Moving to BC, a few questions!

[Ghostsof1915]

Unless you are in a high paying occupation, or a trade, BC is not a good place. Housing is too expensive. It's a beautiful place to live, but it's getting unaffordable.

My buddy moved to Australia from Alberta 30 years ago, and he and his wife have been happy ever since.

[ftmN]

5 hours ago, Heretic said:

I'm in IT, and unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to get jobs here in Canada.

 

I got lucky this year, but took a 20% pay cut to get what I have now.

 

Which is way better than the 10 months of unemployment I had. 

A lot of IT jobs have been farmed out to India now.  

 

Get on LinkedIN if you're not there already.

There are a lot of recruiters - but very few good ones.  

 

What I found the hardest was, local places here want local references (I grew up here, but lived in the Calgary area for 13 years) and was working remotely when I got laid off last year.  So you need some "local" character references.  

 

SItes: Best Jobs Canada, Workopolis, Indeed, Monster.  

I also was looked on https://www.bcjobs.ca/ as well as kijiji.

 

Best of luck!

Thanks for that. I'm on linkedin but don't really know how to optimise it/use it for recruiters. I've also been on bcjobs and indeed, will expand to the other sites as well.

 

4 hours ago, brownky said:

On a more serious note, ftMN, you'll probably have better luck getting out of the greater Vancouver region. Start off elsewhere, preserve your savings. It's expensive to live in the lower mainland, even if you're used to Aussie pricing. You're going to get paid less too. You'll also find that most positions like the one you're looking for are filled internally... so get your foot in the door rather than hope to hop to the top. You might hit one just right, but keep in mind you're still competing with some of the Albertans who didn't fare so well in the Oil crash, looking for 'better' than what they have... along with other people and nepotism (par for the course).

 

It's not really rosy to be honest. IT sucks right now unless you're a programmer.

So basically temporarily setup outside of the greater van region, possibly on the island? Any recommendations?

 

I'm not being filled with confidence that moving here will help my career!

[Heretic]

17 minutes ago, ftmN said:

Thanks for that. I'm on linkedin but don't really know how to optimise it/use it for recruiters. I've also been on bcjobs and indeed, will expand to the other sites as well.

 

So basically temporarily setup outside of the greater van region, possibly on the island? Any recommendations?

 

I'm not being filled with confidence that moving here will help my career!

There's some IT in Victoria as well as Kelowna and Kamloops.  

 

I tried for a few years to get in with Kal Tire (they are in Vernon, BC) - maybe you are better suited (I'm an Unix Admin).

 

[I.Am.Ironman]

38 minutes ago, ftmN said:

Thanks for that. I'm on linkedin but don't really know how to optimise it/use it for recruiters. I've also been on bcjobs and indeed, will expand to the other sites as well.

 

So basically temporarily setup outside of the greater van region, possibly on the island? Any recommendations?

 

I'm not being filled with confidence that moving here will help my career!

 

21 minutes ago, Heretic said:

There's some IT in Victoria as well as Kelowna and Kamloops.  

 

I tried for a few years to get in with Kal Tire (they are in Vernon, BC) - maybe you are better suited (I'm an Unix Admin).

 

For management positions I would try applying to universities and in cities other than vancouver. Pay will likely be comparable but cost of living way less. I messaged you some of the Vancouver schools but UBC Okanagan (kelowna), Thompson Rivers (Kamloops), UVIC (Victoria), Vancouver Island Univ (Nanaimo I think?) and UNBC (Prince George) will all have decent sized IT departments in cities with lower cost of living.

[ftmN]

41 minutes ago, I.Am.Ironman said:

 

For management positions I would try applying to universities and in cities other than vancouver. Pay will likely be comparable but cost of living way less. I messaged you some of the Vancouver schools but UBC Okanagan (kelowna), Thompson Rivers (Kamloops), UVIC (Victoria), Vancouver Island Univ (Nanaimo I think?) and UNBC (Prince George) will all have decent sized IT departments in cities with lower cost of living.

