Banking / marketing industry : any market for jobs?

[quebecnewhusband]

It should be a huge red flag to anyone moving to Quebec just for the fact that there is such thing as the Language Police snooping into other people's legitimate businesses and punishing them for using a bit of English (or any other language besides French).

Another red flag should obviously be that children (unless they both come from English speaking parents) are NOT allowed to go into English schools. No other province has such primitive laws.

The fact that the party in power is a Separatist party whose leader when losing a referendum in 1995 said that they lost because of ethnic votes should be another huge red flag for your wife and children.

The fact that Canada even allows this is beyond outrageous.

Although people of Quebec are quite friendly and very tolerant (I would say way more friendly than the people in Toronto) that has nothing to do with the fascist government they constantly elect. There is a reason why all the banks moved from Montreal to Toronto. Please read this again.... there is a reason why all the banks and businesses moved from Montreal to Toronto.

Good luck. You will need it.

I could refute each of your statements because they are totally ill-informed, (I'm a journalist and political science graduate, by the way) but this is NOT a political debate thread. This is NOT the place to spread your hate for Quebec by enumerating all of the prejudices and false assumptions that you may have about this province that you hate with passion. Can you have just a tiny bit of respect for people here? Can you respect the fact that your political opinions are unrelated to the topic of jobs and immigration? Can you understand that people don't care about your political opinions here? Can you have just a little respect for people involved in difficult immigration processes and who are seeking a helping hand?

I've looked into your post history and apparently, this is all your have to offer here : hate toward everybody and every nation, insulting everybody, showing no respect and saying everybody but you is ignorant and racist. PLEASE GO AWAY TROLL!

Please people help me to report that dude.

 

[clubcanada]

I've seen some of mrbeachman's posts and there's a lot I would not agree with. However, all polemic aside, the core statements that he made here are as follows:
- Foreign degrees and work experience from Asia are quite worthless from a view of Canadian employers
- Asians have a much harder time to find work in Canada than western Europeans
- Quebec is not the best place to get settled for non-French speakers
- There are a lot of strange laws to protect the French language in Quebec
- Toronto is Canada's banking hub and the chances finding a banking job here is much higher than elsewhere in Canada
- (Private) Banking in Canada is different compared to other countries

I might have missed some aspects due to your quite exhausting verbal battle but I pretty much agree with all of the above.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

I've seen some of mrbeachman's posts and there's a lot I would not agree with. However, all polemic aside, the core statements that he made here are as follows:
- Foreign degrees and work experience from Asia are quite worthless from a view of Canadian employers
- Asians have a much harder time to find work in Canada than western Europeans
- Quebec is not the best place to get settled for non-French speakers
- There are a lot of strange laws to protect the French language in Quebec
- Toronto is Canada's banking hub and the chances finding a banking job here is much higher than elsewhere in Canada
- (Private) Banking in Canada is different compared to other countries

I might have missed some aspects due to your quite exhausting verbal battle but I pretty much agree with all of the above.

Thank you for bringing a more moderate tone and approach.

However, I was not asking to get an overview of the political and economical situation of Quebec. I'm from Quebec and I know the political situation. I'm aware that there's more banking job in Toronto and I'm not here to debate on the language laws in Quebec (which are not strange at all even according to the Supreme court and which are not an obstable at all for the integration of immigrants that are willing to learn French, which is my wife situation).

What I'm looking for in this thread is to get inputs from people working in the banking / marketing industry in Quebec/Montreal. What are the job opportunities? Is this a field that requires canadian degrees only or if international experience is valuable? With the kind of resume that my wife has, could she find a decent job? Would she need additional schooling or a new canadian degree?

I don't want people opinions on Quebec French laws or political events. This is completely out topic. Thank you.

 

[nthompson]

Thank you very much for that more respectful and helpful point of view. ;-)

I do have an indirect contact in the banking industry : the person who takes care of the hiring for one of the largest bank in Quebec. I will definitely use that contact if needed.

The French factor is obviously one more obstacle, but we plan to use the ±15 months it should take for her to get her PR from inland to follow intensive French classes. Also, since we'll be living in Montreal, we might be looking at jobs in the West Island, where French is probably less mandatory in some fields. But anyway : my family and friends are mostly French speaking, and I will strongly encourage her to learn. To be fair, I'm also in the process of learning Thai. And I hope ours kids can later speak the 3 languages!

No problem

Really sounds like your on the right track and atleast you have a connection with someone thing industry who can guide her in the right direction. Her being fluent in French would greatly boast her chance in a job there by a lot.

