Moved from Vegas..Can't find work in Canada.

[mahalia]

We just moved to southern Ontario (Cambridge)..my home town, just before Christmas...not even thinking that I would have difficulty finding a minimum wage job. Well what a surprise! (we moved from Las Vegas where we had lived for over 15 years, and there are NO jobs there, the unemployment rate is very high). I quit my job at one of the hotels there to move back to Canada. I have sent out about 50 resumes for food and beverage, since my arrival. I mistakenly stated the year I graduated from high school, (I'm 59 years old), and I think that might have something to do with it. I have since edited my resume and left it out. I can't even get a job as a waitress in a dough nut shop here. Also, I was told this was a really bad time to be job hunting...December and January of 2013. I have 3 years to retirement, and my husband is on disability. Very tough. I was doing some networking several months before we moved, but then we couldn't get connected to the WiFi where we lived, although it advertised free internet. So lost the ability to even try to secure some kind of job when we arrived. There are lots of Manufacturing jobs, and Trade jobs...so if you have a trade, you'll probably be fine...in fact, they can't find enough people to fill those types of positions.
The economy is healthy..we just came at the wrong time of year, and I am an older worker, so there is discrimination everywhere I think.

 

[kitchloo]

I feel for you. My husband is from the States and has been out of work for 8 months. He's a young, educated man who is honest and a hard worker. I just don't understand it.

 

[cocosyr]

We just moved to southern Ontario (Cambridge)..my home town, just before Christmas...not even thinking that I would have difficulty finding a minimum wage job. Well what a surprise! (we moved from Las Vegas where we had lived for over 15 years, and there are NO jobs there, the unemployment rate is very high). I quit my job at one of the hotels there to move back to Canada. I have sent out about 50 resumes for food and beverage, since my arrival. I mistakenly stated the year I graduated from high school, (I'm 59 years old), and I think that might have something to do with it. I have since edited my resume and left it out. I can't even get a job as a waitress in a dough nut shop here. Also, I was told this was a really bad time to be job hunting...December and January of 2013. I have 3 years to retirement, and my husband is on disability. Very tough. I was doing some networking several months before we moved, but then we couldn't get connected to the WiFi where we lived, although it advertised free internet. So lost the ability to even try to secure some kind of job when we arrived. There are lots of Manufacturing jobs, and Trade jobs...so if you have a trade, you'll probably be fine...in fact, they can't find enough people to fill those types of positions.
The economy is healthy..we just came at the wrong time of year, and I am an older worker, so there is discrimination everywhere I think.

What did you do in Vegas? There are many many young unemployed kids here looking for the same kind of minimum pay jobs you want, but I have seen many old people still work at places like Walmart, especially old ladies, some out of shape. If you can speak proper English and don't look or act like foreigners or FOBs, I think you can find such a job even if you're 59.

 

[mahalia]

One of the posters asked what kind of work I did in Vegas? I worked for a major hotel, as a cocktail waitress.
(I'm a size 12/14, blonde, personable, outgoing, friendly, and as one customer said.."a hot little number". I couldn't get a job even in the Tim Horton's coffee shops. I'm 59, but I don't look like your typical "little old lady". I found out later on Tim Horton's doesn't hire anyone with gray hair...(even though I don't have gray hair because I colour it). They hire very young people...which is their right to do so. To date (March 2013), I have a job in corporate dining, as a food associate, or part of the kitchen staff. It's a part time job, but I may be able to get more hours soon. I was hired on the spot, and I wasn't given the run around like several Tim Horton's restaurants gave me. (I was called in for several interviews, but never offered employment.) I like my new job, and everyone treats me with respect..there are several ladies around my age group who have worked there quite a while. I'm just advising people...if you are 50 or over..even 45...and you are looking for survival jobs...yes, the poster was right! You will be competing with much younger applicants. Make sure when you move here, you secure employment before you do it! We are still suffering from culture shock..my husband especially. Canadian winters are brutal, and we may move back to Vegas when I get my retirement in two years.