Vancouver check-in

Frank Bullitt

Hi all,

Making the move to Van on 10th of July, living for it at this stage, in need of a change in my life and this is it.

Just creating this thread for people who are there, and if you could share your experiences eetc of general stuff (atmosphere, people, jobs, women )

All of the people who have moved or are there at present love it, and can't think of coming home now, so I am hoping they are at least 50% right.

Hopefully this thread gets a bit of momentum and we could even sort a meet up sometime.

Cheers.

irishcanadian

Ok lets get the ball rolling;

I have been here since 97 (yes I'm in my early 50's) and love it. Would I move back to Ireland..... not a hope.

For younger people (god, I sound like such an old fart !) you should live Downtown/West End/Kitsilano if possible. Although anywhere close to SkyTrain is good. Unemployment doesn't seem to be an issue here. Climate can be a bit miserable in the winter, just like Ireland, summers are nice.

I find the people to be friendly, cant speak about the women (I'm gay and have been with my "husband" for 18 years !)

Peleus

I just got here on Tuesday. I'm still finding my feet. I sorted out a bank account and tomorrow I'm getting a phone. I'd say tomorrow evening I'll start looking for jobs and tailoring CVs.

I've heard the best way to get a job here is to go in door to door, business to business and get your face out there. You can apply to jobs online all day but you won't get very far.

I still don't know the story with bar work. Do you need the serving it right cert? I've met a lot of people that work on the mines on Alberta and actually got offered a job at that. But I want to stay in the city.

So far the city is amazing. Very friendly people, a bit different, but friendly nonetheless. The views are unreal! Have you had any luck finding work here?

Peleus

Peleus wrote: »

I just got here on Tuesday. I'm still finding my feet. I sorted out a bank account and tomorrow I'm getting a phone. I'd say tomorrow evening I'll start looking for jobs and tailoring CVs.

I've heard the best way to get a job here is to go in door to door, business to business and get your face out there. You can apply to jobs online all day but you won't get very far.

I still don't know the story with bar work. Do you need the serving it right cert? I've met a lot of people that work on the mines on Alberta and actually got offered a job at that. But I want to stay in the city.

So far the city is amazing. Very friendly people, a bit different, but friendly nonetheless. The views are unreal! Have you had any luck finding work here?

Oh sorry you're moving here in July.

Frank Bullitt

Some good info getting in here.

I have heard many different stories. Me personally I am a graphic designer, I have heard there is work there, and good work at that, and from looking at craigslist there is plenty of freelance to at least keep me going until I get something permanent, ideally I would like to work in a nice agency.

ciaran67

Peleus wrote: »

I just got here on Tuesday. I'm still finding my feet. I sorted out a bank account and tomorrow I'm getting a phone. I'd say tomorrow evening I'll start looking for jobs and tailoring CVs.

I've heard the best way to get a job here is to go in door to door, business to business and get your face out there. You can apply to jobs online all day but you won't get very far.

I still don't know the story with bar work. Do you need the serving it right cert? I've met a lot of people that work on the mines on Alberta and actually got offered a job at that. But I want to stay in the city.

So far the city is amazing. Very friendly people, a bit different, but friendly nonetheless. The views are unreal! Have you had any luck finding work here?

And be careful of the sun, It can be vicious this time of year. UV levels go up to 8 or 9 when its really clear. Vancouver has this ridiculous way of telling you the temp. Its taken down by Richmond at the coast. When they say it will be 19c today it is always about 3 or 4 degrees more. Yesterday i got up to 28c several times in the bus. 19 in Van and 19 in Ireland are very different. Last summer I worked on the runway at YVR. I looked like Bob Marley by late August

BFassassin

I got here about a month ago. I stayed in a hostel for the first couple of weeks and now have found a place in East Van for 3 months. Its a 5 min walk to the skytrain so very handy.
Currently looking for work but not getting very far atm. Im a mechanical engineer.
I went to an Irish Newcomers talk yesterday that had a lot of good info. One big thing that I got out of it was that applying to online applications is basically a waste of time. Setting up meetings with the right people or someone who knows the right people seems to be the better way of doing things over here.
I have to get into that sort of mindset now. Not an easy thing for me to do as I am quite shy usually but I will have to get over it.

