!
    > Mitsuru

pkjmet

"Tim" wrote in message news:...
    > Don't go by workopolis. I'd say about 20% of those jobs are genuine (the
    > rest are either old or made up - just agents trawling for Resumes). Things
    > are pretty slow and theres competition out there. If you have good
    > experience (and I mean good, good enough to be up there with the best) then
    > its then just a mater of getting your voice heard above all the noise -not
    > an easy task when every IT job gets 100's of replies.
    > I picked up a book at binkos (or whatever its called) the other day about
    > how to use the internet to find a job. It basically started of by saying
    > that somthing like 1% of people looking for jobs on the internet actually
    > get one from the internet.
    > The problem with these Job sites is they make the openings too accessible.
    > That is wether it's and agent or company that advertises there. ie they
    > receive thousands of responses for every Job. Same goes for applying for
    > Jobs itself via online sites by the company itself.
    > A much better plan is to get the names of the agnecies that are advertising
    > on workopolis and just phone a few up. Ask them what they feel but remember
    > you represent $$$ to them so phone up a few you may get to speak to someone
    > who's going to talk honest. See what they say.
    > Also there is a feeling that white US, UK or Europeans with good english get
    > favoritism. The rest often getting the excuse of "sorry, no Canadian
    > experience" unless they are first class. You may want to ask some of the
    > agencies why that crops phrase comes up so much in peoples experience on
    > this site.
    > Tim
    > "Mitsuru Shimizu" wrote in message
    > news:2dc35933.02093011-
    > [email protected]    ...
    > > Hello,
    > >
    > > Despite of my name, I'm a Brazilian guy thinking about immigrating
    > > to Canada. I work for an big American company down here in Brazil
    > > on the IT area.
    > >
    > > I've been hearing some contradictory information about the IT
    > > jobs availability in Canada. Some people say that the job market
    > > is good, but others told me that the market is dry.
    > >
    > > 1) What's the truth? Are there IT Jobs available?
    > > By IT jobs, I'm not meaning necessarily
    > > software engineering in hitech software companies, but also
    > > as system administrators, DBAs etc (that, I suppose, is needed
    > > at banks, corporations etc).
    > >
    > > 2) My qualifications: I have a Masters and Bachelor's degree
    > > from the most important Brazilian university - does it count or
    > > is it meaningless for a Canadian company?
    > >
    > > 3) Browsing the workopolis pages I can see that there are a lot of
    > > jobs, but I have no idea on how much competition there is for these
    > > openings. Can someone provide some input about this?
    > >
    > > Thank you very much for any help!
    > >
    > > Mitsuru

To: Tim

You have stated the situation succinctly and accurately. I have
several friends who are headhunters and they have lots of resumes and
few job opportunities at present. I have been told that even banks are
scaling back due to a down turn in profits. Unfortunately new arrivals
do not realize what is happening in the IT market in Canada. You are
right about the Cdn experence syndrome.

Jim Metcalfe

Mitsuru Shimizu

Thanks everybody for the opinions.

The only I really don't understand is why Canada not only
allows immigrants to come in, but also *encourages* IT professionals
from other countries to immigrate.

Here in Brazil, very recently the Canada consulate made
a presentation in my university to invite masters and phd students
to apply.



-- mits

Adrian Stoica

Bear in mind that it could be years before you get your visa, and by that
time the situation could be radically different. I guess the Canadian
government takes a longer term view, and IT is here to stay.

"Mitsuru Shimizu" wrote in message
news:2dc35933.0210011408-
[email protected]...
    > Thanks everybody for the opinions.
    > The only I really don't understand is why Canada not only
    > allows immigrants to come in, but also *encourages* IT professionals
    > from other countries to immigrate.
    > Here in Brazil, very recently the Canada consulate made
    > a presentation in my university to invite masters and phd students
    > to apply.
    > -- mits

Jaj

It could also mean that governments don't live in the real world.
Jeremy

    >On Wed, 2 Oct 2002 09:08:02 +0000 (UTC), "Adrian Stoica" wrote:
    >Bear in mind that it could be years before you get your visa, and by that
    >time the situation could be radically different. I guess the Canadian
    >government takes a longer term view, and IT is here to stay.
    >"Mitsuru Shimizu" wrote in message
    >news:2dc35933.021001140-
    >[email protected]    ...
    >> Thanks everybody for the opinions.
    >> The only I really don't understand is why Canada not only
    >> allows immigrants to come in, but also *encourages* IT professionals
    >> from other countries to immigrate.
    >> Here in Brazil, very recently the Canada consulate made
    >> a presentation in my university to invite masters and phd students
    >> to apply.
    >> -- mits