Marketing professional moving to Canada 2019

phil1985

Hi guys
I am a 33 year old marketing professional with seven years experience about to apply for the IEC visa once the pool opens - expected mid/end November. I have never lived abroad before and Canada is somewhere that has always appealed to me but I have never done anything about it - now is the time before I am too old.

I expect the IEC process to be straight forward, my biggest concerns are for when I get there:- a)securing employment and b)securing accommodation - in whichever order.

I have experience working in bars/hotels etc. from when I was younger and would be open to bar work when I get there as a start, but I really want to maintain and grow my professional career especially given my age.
Has anyone here any experience in getting a professional job in Canada by moving from Ireland? Also, getting accommodation I imagine is dictated by securing employment.

Also, I am not sure where I would rather go , Toronto seems to have all the global/FMCG companies which would really grow my career, but Vancouver seems prettier and possibly a healthier lifestyle but not as many jobs???

Any thoughts by anyone in a similar situation much appreciated, pints are on me when I get there

ironclaw

Define 'marketing professional' and you'll have a starting point. Digital? Print media? Any speciality?

Toronto is a hub for a lot of industries but its very expensive to live there. Mississauga, a fraction outside Toronto, is where a lot of companies have their secondary hub. I'll warn you straight out, Canada has some exceptional talent and everyone and their mother wants to work here. Wages can be lower than Ireland in certain industries, double or triple more in others. It can also hugely depend on the company in question. You should also consider freelancing or starting your own business, hourly rates here are very good.

What is your 'dream' job and I'll see if I can help you at all. I'm not in the marketing industry, more in tech but I keep my ear to the ground.

phil1985

Thanks for reply. Specific area would be Brand Management with an FMCG company, client side, brand building, budget and project management etc. You're correct from what I've gathered the best companies are in Toronto and Miss. Salaries seem to vary a lot. Hadn't considered freelancing but definitely worth consideration as I have a lot of lateral experience. Will wait until I get the visa before I start engaging with recruiters.

jayjay2010

I moved to Toronto in March 2018. It took me 1.5 months to find a decent job and only a few days to find good accommodation.

My tip: have your cv (resume) prepared well in advance. Make it as Canadianized as possible. Don't bother applying for jobs until you have a Toronto address and phone number.

Apply for jobs right away when you have both number + address. Jobs here can take weeks to get back to you for an interview.

In the end, I got 3 job offers, only 1 job was a decent bank job which I still have today and I am happy with.

Rental is pretty much same as Dublin although in my opinion Dublin is slightly more expensive and you don't get luxury like you do here.

To give you some insight, I have a 1 bed condo with communal pool, 25th floor, BBQ area and GYM, yoga, cinema room etc all for $1900 per month which is about 1300 euro. That wouldn't get you much in Dublin city centre. Oh and also my condo is very central beside Queen's Park and is only 2 years old.

Any other tips you'd like let me know I'd be happy to share! :-)

jayjay2010

Also, to back up ironclaw's point about salaries, they do seem to vary a lot.

A lot of minimum wage jobs $15 per hour. A LOT. In my industry (banking) my salary is slightly lower than I expected and received in Ireland. However, one of my friends is on 100k + for a slightly techy job in the university.

I would say a good salary here is approx. 50-60k. (CANADIAN Dollars not Euro sadly!)

ace_irl

jayjay2010 wrote: »

Also, to back up ironclaw's point about salaries, they do seem to vary a lot.

A lot of minimum wage jobs $15 per hour. A LOT. In my industry (banking) my salary is slightly lower than I expected and received in Ireland. However, one of my friends is on 100k + for a slightly techy job in the university.

I would say a good salary here is approx. 50-60k. (CANADIAN Dollars not Euro sadly!)

Hi Jayjay, just wondering if you have any idea on what it's like for accountants in Toronto? I'm planning to make the move over this time next year but I don't know anyone in the financial industry in Toronto so I feel a bit nervous.

ironclaw

ace_irl wrote: »

Hi Jayjay, just wondering if you have any idea on what it's like for accountants in Toronto? I'm planning to make the move over this time next year but I don't know anyone in the financial industry in Toronto so I feel a bit nervous.