Vancouver is a lovely city, the views are incredible and just the other day a group of killer whales swam into the harbour. Sadly I missed them

zweton

BFassassin wrote: »

I got here about a month ago. I stayed in a hostel for the first couple of weeks and now have found a place in East Van for 3 months. Its a 5 min walk to the skytrain so very handy.
Currently looking for work but not getting very far atm. Im a mechanical engineer.
I went to an Irish Newcomers talk yesterday that had a lot of good info. One big thing that I got out of it was that applying to online applications is basically a waste of time. Setting up meetings with the right people or someone who knows the right people seems to be the better way of doing things over here.
I have to get into that sort of mindset now. Not an easy thing for me to do as I am quite shy usually but I will have to get over it.

Vancouver is a lovely city, the views are incredible and just the other day a group of killer whales swam into the harbour. Sadly I missed them

Surprised to hear applying on line is a waste of time! So if a job comes online that you really want should the person find out location and go there personally with cv in hand? How do you set up meetings with the right people? And are these people recruiters? Would love to hear how most people are getting their jobs.

V8_man

Peleus wrote: »

I just got here on Tuesday. I'm still finding my feet. I sorted out a bank account and tomorrow I'm getting a phone. I'd say tomorrow evening I'll start looking for jobs and tailoring CVs.

I've heard the best way to get a job here is to go in door to door, business to business and get your face out there. You can apply to jobs online all day but you won't get very far.

I still don't know the story with bar work. Do you need the serving it right cert? I've met a lot of people that work on the mines on Alberta and actually got offered a job at that. But I want to stay in the city.

So far the city is amazing. Very friendly people, a bit different, but friendly nonetheless. The views are unreal! Have you had any luck finding work here?

Yes you need the Serving it Right cert. It's an online test and costs $20.

Somebody mentioned unemployment 'not being a problem' - well, yeh, if you hang out in Kits it isn't. Try the rest of the lower mainland and there's plenty.

BFassassin

zweton wrote: »

Surprised to hear applying on line is a waste of time! So if a job comes online that you really want should the person find out location and go there personally with cv in hand? How do you set up meetings with the right people? And are these people recruiters? Would love to hear how most people are getting their jobs.

Thats what was said anyway. Especially the online application forms. They are heavily filtered and you need to be saying exactly the right things to get through. The woman gave an example of a vice-president of a company that was retiring applied for his own job and didn't get through the filter.
I would imagine sending emails direct to the hr manager would have a better outcome or LinkedIn.

I was at that newcomers thing on Saturday too, I've got everything sorted (found a place to move into properly today) so the next step is to start applying for jobs. I'm happy with my CV now after all the tips I've been given so fingers crossed...

zweton

Sacramento wrote: »

I was at that newcomers thing on Saturday too, I've got everything sorted (found a place to move into properly today) so the next step is to start applying for jobs. I'm happy with my CV now after all the tips I've been given so fingers crossed...

Did you find it hard to get a place and was it expensive?

zweton

zweton wrote: »

Did you find it hard to get a place and was it expensive?

I got a place near Main & 41st which is pretty nice, just over $600 per month all inclusive (broadband, electricity, heating etc..) which isn't bad at all. I'm near enough major bus routes to downtown and the Skytrain so I'm happy enough with that. I was lucky in that I had some friends I could stay with while I looked for a place. To be honest, I wanted to see more places but couldn't afford to wait much longer either. Most places will want you to sign a 6 month lease minimum which was the case for me here, but other places do month to month (mostly starting at the 1st of the month) so you can stay in one of those and search around for somewhere better. Craigslist is the way to go.

Frank Bullitt

Good to see this thread getting some motion.

I'd like to hear from some people who came over and got a job. Where did they find the job posting? How did they apply? Etc..

I'm mostly working on some connections I have and also applying on craigslist.

zweton

Ya i taught this thread would have been alot busier as alot of people seemed to be heading to van in may/june. Sacramento are you on linked in? I believe its used quite alot over there. What sort of work are you looking for yourself? Are you liking it there so far? Roll on next march:)

pig88

i moved over with a friend in january,the two of us are electricians,we both applied for atleast 20 jobs each in the 1st week on craigslist,1 company got back to me and after the interview I told them about my friend,the two of us are working with them since and have not heard anything from the other jobs we applied for.

Frank Bullitt

I think a mix of all approaches is whats needed, so applying directly by mail, a call, job applications all help.

It does come down to what field you are in, I'm in the creative field so there are a few ways to go about it.

If you have connections then follow them up of course, sometimes it really is who you know, not what you know.

Brian201888

Anyone involved in insurance in Vancouver then? Trying to get myself sorted out but the lack of all encompassing job website is annoying me, going to set up a Linked In tonight and see if that helps at all but I've never used it before.

corcaigh07

Anyone know what jobs are like in Vancouver right now?

