Dear Member,
Question of short or Permanent Landing often causes dilemma ,It often is a personal choice depending on job at home,unfinished business, children academic year ,Weather at the time of landing ,Resources and funds available with you etc...
Believe me, whatever way you land its 2-3 years of struggle and survival,after that you will feel settled.Lucky few get good jobs immediately and get settled in a very short time.
I did my short landing(lasting 40 days) in oct11,we were family of 4 and this is my experience:
1. 7-15 days landing is of no use at all,You can explore as a tourist and meet few ppl and get feel of the place but it does not prepare you for actual process of settlement.One should stay there for at least 30 days.During my stay i joined various settlement organisations and attended seminars on Winter preparation,Cold Calling,Getting over fear of cold calling,Interview preparation,Mock Interviews, Income Tax and returns,Resume building,cover letter,Networking,attended lots of Job fairs,2nd career options,Buisness prospects seminars,interaction with CBSA regarding export/Import,Interacted with IRA for various taxation policies,Canadian schooling system,Various teen kids issues, Voluntary work,Job skills,Job search..etc..Most important was resume building,I worked with senior Job Councillor who helped me in preparing Resume,after my stay i had perfect Canadian style RESUME in my hands.
2.I did explore almost all of Toronto and around as a tourist ,used TTC, Brampton Transit,Go train,Missisauga transit..in short i used almost all means of public transport to go around Toronto and GTA..this way i got my orientations right and was able to shortlist location for future home.Though i shortlisted 7-8 locations and surrounding school reports are available on fraserlist.This is a very tricky situation for permanent lander as they tend to look for home near relatives or friends localities,where you may find good school but imagine you get a job which requires transiting for 1-2 Hrs one side,Sure your life is going to be Miserable.Good schools are available all round Toronto,Look for house which suites all,or be prepared to relocate.
3. After getting my Resume made i started looking for job...Mostly through Net...Via workopolis,Moster etc...this was just a test and i wanted to judge what kind of response i am getting or getting any response at all , I sure got response which assured me that i have good resume at hand.
4.I started preparing for my return journey..with all resources at hand.additionally i bought credit on my Gmail A/c and bought Magicjack with Ontario Number(it costs abt. $20 per annum)...this would help me in cold calling from the comforts of my home and giving first few rounds of telephonic interviews.
Once i got back, I started looking for Job,Since i was at home i was not bothered abt expenses, cost of living,Homesick,Under Cultural shock...this set my mind absolutely and absolutely on a good job search,since i was not under any kind of pressure i was able to find not 1 but 4 jobs of my liking,although offers were scattered around Canada but i was not worried i can go anywhere as i was not committed to only one city , As i said earlier i was well connected with Canada and my employer not for a moment felt i was out of Canada.
Although i admire courage of one time settler but what i have mentioned is my experience.I hope this helps
CB