Seriously ignore that guy he clearly is full of negative energy.

I don't know who the retard is, but you apparently come from UK, yet you can't string 2 sentences together.

At least put a bit of an effort if you want to sound more credible.

As for not achieving anything in my life, how do you know? How can you possibly know anything? Your example of "I have a friend" means absolutely nothing on internet forums. I also know a guy who does not even have a high school and is a millionaire. What does this have to do with a question? Personally I think your post is a lie just because you want to crap on my point of view which is a legitimate point of view. The OP will of course think you are a god because you just told him what he wants to hear which is OK.

Anyway... my prejudice about Quebec totally stands as I have spent 15 years in Montreal and 5 in Toronto. I also own a Condo in downtown Toronto, so I guess that does not make me a total loser. I guess we should not get too political about the province in which it is prohibited to speak English in the workplace. I hope OP's wife knows that.

Like I said OP.... good luck.... you will need it.

Not going to waste my time on you but I do wish you luck in the future.

 

[mrbeachman]

What I'm looking for in this thread is to get inputs from people working in the banking / marketing industry in Quebec/Montreal. What are the job opportunities? Is this a field that requires canadian degrees only or if international experience is valuable? With the kind of resume that my wife has, could she find a decent job? Would she need additional schooling or a new canadian degree?

Wow.... just wow. Total ignorance towards Canada, Thailand and life in general.

The answer has been provided, but you choose to ignore it. If you wait long enough there will be someone... eventually that will give the answer that you really, really, really want.

 

[clubcanada]

However, I was not asking to get an overview of the political and economical situation of Quebec. I'm from Quebec and I know the political situation. I'm aware that there's more banking job in Toronto and I'm not here to debate on the language laws in Quebec (which are not strange at all even according to the Supreme court and which are not an obstable at all for the integration of immigrants that are willing to learn French, which is my wife situation).

Have you ever considered these laws from an outsider's view? Anyways, let's leave this out of the debate.

What I'm looking for in this thread is to get inputs from people working in the banking / marketing industry in Quebec/Montreal. What are the job opportunities?

Small to nil. Does it mean she won't find a job? No, not necessarily. But considering the huge number of Canadian marketing professionals looking for employment in their field and the limited number of banking opps in Montreal (compared to Toronto) and lack of French language skills, the chances are quite small.

Is this a field that requires canadian degrees only or if international experience is valuable?

Which field - Marketing or Banking? anyways, as I mentioned before, Canadian employers don't care too much about foreign degrees or work experience. And international work experience is relative for a country that does approx. 80% of international business with the US. In addition, in most work environments in Canada people get their jobs through connections and relationships. It's very hard for non-Canadians/Newcomers to break through. From what I've heard, this is especially true for Quebec - unless you've very rare/niche skills (such as programming/IT).

With the kind of resume that my wife has, could she find a decent job? Would she need additional schooling or a new canadian degree?

Canadian experience and/or degree always help but is not a must to get a job in these fields as for most part they do not fall under regulation. Language and the lack of job opps are the challenges. I personally like Montreal but I didn't consider it due to language and job perspective. I'd assume that it will take a couple of years to get to a similar job level as back in Thailand.

 

[scylla]

What I'm looking for in this thread is to get inputs from people working in the banking / marketing industry in Quebec/Montreal. What are the job opportunities? Is this a field that requires canadian degrees only or if international experience is valuable? With the kind of resume that my wife has, could she find a decent job? Would she need additional schooling or a new canadian degree?

I think her main barrier is the fact that she's not a fluent / native French speaker. Based on what I know of the industry and province, this will make it very difficult for her to get a job in Quebec/Montreal in her field. If I were in her shoes, I would dedicate all of my time to learning French fluently (not just well - but fluently).

 

[quebecnewhusband]

Have you ever considered these laws from an outsider's view? Anyways, let's leave this out of the debate.

Small to nil. Does it mean she won't find a job? No, not necessarily. But considering the huge number of Canadian marketing professionals looking for employment in their field and the limited number of banking opps in Montreal (compared to Toronto) and lack of French language skills, the chances are quite small.

Which field - Marketing or Banking? anyways, as I mentioned before, Canadian employers don't care too much about foreign degrees or work experience. And international work experience is relative for a country that does approx. 80% of international business with the US. In addition, in most work environments in Canada people get their jobs through connections and relationships. It's very hard for non-Canadians/Newcomers to break through. From what I've heard, this is especially true for Quebec - unless you've very rare/niche skills (such as programming/IT).