Nothing in particular, I have a lot of recent experience in serving/hospitality.

Visa is up in late October anyway so possibly looking at just short-term/random jobs.

Up in Lake Louise right now but since Highway 1 has been damaged because of the Alberta floods, tourism is way down and will be until that road is fixed. Might move to Vancouver for the rest of Summer!

ciaran67

corcaigh07 wrote: »

Anyone know what jobs are like in Vancouver right now?

Nothing in particular, I have a lot of recent experience in serving/hospitality.

Visa is up in late October anyway so possibly looking at just short-term/random jobs.

Up in Lake Louise right now but since Highway 1 has been damaged because of the Alberta floods, tourism is way down and will be until that road is fixed. Might move to Vancouver for the rest of Summer!

Found this the other day. Don't know, it could be helpful.

Vancouver forum

Good luck mate.

scottmcb04

I moved over here 6 weeks ago found a job laboring for a construction company 3 days later and started 6 days later...

I haven't heard of many people that havent got jobs here but some have taken 4 odd weeks to get a job and that kinda craic so dont be overly worried if ya dont get a job within a couple of weeks! Canadians are generally lazy enough an irish seem to come off pretty well over here in though! So dont be worried about it!

Living on 41st, most ppl try and get place from king edward in towards downtown so its fairly easy to get a place south of that towards the airport... most places come unfurnished though so try and pick things up on craigslist or if ure coming alone check out sharing apts on cl...

p.s. I love it here

Scruffy19

Me and my friend came over here at the start of April and I got work sorted within 2 weeks (Painting and decorating through Craigslist), My mate finished uni last year in construction engineering, but to date he hasn't found anything yet. Hes currently working for Audi moving cars, but hey its money! He applied for a job on the 12th April and only heard word back 2 weeks ago. Canadians seem to be more relaxed about looking for people for some reason!

We were lucky that we had a condo sorted before we came over, so off the plane and into somewhere nice We are living in North Van beside the seabus so everything we need to get about is on our front door

To be honest I haven't ran into that many Irish people tho!

ciaran67

Scruffy19 wrote: »

Me and my friend came over here at the start of April and I got work sorted within 2 weeks (Painting and decorating through Craigslist), My mate finished uni last year in construction engineering, but to date he hasn't found anything yet. Hes currently working for Audi moving cars, but hey its money! He applied for a job on the 12th April and only heard word back 2 weeks ago. Canadians seem to be more relaxed about looking for people for some reason!

We were lucky that we had a condo sorted before we came over, so off the plane and into somewhere nice We are living in North Van beside the seabus so everything we need to get about is on our front door

To be honest I haven't ran into that many Irish people tho!

Ah you made it mate.

Right food shopping hint - On corner of E19th & Lonsdale there is a Persian place. The meat is far cheaper than the supermarkets, as is the groceries. Take for instance... 2 lemons for $1. In the Persian 7 for $1. Further down on East side of Lonsdale between E13 and E14th there is another Persian with a butchers out back. His meat is the cheapest. Next to them is a Chinese grocers, they're cheaper as is the New Apple Farm up opposite London Drugs on W20th next to the fish place. Dont shop in the supermarkets, the rip off would make even Bertie Ahern blush. Especially the IGA down near the Quay.


As for the booze.... i could cry, I want London prices!

Good luck

zweton

how much on average for a night out? Whats the pubscene like, any good?

ciaran67

zweton wrote: »

how much on average for a night out? Whats the pubscene like, any good?

Pubs are better than they were.

Its very expensive to go boozing. Good night out, your're looking a 150 - 200 notes. Of course that depends if you drink like Jocky Wilson or Dale Winton

I don't know why but the draught here kills my head next day.

Toronto's nightlife is much better IMO.

Scruffy19

ciaran67 wrote: »

Ah you made it mate.

Right food shopping hint - On corner of E19th & Lonsdale there is a Persian place. The meat is far cheaper than the supermarkets, as is the groceries. Take for instance... 2 lemons for $1. In the Persian 7 for $1. Further down on East side of Lonsdale between E13 and E14th there is another Persian with a butchers out back. His meat is the cheapest. Next to them is a Chinese grocers, they're cheaper as is the New Apple Farm up opposite London Drugs on W20th next to the fish place. Dont shop in the supermarkets, the rip off would make even Bertie Ahern blush. Especially the IGA down near the Quay.


As for the booze.... i could cry, I want London prices!

