Engineering Graduate moving to Vancouver

WilcoYHF

Hi All,

Been out of work since graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in may 09. I'm just lookin for any advice goin to weigh up all the options. My main concer is that I dont want to go without having a job organised first, but if I went over without a job would I pick up any sort of job within a couple of weeks? Any info at all on vancouver/emmigrating to canada/jobs in vacouver is welcome.

Thanks

Chet Zar

WilcoYHF wrote: »

Hi All,

Been out of work since graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in may 09. I'm just lookin for any advice goin to weigh up all the options. My main concer is that I dont want to go without having a job organised first, but if I went over without a job would I pick up any sort of job within a couple of weeks? Any info at all on vancouver/emmigrating to canada/jobs in vacouver is welcome.

Thanks

Hey,

You will probably get more/better replies over on the North America forum, there are a few people in Canada or planning on going to Canada on there.

If you want to get any job you will get something within a reasonable time frame, based on my own knowledge of Vancouver (I am heading there soon). If you want a mechanical engineering job, it will be trickier I would say (quelle surprise says you). One big thing is that is that qualifications don't necessarily transfer (or don't at all) to Canada - oftentimes people have to retrain/re-qualify to get meet Canadian standards/regulations for certain professions and areas of work.

However don't let that stop you, the economic situation is better than here, that is without question!

ibh

WilcoYHF wrote: »

Hi All,

Been out of work since graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in may 09. I'm just lookin for any advice goin to weigh up all the options. My main concer is that I dont want to go without having a job organised first, but if I went over without a job would I pick up any sort of job within a couple of weeks? Any info at all on vancouver/emmigrating to canada/jobs in vacouver is welcome.

Thanks

Don't like to be the bearer of bad news but it is highly unlikely that you will get a job in Engineering over here with no experience and being on a 1 year visa.
I came over last January with about 3 yrs of Mech Eng experience and had no shot of getting anything. Did some interviews and applied for about 200 jobs and got none. Bear in mind I had a 1st from my degree and experience from a leading Consultants including a year of site based experience.
Even though there appears to be lots of jobs here it has been the most difficult place I have ever seen to try and get work. Unless you're a tradesperson. I was applying for Graduate roles here and still getting no joy.

You're options for Canada are pretty much to apply for Graduate programs across the country. Don't be picky about location cause the only way they will hire you is if they can't get anyone else to go to the location. Even still, the chances are super slim.
I think to arrange a job before leaving Ireland you would probably need to have 5+ yrs for them to be interested. I contacted all the Engineering companies and prob got a reply from 1 or 2, with a PFO.

I think as a Graduate you would have a much better shot at going to Australia and getting into a Grad program. I think as a whole Australian employers are more open to Irish Engineers than they are in Canada. Other option is to try and get an internship / grad role in the USA on one of those visas for people straight outta college. I don't know the details but i know it is geared towards people with no experience.
But for me your best option is to get your ass over to London and get to every Engineering company to try and get a job. You're too late for all Grad programs so you need to just contact them yourself and try and sell yourself. Start by searching who has won Olympic contracts as they have some work at least. Try Meica or whatever their new name is. They are run by an Irish guy and they are big players in UK.

You should also look at Northern Ireland for work. I still get contacted by recruitment agents from Belfast regularly so there is some work there.

BTW i'm in Building Services end of Mechanical so i know nothing about manufacturing, robotics industries etc, but I don't think Vancouver or Australia have much work in those areas either.

I have just gotten a job in Alberta and apart from that I would have been heading to London in the new year. I only got my job because of specialist experience I picked up in my first years out of college as a Graduate in Ireland. In Canada they want people who are at least partly experienced, so i think you should wait a few years and then come over.

Best of luck.
i

apumalkan

I'm afraid IBH is completely right in terms of not being able to find jobs without experience in Canada. I am an engineering graduate with no experience too and have just returned from my year in Vancouver. I moved there last year with two other engineers and all three of us had absolutely no luck due to our zero experience. Canadian standards are also very strict with P.Eng mostly required and knowledge of British Columbia ethics etc.

I easily applied for about 300 jobs and got a few interviews. The stumbling block in all the interviews was the 1 year visa and the lack of knowledge in the Canadian engineering industry. Companies do provide sponsorship, but I met only a few people who had been given sponsorship in engineering, and they had some decent experience. Canadian immigration fees can cost upto $5000 so companies are very reluctant to hire someone who only has a year visa.

To put it in closer context for you, one of the lads I moved there with is a Mechanical eng. with a 1st class hons degree and a 2yr masters degree from Duke university and UCD and he only got a call back for one interview. However, he does maintain that if he had chosen Toronto as his destination, he would have had far better luck as the mechanical engineering sector is pretty large there, whereas Vancouver isn't great for mechs.

All in all, we had high hopes of landing jobs within weeks of arrival in Vancouver like yourself, however unfortunately, its not as easy as one first thinks. After two months there and no jobs, we ended up working at the Olympics and thats probably the only good thing we got out of a job scene, even though, that wasn't our preferred path.

If you do go over, I wish you all the best and hope you have better luck than the three of us had with engineering. You should look into Toronto on the mechanical side of things.