QA Tester, Vancouver

[Edward Ciurea]

Hi guys!

First post, hopefully not the last. I'm currently living in Bucharest, Romania, and will soon get my bachelors degree. After that I'm seriously thinking about moving to Canada and the one place that I have absolutely fallen in love with is Vancouver.

I've been searching the net a lot recently to find out exactly what income a QA Tester at Electronic Arts Burnaby has, but there are too many results.

So, my first question would be: does anyone work or has worked or knows someone reliable who works at EA as a QA Tester who could give me a definitive answer about the salary, entry level, please?

Looking forward to hearing from you and thanks a lot!

 

[Lammawitch]

Look to the very lowest level of salary posted when you google-search. I'm surprised it's even that much.

 

[Edward Ciurea]

I found both 25k and 38k, entry level. That's why I need an answer from someone on the inside

Thanks for replying!

 

[Jalex23]

I found both 25k and 38k, entry level. That's why I need an answer from someone on the inside

Thanks for replying!

What you are looking for doesn't exist.

That is the entry level 25-38. They can offer you anything in that bracket depending on lots of things, basically how well you do in the hiring interview and their budget at the time of hiring.

BTW, 25-38 is nothing to live in Vancouver, you need to make at least 45K to survive in the city which is one of the most expensive in Canada.

 

[Edward Ciurea]

Is what you said based on some certain experience with that particular job? I would be moving there with my girlfriend and she would also have a job, something in HR, training, business development - also entry level.
So our total income should only cover rent (one bedroom, nothing fancy), utilities, groceries, internet, two phones, transit and, well, that's about it. Until we get better jobs at least.

 

[scylla]

Have you looked into how you will move to Canada? It's unlikely a temporary work permit will be possible given your field and lack of experience.

So that means you would have to apply to immigrate to Canada and be accepted as an immigrant before you can move here and work here. To qualify to immigrate, you will need at least one year of skilled work experience - applying straight out of school will not be possible. You may want to read up on the Express Entry program to understand the process of immigrating and how applicants are selected.

 

[Edward Ciurea]

I already have experience in that field of work.

Thanks for the reply, I will look into it to learn more about immigration. Any sort of answer is helpful

 

[scylla]

I already have experience in that field of work.

Thanks for the reply, I will look into it to learn more about immigration. Any sort of answer is helpful

Yes - look into immigration. A temporary work permit will be extremely difficult to obtain either in your field or your girlfriend's field since there are plenty of Canadians to fill these rolls and an employer will have a great deal of difficulty proving a foreign worker is required. Note that to immigrate together you and your girlfriend need to be either married or common law (common law means you have lived together for at least one full year and can prove it).

 

[Edward Ciurea]

Shitness, I had no idea about that. I'll definitely need to look into this whole thing a lot more if I want to do it. Thanks a lot, mate!

 

[Lammawitch]

*censored word*ness, I had no idea about that. I'll definitely need to look into this whole thing a lot more if I want to do it. Thanks a lot, mate!

How old are you & girlfriend (no need to answer that here)? Have you looked at/might you qualify for the IEC programme? While not a direct route to PR, it can be a "foot in the door".

 

[scylla]

How old are you & girlfriend (no need to answer that here)? Have you looked at/might you qualify for the IEC programme? While not a direct route to PR, it can be a "foot in the door".

Unfortunately not an option (unless the OP has a different nationality than the country mentioned) - Romania isn't a participant in the IEC program.

 

[Lammawitch]

Unfortunately not an option (unless the OP has a different nationality than the country mentioned) - Romania isn't a participant in the IEC program.

Thanks. Missed the OP's nationality.

 

[Jalex23]

Is what you said based on some certain experience with that particular job? I would be moving there with my girlfriend and she would also have a job, something in HR, training, business development - also entry level.
So our total income should only cover rent (one bedroom, nothing fancy), utilities, groceries, internet, two phones, transit and, well, that's about it. Until we get better jobs at least.

That is the way it is done in the industry. Entry levels are not the same, depends a lot on many factors, for example experience (yes entry levels can have experience as Canadian education has coops), so I have seen entry levels hired in the same process come in to companies with more than 10k gap...

Anyway, yes, between two people you will manage to afford that and nothing else. Vancouver is a very expensive city. With 38K you will be looking at around 2K a month. Rent of a one bedroom apartment is around 1200 (not in downtown), so there, you have 800 for all your other expenses. Adding a second salary will give you a little more room to move that's true....

If you don't even have a Work permit then I think you should be looking at that first.... entry levels for Van are... well... scarce.... and not an option for people from abroad (unless you are extremely good).

 

[Edward Ciurea]

I'm 24 and she's 22 and we are both Romanians, yes.
What exactly is the IEC program?

The plan, as I see it, would be to get there, work our asses off for a couple of years and slowly go up the ladder towards better salaries. It's not an issue if we have to "just survive" for 2 or 3 years, considering that's what we'd be doing our entire lives in Romania.

Also, could anyone tell me something about journalism in Vancouver? Social media, marketing, that sort of stuff, because that's my official area that I would like to pursue in time.

 

[scylla]

You don't qualify for the IEC. The IEC is a Working Holiday Visa program that allows people under a certain age and with certain citizenships to come to Canada on a one year visa that allows them to live and work here without finding an employer first. However you don't come from a qualifying country - so this isn't an option.

Formal journalism is generally an extremely competitive field and difficult to break into. I'm not sure what you mean by Marketing. That's an extremely broad term and can mean different things in different contexts.