Canada - How employable am I?

Smashius_Clay

I have been unemployed for several months now, and I feel it is time to bite the bullet and move abroad to find work. However, my previous employment experience is very mixed. I hold both an MA and BA in a Dublin university, but in humanities subjects, which are not all that employable, not least because Ireland is in recession.

I have worked freelance for a newspaper - as an editor, researcher and writer - and as a copywriter for a university. I have also done some clerical office work, and some work in the service industry.

Ideally the kind of work I would be looking for would be as a copywriter, a sub-editor or a researcher. I would like to know, from people who are clued in on such subjects, how likely I am to find work in those areas if I was to travel to Canada.

Can anyone recommend websites or other methods of exploring jobs before I arrive?

If I were unable to find work as a copywriter, sub-editor or research, I would happily do some clerical or administrative work, though I am at a stage where I would like to get a foot into an industry and stay there, rather than bounce around from industry to industry.

I would probably travel to Toronto, as I know some people - cousins, friends - who live there. However, I know it might not be suitable for the kind of jobs I want. If this is the case, is there somewhere else where I am likely to find work? Not just in Canada, but globally.

The last thing I want is to arrive Canada, take forever to find work, end up in some unpleasant service industry job and then come back with my tail between my legs, several grand poorer than when I left.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and please, be honest.

retalivity

Cant speak for the industry itself, but imo, your qualifications mean next to nothing over here (Canadians dont seem to know or care about Irish Qualifications). What employers will be much more interested in is your employment history and experience. Having a resume highlighting & focused on what experience you have in the field would be a good start.

Also, a lot of jobs here are filled without ever being advertised. Therefore, the sooner you get networking with people the more chance you'd have of getting an interview or seeing jobs which have yet to be advertised. Look at linkedin (if youre not already on it) for groups within toronto or canada in that field - editors, writers, whatever. Would also be good to connect with a few recruiters in teh area as a lot of them just seem to sepnd all day on linkedin weeding out pofiles.

As for location, i would still imagine that Toronto would be your best bet, although im basing that purely on the size of the place and the number of publications that are around.

bopper

I'm in a similar boat in the sense that I've been unemployed for a while now. By the time I get over to Canada there may be a gap of about six months on my CV. Will this severely hinder my chances at getting a job? I'll also be flying into Toronto because a good friend of mine is from there.

seb65

Smashius_Clay wrote: »

I have been unemployed for several months now, and I feel it is time to bite the bullet and move abroad to find work. However, my previous employment experience is very mixed. I hold both an MA and BA in a Dublin university, but in humanities subjects, which are not all that employable, not least because Ireland is in recession.

I have worked freelance for a newspaper - as an editor, researcher and writer - and as a copywriter for a university. I have also done some clerical office work, and some work in the service industry.

Ideally the kind of work I would be looking for would be as a copywriter, a sub-editor or a researcher. I would like to know, from people who are clued in on such subjects, how likely I am to find work in those areas if I was to travel to Canada.

Can anyone recommend websites or other methods of exploring jobs before I arrive?

If I were unable to find work as a copywriter, sub-editor or research, I would happily do some clerical or administrative work, though I am at a stage where I would like to get a foot into an industry and stay there, rather than bounce around from industry to industry.

I would probably travel to Toronto, as I know some people - cousins, friends - who live there. However, I know it might not be suitable for the kind of jobs I want. If this is the case, is there somewhere else where I am likely to find work? Not just in Canada, but globally.

The last thing I want is to arrive Canada, take forever to find work, end up in some unpleasant service industry job and then come back with my tail between my legs, several grand poorer than when I left.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and please, be honest.

There are many, many Canadian grads with degrees in humanities who probably have a less-than desired job.

However, the positives are that as long as you have some sort of degree, you're already more employable. Your Masters may also work in your favor because many don't go on to Masters level here. Lots of people work as admin in law firms, banking, insurance, etc that have a BA.

Copy/editorial/research positions are scarce and face much competition. That doesn't mean you can't land one.

Try workinculture.ca and charityvillage.ca for contract positions (and thus more likely to hire someone on a two-year work visa) in the arts/humanities. Look up all the Canadian universities, go to their webpages and then their vacancy sections. Also, go to the media companies vacancy webpages - Canwest is one I believe, global media another, rogers, CBC - there you will find jobs for Canada's newspapers and other publications/television/radio etc

zweton

Anyone know how the i.t industry is doing in toronto?

V8_man

Smashius_Clay wrote: »

I have been unemployed for several months now, and I feel it is time to bite the bullet and move abroad to find work. However, my previous employment experience is very mixed. I hold both an MA and BA in a Dublin university, but in humanities subjects, which are not all that employable, not least because Ireland is in recession.

I have worked freelance for a newspaper - as an editor, researcher and writer - and as a copywriter for a university. I have also done some clerical office work, and some work in the service industry.

Ideally the kind of work I would be looking for would be as a copywriter, a sub-editor or a researcher. I would like to know, from people who are clued in on such subjects, how likely I am to find work in those areas if I was to travel to Canada.

Can anyone recommend websites or other methods of exploring jobs before I arrive?

If I were unable to find work as a copywriter, sub-editor or research, I would happily do some clerical or administrative work, though I am at a stage where I would like to get a foot into an industry and stay there, rather than bounce around from industry to industry.

I would probably travel to Toronto, as I know some people - cousins, friends - who live there. However, I know it might not be suitable for the kind of jobs I want. If this is the case, is there somewhere else where I am likely to find work? Not just in Canada, but globally.

The last thing I want is to arrive Canada, take forever to find work, end up in some unpleasant service industry job and then come back with my tail between my legs, several grand poorer than when I left.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and please, be honest.

Yes writing jobs are scarce here and lots of competition; doesn't mean you are excluded though. I am looking at having to retrain at in any case since everyone here has a degree or a diploma in something. You may have to start out in something less than ideal.