Canadian experience and/or degree always help but is not a must to get a job in these fields as for most part they do not fall under regulation. Language and the lack of job opps are the challenges. I personally like Montreal but I didn't consider it due to language and job perspective. I'd assume that it will take a couple of years to get to a similar job level as back in Thailand.

I think her main barrier is the fact that she's not a fluent / native French speaker. Based on what I know of the industry and province, this will make it very difficult for her to get a job in Quebec/Montreal in her field. If I were in her shoes, I would dedicate all of my time to learning French fluently (not just well - but fluently).

Learning French will definitely be a top priority, as it should be for anyone moving to Quebec. If I was moving to Italy, I would learn Italian. Since my wife is Thai, I find it important for myself to learn to speak Thai. Learning the local language is the best way to show your respect toward your host community and to facilitate your integration, and it will obviously open the doors to many more jobs opportunities.

Financially, we can both afford to take the time we need for her to acquire the language skills and other educational tools that will be needed on the work market. My salary should be enough for 2 for a while, and she also has her own financial cushion.

What would be interesting for us is to know which kind of additional education she should get once in Canada. Would she need a whole new university degree? Or just a few "adjustment classes"? Could she get some kind of schooling recommended by an enterprise that would be interested in her services?

What about the marketing field (excluding banks)? Anyone can tell us more about marketing job opportunities? It seems to me that it's a very "open" field that doesn't necessarily require "canadian skills" like the medical field, for example. You don't need to belong to a professional association to work as a marketing strategist, right?

It would be interesting for us to hear the personal story and experience of other immigrants who are working in that field and who knows the Quebec work market pretty well.

If your only source of information is the National Post editorials criticizing Quebec language laws, then please don't bother.

 

[mrbeachman]

What about the marketing field (excluding banks)? Anyone can tell us more about marketing job opportunities? It seems to me that it's a very "open" field that doesn't necessarily require "canadian skills" like the medical field, for example. You don't need to belong to a professional association to work as a marketing strategist, right?

She would obviously needs a Canadian degree in Business administration and relevant Canadian experience.

What you obviously fail to understand is that even Thais have very little respect for degrees obtained in Thailand. I am actually very surprised as a born Canadian and someone who has spent time in Thailand does not understand this very simple cultural concept.

Her degree and experience is worthless in Canada. Period. She will have to start from scratch which will be very difficult for you and for her.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

She would obviously needs a Canadian degree in Business administration and relevant Canadian experience.

What you obviously fail to understand is that even Thais have very little respect for degrees obtained in Thailand. I am actually very surprised as a born Canadian and someone who has spent time in Thailand does not understand this very simple cultural concept.

Her degree end experience is worthless in Canada. Period. She will have to start from scratch which will be very difficult for you and for her.

You told your opinion multiple times here already and it's pretty clear, we understand. But what I'm looking for is the inputs of people who actually live in Quebec and who have a direct and more specific knowledge of the Quebec banking or marketing industry or who have been in a similar situation, and not just some generalizations on Quebec economy or Thai culture, which I'm both pretty aware of already.

Also, constructive opinions is what I'm looking for.

Thank you for understanding.

 

[mrbeachman]

There aren't any shortcuts. This was the best free advice you will get on this forum. No one from the banking industry will share any information on this forum. If you want to hear anecdotes from that "British" guy who doesn't even live in Canada and can't put a proper sentence together then be my guest.

My last advice for you before I bail is to be honest to your wife and explain her the reality of the situation which is that she will never have a career and a good job like she has in Thailand.

I am not talking out of my behind here.

Generalizations about the culture are actually very relevant. You obviously don't understand what you are getting yourself into. Why do you think that Canada wants you to sponsor her for a minimum of 3 years. She is not coming to this country as a skilled worker and even if she did please read the forums.... there is a lot of people struggling in Canada, including Canadian born citizens with relevant Canadian degrees.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

Man, are you done insulting people who doesn't think like you? You must be the most annoying person I've ever encountered in a web forum...

Do you realize that you've just spent 2 pages telling me something that my wife and me already knew : that it won't be easy! For the last time : I KNOW!!!

And that's why people like me come here to seek advices from professional or from other people who are in the same situation. The last thing we expect to find here is some attention seeker who believes he's on a god-sent mission to convince people to live out of Canada and to avoid this "fascist" province of Quebec!

Do you realize that none of what you said so far have been useful for people like me?

So can you please stop? Find some political debate forum to spit your venom out, but here is NOT the place!

