Moving Between Countries?
An anonymous reader writes "In six months' time, I am packing up and moving from Australia (Melbourne) to Canada (Vancouver). I'm a qualified network engineer. What I want to know is, what sort of quirks and tricks I am going to have to get used to in the Canadian job market? I'm used to Australian recruiters, and all the hoops you have to jump through, but Canada may have different hoops. I've tried contacting recruiters directly for information but they don't really give out much, as I am not actually in the country yet and therefore not worth their time. Is anyone willing to share their experiences on making the big move from country to country?"
They are known to drop from the trees and surprise foreigners with deadly force.
... and then they built the supercollider.
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
This is a very vague comment about broads...
He's probably a lawyer, looking for work.
- X has been employed by us - X has been the cause for a disaster that we don't want to talk about and we have 'suggested' that he ended the employment.
- X has been working for us during N years. - X has been the cause for several near disasters during the years he has been working for us.
- X has been doing a good job - X is not a very remarkable person, neither good or bad. (average joe)
- X has been doing a very good job - X doesn't produce disasters, and delivers a bit above average without any real surprises.
- X has been doing an excellent job - We would recommend you to employ X, but don't pay him too much!
- X has been doing an outstanding job - You are stupid if you don't employ X.
- X has been a cornerstone in our company. - We are fu*d stupid to let him have reasons to leave us.
And in general - if an old employer gives incorrect references that can come back to bite them really hard, so that is very seldom a problem.If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
When we called to get the reference of a new woman, her old place of employment went on and on about how great she was. Turns out, they forgot how great of an employee was. They offered her old job to her at a higher pay.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
You also can't call yourself a software architect - architect is another regulated profession.
Besides, when someone at a party asks you what you do for a living, which is the cooler answer:
As for the network engineer, if you're foolish enough to admit to it at a party, you're going to have everyone asking you why their DSL service is so shitty and what you can do to help them. Better off telling everyone you're a pimp, politician, or lawyer (but I'm being redundant).
The Concise Guide
Number One
Don't say 'oot and aboot' that's just stupid. And if you looked at that and thought those should have been double quotes, I'd hire you.
Number Two
Canadian girls are easy except in Toronto Montreal Calgary Vancouver St John St Johns Halifax Quebec City Gander and lets see where else have I lived...
Number Three
There is one city called St. John and another one called St Johns nobody knows which is which
Number Four
Pants are expected to be worn at work
Number Six
Math skills are important for getting a job
Number Seven
Is a nice number. Too bad that movie had to ruin it for me
Number Three Redux
I just looked it up and St John is where they actually do say oot and aboot
Number Five
Better late than never
Number Eight
Montreal has potholes and Toronto has that smell so take your pick. In Calgary, bring your own cardboard box to live in. Vancouver has a commuter train that takes you into the middle of the woods.
Number Nine
Saskatchewan is flat because the 6000 kph winds blew all the hills into Lake Superior
Number Ten
There are lots of high tech jobs in Ottawa but the only thing to do there in your spare time is laugh at Corel's office building.
Equine Mammals Are Considerably Smaller