Good luck

My mate goes up Lonsdale to get meat, but dont actually know where he goes tho but its cheap! We do our shopping in IGA cause its just downstairs and handy but a weekly shop is about 140 bucks between us! Think il take a walk up Lonsdale next week and check them places out, cheers

ciaran67 wrote: »

I don't know why but the draught here kills my head next day.

I find that myself, get a awful hangover the next day! so decided to stick to bottles of beer on nights out

Cheapest night out so far is 50 bucks and the expensive is 245 bucks (memory loss from that night)

Scruffy19

Scruffy19 wrote: »

Me and my friend came over here at the start of April and I got work sorted within 2 weeks (Painting and decorating through Craigslist), My mate finished uni last year in construction engineering, but to date he hasn't found anything yet. Hes currently working for Audi moving cars, but hey its money! He applied for a job on the 12th April and only heard word back 2 weeks ago. Canadians seem to be more relaxed about looking for people for some reason!

We were lucky that we had a condo sorted before we came over, so off the plane and into somewhere nice We are living in North Van beside the seabus so everything we need to get about is on our front door

To be honest I haven't ran into that many Irish people tho!

I've been here two weeks and I'm looking for work, question though, how did your friend get a job moving cars for Audi? Does he have a Canadian driving license already?

Scruffy19

Sacramento wrote: »

I've been here two weeks and I'm looking for work, question though, how did your friend get a job moving cars for Audi? Does he have a Canadian driving license already?

They were advertising on craigslist, but think they are looking more people atm cause two boys left! If ur interested I can ask him to find out the details to apply? Audi is located in the Auto Mall in North Van. We have a UK license cause were from the north, so it was just a matter of swapping his over!

Scruffy19

Scruffy19 wrote: »

They were advertising on craigslist, but think they are looking more people atm cause two boys left! If ur interested I can ask him to find out the details to apply? Audi is located in the Auto Mall in North Van. We have a UK license cause were from the north, so it was just a matter of swapping his over!

I figured you guys were from Northern Ireland, I'd love the job but unfortunately my license is from the ROI, I can't simply exchange it for a Canadian one

Scruffy19

Sacramento wrote: »

I figured you guys were from Northern Ireland, I'd love the job but unfortunately my license is from the ROI, I can't simply exchange it for a Canadian one

Yeah that sucks alright! Iv still to get myself a car but think im going to need one now tho! not looking forward to getting insurance though it will cost a fortune!

Suarez20

Im from the North too, there are 3 of us heading over in october, when insuring a car is it the car is insured or the driver? ie could we split cost of insurance between 3 of us?

RonanC

I'll be in Vancouver for 3 months from next week - any recommendations on what mobile operator to go with on a PAYG basis? All I need is a sim and a package with decent data.

ciaran67

RonanC wrote: »

I'll be in Vancouver for 3 months from next week - any recommendations on what mobile operator to go with on a PAYG basis? All I need is a sim and a package with decent data.

Mate, its all bad for phones. Very expensive. I use speakout from 7-11. 35 bucks a month for 200 mins, unlimited text and internet with little data, cant remember what. In London I had giffgaff - 10 quid unlimited text, call and no data limit. Here you also pay for incoming calls.

ciaran67

Suarez20 wrote: »

Im from the North too, there are 3 of us heading over in october, when insuring a car is it the car is insured or the driver? ie could we split cost of insurance between 3 of us?

Being a Liverpool fan you will be turned away at the border let alone being allowed a car

Look up ICBC for insurance details.

Frank Bullitt

Looking to get my food places sorted as soon as I arrive, love my grub but have heard like many in here, its best to shop around and to do a weeks shop, you would probably have to go to 3-5 different places.

Scruffy19

Suarez20 wrote: »

Im from the North too, there are 3 of us heading over in october, when insuring a car is it the car is insured or the driver? ie could we split cost of insurance between 3 of us?

From what I know, I think its the car you insure and not the driver. Just be a matter of you swapping your license over. Think mine was 30 bucks and was posted out to me 1 week later.

Gintonious wrote: »

Looking to get my food places sorted as soon as I arrive, love my grub but have heard like many in here, its best to shop around and to do a weeks shop, you would probably have to go to 3-5 different places.

We do a weeks shop at a time but get most stuff in IGA, but go to the market for our fruit and veg. Simples

BFassassin

RonanC wrote: »

I'll be in Vancouver for 3 months from next week - any recommendations on what mobile operator to go with on a PAYG basis? All I need is a sim and a package with decent data.