Is there a best proforma for applying for jobs when I'm staying in Vancouver for example? Call the organisation, suggest I am willing to move, submit application?

[Nuxfanabroad]

...movin' out to BC with an achin'..in my hearrrt

Someone told me there's a sasquatch there

With love in it's eyes

& filthy, matted hair

[brownky]

3 hours ago, ftmN said:

Thanks for that. I'm on linkedin but don't really know how to optimise it/use it for recruiters. I've also been on bcjobs and indeed, will expand to the other sites as well.

 

So basically temporarily setup outside of the greater van region, possibly on the island? Any recommendations?

 

I'm not being filled with confidence that moving here will help my career!

Yes, get outside of greater van. You can get in for an interview easy if you stay south, and not be dead on arrival for cost of living. For 'ease of access to everywhere' balanced with decently cheap cost of living, Naniamo isn't a bad pick if you're entrenched on living in that neck of the woods. Not a super duper town, but you aren't living there permanently. Princeton, south of Kelowna would be another solid budget pick while giving access to the Okanagan valley and interior for 'range of motion'. Again, not a super duper town, but you're looking for a base camp after all.

 

You might have to expand your horizons too, up north to some of the lumber and mining outfits in PG etc. 

 

As is, ... truthfully, it probably won't help your career. It's not a dig or anything, it's just the truth. If you have a management job already, you're not going to 'do better' careerwise here. If you want a better 'career', you'll find it in the USA, or back east. Lots in IT seem to be going on in the Ottawa - Montreal corridor right now. BC is not looking good for IT, at least in the service/admin side of life. The development track is seemingly booming though. Probably because they don't pay **** compared to down south. If you're moving here, it's because you want to be in BC and enjoy what it has to offer. The career will be the means to that end, rather than the driving force.

[nucklehead]

12 hours ago, Aladeen said:

Dingos. They eat their babies.

 

[ftmN]

3 hours ago, brownky said:

As is, ... truthfully, it probably won't help your career. It's not a dig or anything, it's just the truth. If you have a management job already, you're not going to 'do better' careerwise here. If you want a better 'career', you'll find it in the USA, or back east. Lots in IT seem to be going on in the Ottawa - Montreal corridor right now. BC is not looking good for IT, at least in the service/admin side of life. The development track is seemingly booming though. Probably because they don't pay **** compared to down south. If you're moving here, it's because you want to be in BC and enjoy what it has to offer. The career will be the means to that end, rather than the driving force.

Thanks for the advice. I don't really mind if its not better, I would be happy taking a similar job or a slight step down to get my foot in the door. I'm not coming here for the money, just for the lifestyle and international experience in my field. 

[I.Am.Ironman]

5 hours ago, ftmN said:

Is there a best proforma for applying for jobs when I'm staying in Vancouver for example? Call the organisation, suggest I am willing to move, submit application?

I would say visit the career page and try to get a contact from there. Sorry haven't actually gone through the process myself.

[Harvey Spector]

Try contacting a few HeadHunters in the Downtown Vancouver area who specialize in IT.  They will probably be able to help you more than applying for a job on Craigslist. Also www.indeed.ca is a great jobs website that a lot of recruiters use to post jobs. You can even upload your resume on indeed. 

 

As for living accommodations as a real estate professional I can tell you it's gonna be tough finding something cheap, especially if you want it furnished. The farther away from the City the cheaper it will be. But anywhere you go will be expensive. 

[Standing_Tall#37]

On 2017-08-22 at 0:42 PM, Ghostsof1915 said:

Unless you are in a high paying occupation, or a trade, BC is not a good place. Housing is too expensive. It's a beautiful place to live, but it's getting unaffordable.

My buddy moved to Australia from Alberta 30 years ago, and he and his wife have been happy ever since.

Well that all depends... there's 3 or 4 cities in BC where it's expensive to live, there's dozens of other cities/towns where someone could rent a decent 3+ bedroom place for $700+/month.