In the Planning Stage...

[Obitim]

Hi there!

I was wondering if anyone had any contacts in Canada in the IT recruitment business? The reason I'm asking is that in the next 5 years my partner and I would like to move to Canada and I want to use the time to prepare my skills base so that I will be employable out there. I currently have a background in IT and hold a Comptia A+ but need to know where the best route to develop my skills for employment purposes.

I've also got a background in Networks using Cisco kit so am adaptable, but do want to get the quals/experience to allow me to find a job out there!

Anyone got any advice?

 

[buliwyf]

In my experience, if you're a "specialist," you'd have much easier time getting hired than a "generalist." I myself am a generalist. I came from an IT Manager position in a small-medium sized company but I ended up getting a specialist role here in Canada; I simply could not find a generalist type of job AND a similarly sized company. Here in Canada, it seems there are very few "medium" sized companies; either it's a HUGE corporation or a mom & pop shop.

A+ and Cisco certifications will help your resume for Helpdesk/Support/Technician roles. During actual, in-person interviews, the interviewers will NOT care about your certifications. They will make sure you ACTUALLY know your technical skills and be able to demonstrate your real-world expertise. The interviewers here are not slack-off "managers;" they actually know the technical aspects of the job.

In your home country, make sure you get work experience from relatively large companies that will give you actual technical experience, using SPECIFIC technologies. Network/Technician roles in a Call-center would be good, since they have 24/7 operations with really high SLA's.

Entry-level for this position will give you about $45k-55k/year. An "experienced" entry-level position will give you $55k-60k/year. If you're much more experienced and feel confident that you're qualified for a higher position, then this can be a good "Canadian Experience" first job.

Remember, contacts, friends and family can only help you submit your resume to a company, or at best, land you an interview. You're on your own during interviews and you have to make sure you can convince the interviewers that you're good!

 

[Obitim]

Hi Buli,

Cheers for the info, I did read that being a generalist may not be the best route so I'm thinking specialisation, the only thing is what to specialise in, networking, windows/servers, UNIX or programming?

That's one of the things that I am interested in, which specialisation will best assist in the job market...

 

[buliwyf]

Hi Buli,

Cheers for the info, I did read that being a generalist may not be the best route so I'm thinking specialisation, the only thing is what to specialise in, networking, windows/servers, UNIX or programming?

That's one of the things that I am interested in, which specialisation will best assist in the job market...

It depends on what YOU want. Network engineers, Sys admins (MS or Linux/Unix) or programmers (Java, .NET, etc), there's always a job for any of these. They also have generally similar salaries.

Don't be too worried about the job market. There's always a job for a specific specialization, especially in the IT industry. Worry more about acquiring actual skills and experience on something that you like doing.

 

[Obitim]

yeah, that is true, I actually enjoy Networks and have tried my hand at a bit of programming (code academy).

I'll do a bit of research and start putting my plan into action!