CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Unforeseen problems mean that OZ is off the agenda, anyone know any good sites for IT Jobs in Canada?


Steve

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Can anyone help?

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

www.workopolis.com

www.monster.ca

http://www.okanaganhightechjobs.com/

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Check out - Human Resources and Development in Canada (their Jobcentre).

Facilitated Processing section - your job might bypass the HRSDC Labour Market Opinion part (LMO).

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Thanks for all the information guys.

Steve

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Going my previous experience and that of others as far as Canada goes I'd consider looking for a miracle rather than a jobsite.

Suffice to say it's very hard to get employment in IT in Canada without a work permit / visa, and just difficult to get employed if you do have one.

Your saving grace is you've in demand skills there.

EDIT: I'd also mention you do need to really want to move to Canada to succeed there, looking at the first page of your post history it seems you've been 'shopping around' for somewhere to move to. Canada is very different from Australia / New Zealand.

EDIT 2: Oh and the US. Seriously dude give it some thought rather than the 'anywhere that'll take me' vibe your posts in the first page here give...

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

In what way is Canada different to Australia / New Zealand?

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Canada is bigger :D

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

And a hell of a lot colder :D

That's like asking really what the difference is between the UK and Australia / New Zealand, would take a lot more time than I have right now to answer properly so I'll refer the right honourable gent to http://www.google.com

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi Ignition,

I read your post with some interest, and I seem to have hit a sticky wicket.

Same CV in the UK I take 10-15 calls per week.

CV on Monster in Canada, 300+ views since Christmas but not a single call/email.

Wife and I are a little different in that house already sold and can move in 6 weeks notice, but clearly our approach is wrong.

Long and short is that we are looking at Alberta (Edmonton or Calgary) but can’t seem to get a foot in the door. What other options are open?

Any help well received.

Cheers,

Neil

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Neil,

The Canadian job market is very different to in the UK in that it relies heavily on networking and contacts. Plus employers are reluctant to employ those without Canadian work experience, especially if you're not yet in Canada.

My husband is Canadian and on speaking to recruitment agents on a recent research trip he was told companies wouldn't even consider his CV whilst he was still living abroad.

I'm not clear whether you have a PR visa yet or not but if you can get yourself over to Canada and look for a job from there then you'd be in a much better position. Doing contract work for a while would help you build both experience and contacts.

Hope that helps

V

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi,

It certainly does.

We are more than willing to work contract then permanent going down to PR in the future.

Have the cash (just) to relocate and support ourselves for a while, so really just looking to get a foot in the door.

Have tried a few agencies and not even got a reply back.

Been working for fairly heavyweight IT consultancy for a number of years but really struggling to find even the most basic of opportunity.

So, sitting on the fence of simply taking 20K dollars and hoping it works out or getting a job offer/visa then going a little more formally later in the year.

If you know of any agencies or places I can start the process/sending off of CV / even talking to me would be much appreciated.

Would gladly take a pay cut or even swap industry sector just to get over there.

Cheers,

Neil

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi Neil,

Firstly, taking a pay cut is pretty much a given in Canada.

I am guessing from your post that you don't have PR yet (have you applied yet?) which would mean that just taking 20k and hoping it works out is not an option; you can't go and work in Canada without a Work Permit.

Your other option of getting a job offer/visa and going later in the year... by Visa, I assume you mean work permit, you certainly wouldn't get a visa within a year. There is currently a 4 year wait for visas.

As Vox has already said, the Canadian job market does not work in the same way as the UK. You can send as many CV's (you should really be sending Resumes anyway) as you want, but you are very unlikely to get a response.

Canadians follow an approach of networking and actively marketing themselves, and the only real way to do that is by going over and going from company to company selling yourself.

Getting a work permit will not automatically entitle you to permanent residency and you will need to apply for PR at some point.

Cheers

Jez

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi Neil, please call me Carl.

I should mention that Monster.ca / .uk / .wherever is all the same database so those searches may be UK companies and their searches are generating the calls you are receiving.

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi Jez,

Thanks for the post, the reply notification did not turn up hence the delay in my replying.

