Moving to Canada

[rgothi23]

Hi

I am moving to Canada on the 14jan'12 from India landing there in Toronto on the 15th jan as a PR. Would like to know if there's anyone out there who has recently arrived here or is planning to move to toronto around this time either on PR/Work permit? It may be a good idea to look for accomodation and work together. I guess will make the process less stressful !!
And also if there are any suggestions/tips for securing a job and renting a room.

Warm wishes,

Reena G

 

[odin2404]

Have moved to Toronto 6 months ago from Mumbai. Hope you have a place to stay when you land here ... be prepared for the cold. Thankfully this year is not that cold, the temp is constant at 0 - -5.

It maybe a good idea to look up craigslist toronto and kijiji toronto (both websites) to shortlist accomodations in your budget.

Also, carry easily accessible funds.

And Welcome to Canada!

 

[rgothi23]

Many thanks Odin for the suggestions, I shall surely keep them in mind. Well to be very honest i shall be put up for a week or two with a distant acquaintance and then on I shall be on my own. Thanks for the sites, i shall check them and maybe (hopefully not!!) disturb you further . Was wondering since you have landed recently to the country and yet you have been around for enough time to understand the place moderately whats your opinion about the place? How abt the job oppurtunities? Since mostly all will be attacking job banks what do you suggest is the best alternate to job banks and job portals (for a person like who doesnt have any network there ) ? Are the people warm? How much assistance do we get from indians/asians ?

Negative five degrees sounds good enough for me to enjoy some "barf ke gole" ...kidding

Thanks and regards,

Reena G

 

[21685]

Reena G what is your profession/occupation in India and are you landing alone or with your family.

 

[born2code]

Hello Reena,

I'm not sure if you're applying with a job in hand or not. But the first thing I did once I had my Immigrant Visa stamped was to start applying for jobs. Once I got 2-3 interviews lined up, it was then that I decided when to fly.

Reason being, once you've a job, finding a place to stay, buying a car, a phone, etc. etc. etc. are easy to afford. Keep in mind this economy survives on spenders. Generally speaking, if you have the money, you can find anything in this country.

Toronto is a big city, and then GTA (Greater Toronto Area) is much bigger (GTA is like Vaashi, and other neighbouring developments around bombay). GTA is pretty much linked to Toronto downtown with GO Transit (like the metro train in bombay, but a lot more humanized version of them). ;-)

The point being, it's a huge place and finding a decent place to stay isn't that tough. In fact if you can secure a job first, you would prefer to find housing close to your office to avoid the long commute.

I hope this helps.

Cheers....

 

[odin2404]

Many thanks Odin for the suggestions, I shall surely keep them in mind. Well to be very honest i shall be put up for a week or two with a distant acquaintance and then on I shall be on my own. Thanks for the sites, i shall check them and maybe (hopefully not!!) disturb you further . Was wondering since you have landed recently to the country and yet you have been around for enough time to understand the place moderately whats your opinion about the place? How abt the job oppurtunities? Since mostly all will be attacking job banks what do you suggest is the best alternate to job banks and job portals (for a person like who doesnt have any network there ) ? Are the people warm? How much assistance do we get from indians/asians ?

Negative five degrees sounds good enough for me to enjoy some "barf ke gole" ...kidding

Thanks and regards,

Reena G

Glad to help!

Jobs are there, but scarce to the "untrained" eye. Forget job banks and websites for jobs. Find your target companies, walk in and meet with HR. You will be considered as a proactive person and appreciated. Thats how I got a job.

Quite frankly .. born2code must have some very specialized job function or incredibly fortunate (I'm not taking away his efforts here) to "line up" jobs from the internet befpre he / she flew.

You can of course give it a try too... you never know, what works.

Lemme know when you're here, maybe I can help out with something.

Good Luck and God speed.

Cheers,
Odin!

 

[born2code]

Odin, perhaps you've had much luck but I've in fact met immigrants who came to Canada and started dropping by HR departments, meeting them face to face, following up over the phone and all to no profit. Some of them had to face tough financial situations and start with odd blue collar jobs.

I don't think I had special skills. I was only 24-25, had a couple of years of International experience.

At least in the IT industry, everything is done over the internet these days. I've given interview commitments to people planning to move to Canada, provided they can demonstrate a good command of the language and have good communication skills. Needless to say, they must have the technical capabilities to do the job.

I think many have realized the raw talent that can be tapped by hiring new immigrants. Especially during this tough economy.

Rest it's all luck, I guess. A bigger power at work.

Cheers...

 

[odin2404]

Odin, perhaps you've had much luck but I've in fact met immigrants who came to Canada and started dropping by HR departments, meeting them face to face, following up over the phone and all to no profit. Some of them had to face tough financial situations and start with odd blue collar jobs.