PAYG is really expensive over here.
I had a payg sim with telus for a while but they charged for everything, incoming calls and texts even.
I just went with Koodo last week on a month to month contract so that would suit you for the three months. 450mins calls, unlimited texts and 600mb of data for $39 p/m.
It seems to be working out ok for me so far.

Panthro

I'm with Wind mobile. for 25 a month I can make free local calls/texts and test home. Coverage is shyte once you leave Vancouver but it's done me grand in fairness.

ciaran67

Panthro wrote: »

I'm with Wind mobile. for 25 a month I can make free local calls/texts and test home. Coverage is shyte once you leave Vancouver but it's done me grand in fairness.

TBH they're all pretty bad once you leave Vancouver.

wendydoll

Does anyone know what metrotown/burnaby is like?

Seen quite a few jobs in my area located in that area

shivdev

Hey,
I moved over three weeks and loving it so far. Living out with a friend in Surrey (not as bad as everyone makes it out to be) but is a fair distance from downtown, about 40 mins on skytrain. Will probably move closer to downtown at the end of the summer as I got a job there but for now it suits me fine.
I got a retail job within two weeks of being here, luckily got full time but I had applied to at least 50 - 60 other jobs without hearing anything back. I used Monster, LinkedIn, craigslist and company websites to get my CV out there. I handed CV's in around Robson and in Metrotown too. There's definitely jobs out there, it's just about persistence! Also make sure you have your CV formatted to the Canadian format as employers won't look at it otherwise.
Food is expensive, avoid Safeway like the plague! It's just a matter of shopping around and trying a few different places. Pricesmart is good for reasonably priced meat, I go to a local market for cheap, fresh fruit and veg, T and T is also good for fruit and veg and cheap things like sauces, oils and seasonings (the kind of things you don't realise you need til you go to throw them in a stirfry and they're not there!)
I'm on Wind mobile, got a basic handset for $40 and my phone plan is $25 a month. It suits me perfectly, signal isn't a problem and
I can text home with it. For banking I went with TD, their charges aren't too bad, you need to make an appointment to open an account but once you do that they set you up with everything straight away. They'd an offer running when I opened my account where you get a free Galaxy Nexus after August if you fulfill some basic requirements ( think it was one lodgement in and one bill out, real easy!)

Haven't gone out on any mad nights yet so can't fill you in there, just trying to get all the basics sorted first but it is expensive!

Suarez20

Hey Shivdev would you have a template for a Canadian type CV? If you could PM me one it would be greatly appreciated. cheers

Scruffy19

Suarez20 wrote: »

Hey Shivdev would you have a template for a Canadian type CV? If you could PM me one it would be greatly appreciated. cheers

I just edited mine and made it shorter. Seemed to do the trick if you Google it you'l find information on it

ciaran67

wendydoll wrote: »

Does anyone know what metrotown/burnaby is like?

Seen quite a few jobs in my area located in that area

Its a pretty good neighbourhood and on the skytrain. Mostly Vietnamese and Chinese Its on Kingsway (superb Vietnamese food) which is the only major road that runs diagonally across town from Mount Pleasant which is at the bottom of Main St, good few bars opened up at the bottom of Main. It would be quite quick to downtown on the skytrain. I'm up and down it all day. It wouldnt be my first choice if I was coming into town. I would go further into Van and skytrain out to Metrotown.

ciaran67

shivdev wrote: »

Haven't gone out on any mad nights yet so can't fill you in there, just trying to get all the basics sorted first but it is expensive!

Good pub is the Railway Club on Dunsmuir and Seymour, downtown. It has live music most nights and you have to go to the bar to buy proper pints. Been drinking in there since we first go here in 1998.

It is expensive until you star earning. Then it doesnt seem so bad.

Kitsilano Beach is gorgeous lads, get down to it when you can on a nice day (like today).

I'll have to meet more people in the area so I can hang out down here more often. Loads of groups of people just relaxing out here. Bang of weed from some of them too :P

Frank Bullitt

Just a quick one.

What is the baggage allowance on the flight over? Flying with Air Canada, did people pay extra to bring over more stuff?

Scruffy19

Gintonious wrote: »

Just a quick one.

What is the baggage allowance on the flight over? Flying with Air Canada, did people pay extra to bring over more stuff?

Think it's about 23/25kg. My suitcase was 29kg but they never said anything about it

Frank Bullitt

Yeah some are saying 20kg, others a bit higher, bit of a pain!

Scruffy19

Gintonious wrote: »

Yeah some are saying 20kg, others a bit higher, bit of a pain!

Check with the Airlines website it will state it their