Want to work in Canada but over 35

Abflash

Hi I want to travel to Canada & work for a minimum of a year in jan 2015. Being over 35, the advice I have being getting has been confusing. I rang the Canadian embassy in Dublin yesterday & they just referred me to the high commission in London. I am still none the wiser. I would live to spend the year over there working but want to do so obviously legally with the correct paperwork. Any advice would be welcome.

Also I want to have a job lined up put there before I travel . Any advice on how far in advance I would need to be applying?
Thank you.

seachto7

I notice nobody has commented on this yet. A grey area from what I can make out. Has anyone over 35 gone through the process?
I'm not having much joy getting work in my field in Ireland, and would be up for chancing my arm overseas.

Kicking around the idea of Canada again, notice I could fall in under a job category on the list, but have no set idea of what to do next.

Anyone online I contacted seem to want me to hand over money to give me any concrete answer as to what my possibilities may or may not be.

jaymcg91

Welcome to North America. Before my Mom got her visa she paid $150 per consultation just to discuss options. If you want the best advice, the people giving it aren't going to lash it on the internet for free when they can make $ from it. Plus, why should they? North America is the home of capitalism .

seachto7

jaymcg91 wrote: »

Welcome to North America. Before my Mom got her visa she paid $150 per consultation just to discuss options. If you want the best advice, the people giving it aren't going to lash it on the internet for free when they can make $ from it. Plus, why should they? North America is the home of capitalism .

I suppose, but a general question to see if I should proceed or not? But I suppose you have a point.

circular flexing

seachto7 wrote: »

I suppose, but a general question to see if I should proceed or not? But I suppose you have a point.

You've been given plenty of good advice (for free) on this board.

circular flexing

jaymcg91 wrote: »

Welcome to North America. Before my Mom got her visa she paid $150 per consultation just to discuss options. If you want the best advice, the people giving it aren't going to lash it on the internet for free when they can make $ from it. Plus, why should they? North America is the home of capitalism .

For Canada, unless you're case is overly complicated (and most cases are straightforward) you really don't gain anything from using a consultant. There's plenty of resources available to guide you along - e.g. britishexpats.com has several immigration consultants and a member of the CBSA who regularly post free advice.

seachto7

Just a quick one on the language tests? These are obligatory obviously.

I had a look, again, at the Express Entry criteria, and it would seem that I would be eligible to apply based on the questionnaire.

I would need to complete some French and English language tests before I do anything else though.

circular flexing

French tests aren't strictly needed - only English ones. Having English and French will just give you extra points, but the tests are about 200 euro each (I believe).

seachto7

I'd do the French one to have it. I would have a decent level of spoken French from the college days.

I wouldn't be feeling too confident of getting in via the EE system though.

I noticed you also need documentation of where you worked before etc.

I worked in Italy for a few years a long while ago, but no idea how I could prove this. I also worked for a company who are no longer in Co Clare. No idea how I'd go about proving this.

Everything after that should be ok.

seachto7

Probably seems like a stupid question, but in terms of a language test, I am assuming a native English speaker wouldn't have to do the English language test, or is it a requirement no matter where you are from?

wittyusername

seachto7 wrote: »

Probably seems like a stupid question, but in terms of a language test, I am assuming a native English speaker wouldn't have to do the English language test, or is it a requirement no matter where you are from?

Even as a native speaker you'd need to get IELTS (General training) certification.

And as a native speaker, don't assume you can breeze the test either - it looks for answers in a very specific format which you'd need to be familiar with before taking it. There are plenty of mock test & answer sheets online which are a very valuable resource.

seachto7

Thanks for the reply. I used to teach English as a foreign language years ago, and it wasn't easy once you got into the advanced levels. I only realized then how bad my own grammar was! (Too much of a Hiberno English influence rather than the "Queens"!)

retalivity

the English test was a joke, a pure money making scam.
$300 & 3.5 hours to do a speaking/writing/reading/listening test. It was pretty basic, at national school level, and most people were finished within an hour. Got the results and got 5/5 out of everything except speaking - the 4 or 5 other people (Irish/English) I knew that did the test too got the exact same result, probably knocking off a mark on the less standardized part to try and give the test some legitimacy

circular flexing

wittyusername wrote: »

Even as a native speaker you'd need to get IELTS (General training) certification.

You can also do the CELPIP-General test.

seachto7

Gah, does it matter? I'm not too sure what the French test would entail, but will do it. Once I have those tow tests done, I'll look at filling out the EE profile and see how I go. I'm going into this more with the "what have I got to lose" mentality than anything else.

circular flexing

seachto7 wrote: »

Gah, does it matter? I'm not too sure what the French test would entail, but will do it. Once I have those tow tests done, I'll look at filling out the EE profile and see how I go. I'm going into this more with the "what have I got to lose" mentality than anything else.

For you, probably not. For those already in Canada, the English tests are starting to fill up pretty quickly since EE came in.

seachto7

Emailed the Alliance Francais in Dublin today to see what advice they could give me on the French one. The TEF Canada might be the one.
While I would happily live and work in a French speaking environment, I could equally be content in an English speaking one, so don't want to restrict any of the slim options I might have by just doing a French exam focused on Quebec.

My thinking being, maybe a TEFAQ might not be as useful in BC or Toronto, etc as a TEF Canada. That's what I'm hoping to establish.

seachto7

Another question if I could. I think, for the EE system, you need to have proof of where you worked previously.

I have no idea how I'm going to get proof of the school I worked for in Italy in 2000, or the company after that in Shannon that folded, bar getting a headed letter signed, which is no proof really, as anyone could do that!

Any ideas?

seachto7

I managed to get proof of working in Italy, and hope to sit an IELTS test soon. It could be a long shot or a punt, but no harm to try

Just need to get my qualifications recognised now...

jaymcg91

Good for you! Keep us posted .

seachto7

It might have been answered already, but how long does it take to get your qualifications assessed/approved?

circular flexing

seachto7 wrote: »

It might have been answered already, but how long does it take to get your qualifications assessed/approved?

I used WES and it took about 2 weeks once they had all the documents.