I don't think I had special skills. I was only 24-25, had a couple of years of International experience.

At least in the IT industry, everything is done over the internet these days. I've given interview commitments to people planning to move to Canada, provided they can demonstrate a good command of the language and have good communication skills. Needless to say, they must have the technical capabilities to do the job.

I think many have realized the raw talent that can be tapped by hiring new immigrants. Especially during this tough economy.

Rest it's all luck, I guess. A bigger power at work.

Cheers...

There it is then rgothi....

Also, I know of a lot of people holding down two jobs (sometimes both full time in diffrent shifts). So while the manpower in numbers might be less, the jobs are scooped up by those already gainfully employed. That was just FYI!!

Like I said, feel free to try all avenues, you never know what works.

Cheers,
Odin!

 

[Leon]

There are many tricks to applying for jobs. I have also walked door to door and asked for jobs and the 6th place I applied at hired me on the spot and I worked there for over 5 years. Once you get your foot in the door and start working somewhere, you will start making connections. Even if you stay at the same company, other people will come and go and if you make a point of keeping in touch, if you lose your job, you can put out the feelers for a new one among all your old co-workers who have moved on and are working somewhere else.

A very important point is to dress appropriately. If you are not sure what is appropriate for the workplace you are applying at, you should go on a scouting mission before you go for your interview and look at what their other employees are wearing and then show up looking like you fit in. If you are applying for a blue collar job, show up clean but wearing working clothes so if needed, you could start right away. They will probably not ask you to do that but they may ask you to start the next morning.

Another important thing, especially when you are applying for high end jobs is to look sharp. I remember having seen a newspaper article about a 3rd world immigrant who in spite of being well educated and having worked in the UK for some years just could not find a job. What I noticed immediately about him is that he did not look sharp. His clothes and haircut looked terribly out of date and for that guy, I think it worked against him. So maybe that is not fair but life isn't fair either. If a boss looked at that guy and saw that he looks terribly out of date for Canada, he may think his skills are also out of date or that they are not relevant to Canada in any case.

Another thing is, if you need a survival job and can't find one, the reason is often that you are over qualified. Make more than one version of your CV and take the one with you that you feel is appropriate for the occasion. Applying for high end jobs, you would make more of the relevant experience jobs you have had and skip odd jobs you have done during your university years while applying for low end jobs, you might rearrange your CV to stated that you studied at a university without mentioning that you graduated, that you worked at such and such company but minimizing your job duties there, to list all your odd jobs you ever did during your university years etc.

And if you end up seemingly stuck in a survival job without having any luck in finding something relevant to your education, you should think about re-training, either in your old field or a new one.

 

[born2code]

Very well put Leon...Bravo...

 

[mycan]

Sir Leon,

Well explained. Thank you for bringing out the finer points which many with lots of us miss due to fear, over confidence, ignorance, resistance to change,...............

+1 for you for the guidence as I am landing in March.

mycan

There are many tricks to applying for jobs. I have also walked door to door and asked for jobs and the 6th place I applied at hired me on the spot and I worked there for over 5 years. Once you get your foot in the door and start working somewhere, you will start making connections. Even if you stay at the same company, other people will come and go and if you make a point of keeping in touch, if you lose your job, you can put out the feelers for a new one among all your old co-workers who have moved on and are working somewhere else.

A very important point is to dress appropriately. If you are not sure what is appropriate for the workplace you are applying at, you should go on a scouting mission before you go for your interview and look at what their other employees are wearing and then show up looking like you fit in. If you are applying for a blue collar job, show up clean but wearing working clothes so if needed, you could start right away. They will probably not ask you to do that but they may ask you to start the next morning.

Another important thing, especially when you are applying for high end jobs is to look sharp. I remember having seen a newspaper article about a 3rd world immigrant who in spite of being well educated and having worked in the UK for some years just could not find a job. What I noticed immediately about him is that he did not look sharp. His clothes and haircut looked terribly out of date and for that guy, I think it worked against him. So maybe that is not fair but life isn't fair either. If a boss looked at that guy and saw that he looks terribly out of date for Canada, he may think his skills are also out of date or that they are not relevant to Canada in any case.

Another thing is, if you need a survival job and can't find one, the reason is often that you are over qualified. Make more than one version of your CV and take the one with you that you feel is appropriate for the occasion. Applying for high end jobs, you would make more of the relevant experience jobs you have had and skip odd jobs you have done during your university years while applying for low end jobs, you might rearrange your CV to stated that you studied at a university without mentioning that you graduated, that you worked at such and such company but minimizing your job duties there, to list all your odd jobs you ever did during your university years etc.

And if you end up seemingly stuck in a survival job without having any luck in finding something relevant to your education, you should think about re-training, either in your old field or a new one.