I can maybe get some insight for you if you had any more specifics on the area you are targeting. Toronto is a huge financial hub, so there are plenty of jobs. However, competition is high and graduates are good. A lot of my OH's friends are in the financial game and are studying / passed their CPA's etc.

jme2010

ace_irl wrote: »

Hi Jayjay, just wondering if you have any idea on what it's like for accountants in Toronto? I'm planning to make the move over this time next year but I don't know anyone in the financial industry in Toronto so I feel a bit nervous.

Get on to linkedin now. Search jobs in Toronto. Make note of all the ones you like - add all the people in the company who work in the role you want as connections

-Then find the hiring manager or people person - message them directly on linkedin an say you ARE moving on the x-th of the Month and would love to have a chat about the available roles etc.

I'm not in accounting or banking but this worked for me. I had 3 coffee 'dates' lined up with in-house recruiters and landed first and second round interviews before I left.

You need to put in 3 months of prep work for the equivalent of 1 here in terms of job hunting and research before you leave.

Be prepared to swallow your pride in terms of asking salary and working hours. I'm lucky in my industry I was sought after so I got a fantastic permeant contract with perks from day 1. I got 10% less of what I asked for but I didnt want to miss out so I took the offer - It turned out to be the same wage as home with the conversion.

Best of luck.

jayjay2010

Coffee "dates" are definitely the thing here. It's all about who you know in this city. Plenty of jobs going but then again plenty of people ready for those jobs.

Your CV needs to stand out. You need nice and professional looking LinkedIn page. As jme2010 said, add people from companies you want to work for and then message the hiring managers directly - ask them to meet for coffee. People love that sh*t here.

Join all the big recruitment agencies and job search engines. Create a profile with all the companies you'd like to work for (very time consuming). A lot of work you can do before you arrive.

My biggest tip: start your job search early. A lot of my friends made the mistake of holidaying for 4/5 weeks and ended up not working for 2-3 months. Absolute nightmare and big waste of money.

phil1985

jayjay2010 wrote: »

I moved to Toronto in March 2018. It took me 1.5 months to find a decent job and only a few days to find good accommodation.

My tip: have your cv (resume) prepared well in advance. Make it as Canadianized as possible. Don't bother applying for jobs until you have a Toronto address and phone number.

Apply for jobs right away when you have both number + address. Jobs here can take weeks to get back to you for an interview.

In the end, I got 3 job offers, only 1 job was a decent bank job which I still have today and I am happy with.

Rental is pretty much same as Dublin although in my opinion Dublin is slightly more expensive and you don't get luxury like you do here.

To give you some insight, I have a 1 bed condo with communal pool, 25th floor, BBQ area and GYM, yoga, cinema room etc all for $1900 per month which is about 1300 euro. That wouldn't get you much in Dublin city centre. Oh and also my condo is very central beside Queen's Park and is only 2 years old.

Any other tips you'd like let me know I'd be happy to share! :-)

Thanks for this. Yes I have my CV fully updated in a typical Canadian format which I found online. I heard having the local address is really important. You seem to have done well with the accommodation, sounds very comfortable. Need to get the visa first, pools hopefully opening this week. I will let you know how I go.

ace_irl

ironclaw wrote: »

I can maybe get some insight for you if you had any more specifics on the area you are targeting. Toronto is a huge financial hub, so there are plenty of jobs. However, competition is high and graduates are good. A lot of my OH's friends are in the financial game and are studying / passed their CPA's etc.

Hi Ironclaw, I'm taking the Advisory Elective for my FAE's this year so I'd be mainly focusing on industry based accounting roles. That being said, I aim to apply to any and every role I would be qualified for. When I qualify with ACA here I can register as a member with CPA in Canada which I think will be very helpful on the job front. I do have a particular interest in the construction and development industry but beggars can't be choosers!

ace_irl

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice, I'm going to start in converting my CV to a Canadian equivalent and researching companies I like to get the ball rolling, it's another year away before I'd be making the move but I think getting started now will ease the pressure closer to the time.