And you gotta stop intimidating all of those who doesn't think like you. By the way, there's no moderator here?

I just don't care about your dellusion and chronic pessimism. And since you don't have anything constructive to say, then please, I beg you, go away.

P.S. Thanks to those who messaged me privately to give me useful advices. I wish everybody could feel free to post here without risking to be intimidated or involved in some political debate.

 

[clubcanada]

What would be interesting for us is to know which kind of additional education she should get once in Canada. Would she need a whole new university degree? Or just a few "adjustment classes"? Could she get some kind of schooling recommended by an enterprise that would be interested in her services?

What about the marketing field (excluding banks)? Anyone can tell us more about marketing job opportunities? It seems to me that it's a very "open" field that doesn't necessarily require "canadian skills" like the medical field, for example. You don't need to belong to a professional association to work as a marketing strategist, right?

you already got all the answers, but once again: NO - you don't need an additional degree in marketing as it is NOT a regulated profession like engineering. But the chances to get a job are quite small due to language barrier and a lot of unemployed marketing professionals with so-called "Canadian experience", proper knowledge of the local market and most of them bi-lingual. Therefore, going back to college might be helpful to a) build a network, b) gather Canadian experience and c) get a degree that potential employers are familiar with. Whether it's a good cost/benefit to go back at age 35 to learn the same stuff again that you've been doing for the last 10 years is another question. In addition, it will take some time to learn the language, which is a full time job and will probably require 1-2 years. I guess in the long term there might be a chance to get back on track at a lower level but this might take years of frustration. Canada is not a good place for career minded people who leave behind a successful track record in their home country.

 

[mrbeachman]

Man, are you done insulting people who doesn't think like you? You must be the most annoying person I've ever encountered in a web forum...

Do you realize that you've just spent 2 pages telling me something that my wife and me already knew : that it won't be easy! For the last time : I KNOW!!!

And that's why people like me come here to seek advices from professional or from other people who are in the same situation. The last thing we expect to find here is some attention seeker who believes he's on a god-sent mission to convince people to live out of Canada and to avoid this "fascist" province of Quebec!

Do you realize that none of what you said so far have been useful for people like me?

So can you please stop? Find some political debate forum to spit your venom out, but here is NOT the place!

And you gotta stop intimidating all of those who doesn't think like you. By the way, there's no moderator here?

I just don't care about your dellusion and chronic pessimism. And since you don't have anything constructive to say, then please, I beg you, go away.

P.S. Thanks to those who messaged me privately to give me useful advices. I wish everybody could feel free to post here without risking to be intimidated or involved in some political debate.

You are really clueless. As a matter of fact, I have not insulted you in one single post unlike you who if there is any criticism of a province (not you!), you go on a rant about National Post (I don't even read that crap) and right wing propaganda and how I must be a racist and Quebec hater. Please apply those labels to yourself.

It is actually embarrassing to read that someone who was born in Canada is so much clueless pretty much about everything. You must have sold your Thai wife a Canadian dream and now are desperately gasping for shortcuts and "solutions".

The worst thing is you don't even understand what you got married into. You know nothing about Thai culture. Yes.... I keep repeating this as you are in for a nasty surprise if "YOU" don't deliver all the promises that you made about Canada and especially Quebec.

I already know how is this going to play out. I would laugh, but it is actually pretty tragic.

 

[quebecnewhusband]

You are really clueless. As a matter of fact, I have not insulted you in one single post unlike you who if there is any criticism of a province (not you!), you go on a rant about National Post (I don't even read that crap) and right wing propaganda and how I must be a racist and Quebec hater. Please apply those labels to yourself.

It is actually embarrassing to read that someone who was born in Canada is so much clueless pretty much about everything. You must have sold your Thai wife a Canadian dream and now are desperately gasping for shortcuts and "solutions".

The worst thing is you don't even understand what you got married into. You know nothing about Thai culture. Yes.... I keep repeating this as you are in for a nasty surprise if "YOU" don't deliver all the promises that you made about Canada and especially Quebec.

I already know how is this going to play out. I would laugh, but it is actually pretty tragic.

You don't know a single thing about our relationship, and despite that, you give yourself the right to judge us based on preconceived ideas or on the popular cliché of a poor thai woman wanting to live the Canadian dream and being dragged into that by a heartless western guy.

I came here for advices. Thank you to clubcanada for at least trying and showing some good faith. You, on the other hand, I don't give you the right to create your own fiction about my relationship and to judge me and her based on your prejudices. I don't know what the f*ck you're doing here if that's all you have to say. Seriously, get a life.