The grand plan was rather simple, find a job, move myself over and start the PR paperwork in country. So no, I have not started the PR here but planned to get a job offer then relocate.

I take your point around the system being different but it still feels rather odd. I’m in a market sector where I get 10-15 job offers/interviews per week. Yet in Canada nothing. I have had a few cold calls from the USA but they come to nothing.

So, sitting here in the rented barn wondering, do I just leave and try to find work over there, or (in a defeatist mindset) give up save some cash and by back in the UK.

The company I work for has a global presence and indeed offices in Canada but again replies to job postings come back with little, so clearly I’m doing something wrong.

I’ll grab a strong coffee and re-plan.

Cheers,

Neil

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

It is indeed hard to find decent IT work here in Canada as I can say from experience. If you do not have a computer related post secondary degree it is going to be much more difficult. The ideal would be do have a degree, some certifications and a specialty, like Java, Unix Admin, Citrix etc. Unless you have hot skills your're unlikely to land a job from the UK unless you know the right people. Most job postings, even for technical support, ask for a computer related degree + experience + (optionally) certifications. In the UK the same job posting would never ask for a degree. Furthermore I'll underline what others have said, in that networking and making contacts is key to finding. Trouble is not everyone is good at that. This is the Canadian way of doing things.

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

absolutely spot on.
and you forgot to mention security clearance, and the ability to speak fluent french, if you are on the east side of the country
been here nearly 3 months, second time round, and not a sausage.

good luck all the same...

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Hi, thanks for all the replies on this one.....I guess the answer is to carry on regardless........it just seems strange with 10-20 agencies calling in the UK and now over 600 views of an online CV.....not a single contact from Canada.

Will keep up the good fight. :)

Cheers,

Neil

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Sorry, I have to disagree with the fluent French bit. I have lived in eastern Canada for 43 years and have only passable high school French up to grade 10. My husband has worked as an engineering electronics technician for 22 years and can't even say "oui" or "non". He gets on just fine.

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

apologies
when i say east, i mean ottawa and surrounding areas.
i can only go by what i have come up against agency-wise. i am classified as 'unilingual', and when looking at agency job postings, most require french & security clearance.
i have been informed by various agencies, that its because ottawa is the capital, and one has to speak both official languages.

as you can probably gather, i am not having the greatest success jobwise, so blightey may well be on the cards.
shame, but one can't live on "love & fresh air" as a south african matey once put it.

give www.excelitr.com or www.roberthalftechnology.com a go.
hope you have more luck than i am having...

cheers

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

Well that's what I'm existing on at the moment.

I had an interview the other day for a teir 1 position with a web hoster and I was made to feel I was applying for a senior role. The chap told me this was just a preliminary 'get to know you' meeting and if I passed this I would be given a second technical interview and then if successful a third 'culture fit' interview with senior management and HR. Nevertheless he asked me all the typical questions you get in a standard job interview. He claimed that he was the 'gatekeeper' and he had to ensure that every applicant had to 'run the guantlet' before being accepted into their 'exceptional' team. We're talking about a tier 1 level technical support job here that probably paid peanuts. In the UK I can't ever remember having to attend more than 2 interviews (mostly just 1) for a position. In my opinion this is a just sign that it is an employers market here in B.C. and there must be thousands of applicants. :(

By the way I'm Canadian and from Ottawa but established my IT career in the UK. I studied French for years at school and university. I lived in Quebec and France for a time but have still not mastered the language. I sat the French bilingualism exam with the Federal Government once but failed. It was too difficult with questions about obscure grammar and verb tenses rarely used in real life. So, without a computer related university degree I'd be toast if I moved back to Ottawa and will only do so when I'm rich. :D

Re: CANADA - anyone know good IT Job sites?
 

interesting - have you read this...

http://www.cbc.ca/ottawa/story/ot-bi...m20060519.html

http://www.languagefairness.ca/home.htm

it appears it is a current bone of contention.

most annoying when its not even worth applying for jobs that state you have to be fluent in french - not the sort of thing one can blag at an interview.