How many IEC applicants last the full term?

sashafierce

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krudler

What's got you having mixed feelings about it?

sashafierce

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krudler

Did ye find it hard to find places to live? am doing it solo and that's my biggest worry either living with people I dont get on with or trying to find a solo place and spending a fortune on rent. I'll have enough to not struggle for a good 5-6 months hopefully so the job situation I can worry about a bit later, did you find it easy enough to get jobs in some particular field or just wing it?

sashafierce

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krudler

That's a balls but at least once the wages go up you can probably do and see more, did you find it hard to adjust?

MarkJD

Where abouts are you living in Toronto if you dont mind me asking?

Agro Head

If you're not already doing it keep applying for jobs. What line of work are you in?

retalivity

The first 4 months I was there lived in near poverty til I finally got my first paycheque.

This was in 2011 and id imagine its worse now, what with more people having travelled over. If people are only staying for a year, but are spending a third or more of their time there before actually making any money I don't see how anyone could enjoy it tbh.

MarkJD

Im trying to do it as part of a company transfer for the company im in at the moment.. I would agree im very hesitant of going over and being out of work for a few months. There is 2 of us going and its intended as part of a long term move but ill be pretty worried about going over with no job and the challenges around getting setup.

Maid of the Mist

There was a thread on this forum titled "Biggest Pitfalls for Irish People in Canada". It contained some excellent advice that everybody planning on moving to Canada should read. Sounds like OP fell into one of the pits by moving to Toronto. It's like going to Manhattan and then declaring that the whole USA is expensive.

To answer the question of the thread title directly, I'd say about 60% of IEC applicants stay the full term, if not less. When I did my IEC a few years ago, many of the Irish were only there for 3 months of the Summer before heading back to college in September or to work on the ski resorts just for the Winter. Others just used the IEC to travel across the country and then went home when the money ran out. My advice as someone who has "been there, done that" is to stay away from Toronto and Vancouver unless you have a trade or a few years experience in IT or another specialised skill. I know most of you will still ignore this advice cos you want to live in the big city but you're only kidding yourself.

hegarty147

I read these threads all the time and some of the responses annoy me. Canada and toronto is a great city however what I have learned is that to be on good money u need to have a good education and good work experience. There are many people coming over here with no college education and they are wondering why they are on a low wages. Canada's wages in my opinion are quite fair and are based on what u know and ur experience.

People need to be realistic too its not a land of gold and honey bt it does reward people more than ireland.

sashafierce

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hegarty147

True your right but I guess my my industry finance, if you have an education and worked a well known firm before coming here I haven't heard of many people having any issues. The big problem is that if your from a well known firm in Ireland but not internationally you would find it more difficult.

Agro Head

hegarty147 wrote: »

I read these threads all the time and some of the responses annoy me. Canada and toronto is a great city however what I have learned is that to be on good money u need to have a good education and good work experience. There are many people coming over here with no college education and they are wondering why they are on a low wages. Canada's wages in my opinion are quite fair and are based on what u know and ur experience.

People need to be realistic too its not a land of gold and honey bt it does reward people more than ireland.

100% agree with this.

*edit - not particular about this thread but the generally theme of threads here

sashafierce

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Agro Head

sashafierce wrote: »

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Keep applying. I know loads of people who have got full time jobs on good wages whilst on the 2 year visa.

sashafierce

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Faith

The employment scene in Canada is all about networking. Forget about sending CVs to huge corporations. Use tools like LinkedIn to contact people directly and create contacts that way. That's how you'll get decent jobs. I'm not even going to Canada until August, but I've already lined up 5 or 6 serious contacts that I'm going to start getting in touch with as soon as I've gotten my POE.

And I 100% agree that the amount of negativity on threads in this forum is astounding!

sashafierce

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Phonehead

Canada is a tough jobs market, especially in the financial services! There are Canadians with Masters who are doing admin jobs just to get a foot in the door. Also I think we are seeing more Irish arrive direct from university or with limited work experience, experience is huge here and if you are not willing to lower expectations to get a foot in the door somewhere then I think life is going to be tough here. There is no Canadian dream, no streets paved with gold! there is however a few months of sending out your resume without hearing anything in return until finally someone takes a gamble, then work hard/make an impression and it's very easy to progress your career here.

sashafierce

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hegarty147

Phonehead wrote: »

Canada is a tough jobs market, especially in the financial services! There are Canadians with Masters who are doing admin jobs just to get a foot in the door. Also I think we are seeing more Irish arrive direct from university or with limited work experience, experience is huge here and if you are not willing to lower expectations to get a foot in the door somewhere then I think life is going to be tough here. There is no Canadian dream, no streets paved with gold! there is however a few months of sending out your resume without hearing anything in return until finally someone takes a gamble, then work hard/make an impression and it's very easy to progress your career here.

I personally disagree I think the financial services industry is booming here. I know for my own case I am being contacted by recruiters every week and so are my friends offering positions. Again I go back to my previous point that if you have well known company on your CV you should not have an issue. Networking is huge here I agree

hegarty147

sashafierce wrote: »

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I was offered a full time permanent role within 2 months of being here I live with 5 irish guys and 4 have full time permanent roles. Most Irish I know have been offered permanent roles in Finance. I was suprised actually that we got permanent roles as I had heard that it was tough that you are on a 2 year visa. However, in interviews I stressed I want to build a life in canada and nobody had an issue with that.

sashafierce

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RichFTW

sashafierce wrote: »

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Are these agencies the equivalent of recruitment agents here or are they a separate type of recruiter? Like instead of the company who is hiring paying 20% of the worker's salary here, the employee have to pay 20% of their salary for 6 months? That's a pretty big hit to the salary!

Heading over in September so would like to know if these agency contracts are the norm or can they be avoided by using a recruiter like we have here or by putting some extra effort into networking and getting lucky.

Faith

A lot of people believed that Canada is the Holy Grail or something. It's not, it's just another country. Your problems will stay the same, for the most part!

Once you accept that, I think people find it easier to settle in - or alternatively, go home to Ireland confident that that's where they want to settle.

sashafierce, spend the next few weeks/months networking like your life depends on it if you want to move up the chain in a monetary sense .

hegarty147

Faith wrote: »

A lot of people believed that Canada is the Holy Grail or something. It's not, it's just another country. Your problems will stay the same, for the most part!

Once you accept that, I think people find it easier to settle in - or alternatively, go home to Ireland confident that that's where they want to settle.

sashafierce, spend the next few weeks/months networking like your life depends on it if you want to move up the chain in a monetary sense .

Agree completely

sashafierce

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Agro Head

sashafierce wrote: »

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If you like when I get out of work I'll PM you the contact details for the recruiters I used. They were all sound and sorted me out a few times. I'm in my 4th job in under two years. Happy where I am now and won't be moving but the other ones were just a means to an end. It's also a lot easier to get hired when you already have a job.