A need to get of the UK - but how?

[sicasey]

Afternoon all,

I'm hoping you guys can give me some solid help/advice.

First, my vital stats.

Age - 29
Experience - 8 years
Industry - IT - Tech support - More recently - Software release management for a large blue chip.

The long and short of it is while I am still "not over the hill" I want to get out of this country and start a new life somewhere else. I am stuck in a company that is just not going anywhere and need to break free. For a few years I have had the desire to find a new job in say Canada or similar but I just can't figure out how to go about it.

I don't currently have the resources to simply up and move and then take months job hunting, I ideally want to secure a job offer in a foreign country and then relocate. Apart from my family here in the UK I have no other major ties.

I am even willing to work on gas/oil rigs but that seems hard to break into?
I have a fair old wealth of IT experience so I'm sure I am employable enough.

Any help or advice will be greatlty recieved.

Cheers in advance.

[keeplftxcpt2pass]

I am an ex pat living in Calgary, Alberta. Alberta is an oil rich province and the richest province in Canada with loads of jobs and the oil companies are always looking for people like you. Here are some links:

http://informationtechnology.jobshark.com/CalgaryI...

http://www.itjobs.ca/en/

http://www.jobopenings.net/jobs_by_state.php?state...

http://www.aplin.com/calgary-job-search/

http://www.jobserve.ca/Calgary/IT/Jobs.htm

www.statoil.com

I would also suggest you apply to the oil companies directly:

Suncor, Shell, Petro Canada, ConocoPhillips Canada, Canadian Natural Resources Limited, Imperial Oil, Devon Energy

HTH

[sicasey]

Many many thanks HTH, very concise.

I will be checking out your suggestions tonight.

Cheers.

[Eric Mc]

What do you need to get of the UK?

This took all of 3 seconds to find -

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 23 February 18:24

[SplatSpeed]

Eric Mc said:

What do you need to get of the UK?

This took all of 3 seconds to find -

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

Edited by Eric Mc on Wednesday 23 February 18:24

eric beet me by 8 minutes

if you find a job in nova scotia let me know

and i can put you in touch with the right people.

you will need to find a job,

they will get a Labour market opinion for you LMO (piece of piss for your career)

they you pick up your wprk visa on the way in

british expats is another site that is usefull!

PM me if you nee to!

[thetapeworm]

I'm considering doing something similar but with no particular destination in mind at the moment, having looked at some of this Canada looks interesting so thanks for bringing it up and thanks to those who have answered

[lestag]

thetapeworm said:

I'm considering doing something similar but with no particular destination in mind at the moment, having looked at some of this Canada looks interesting so thanks for bringing it up and thanks to those who have answered

http://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/skills-needed-in-new-zealand~18.html

[Nick M]

sicasey said:

The long and short of it is while I am still "not over the hill" I want to get out of this country and start a new life somewhere else. I am stuck in a company that is just not going anywhere and need to break free. For a few years I have had the desire to find a new job in say Canada or similar but I just can't figure out how to go about it.

OK, slight tangential answer here, but...

I've got to question your motivation for such a move. We're looking at a similar move at the moment, and information is plentiful on the internet and in other resources such as books available from Amazon. It's not hard to find, really it isn't. Eric's link above also gives you a lot of access and there are tools on there to see whether you'd qualify under the current points system.

At the risk of sounding harsh, if you can't find the basic information you need then the chances of you a) making a successful application and b) making a successful transition to living in another country don't look too good. How would you find out about local healthcare ? Insurance ? How to buy a house ? Taxes ? Buying a car ? Driving licences ? etc., etc., etc.

Moving to another country is not to be taken lightly, but can be very rewarding. We spent three years in the US and learned a lot about moving overseas, and back again, not just in terms of the nuts and bolts, but what it feels like to live in another country with minimal 'support network' around you.

Basically, you need to do your homework if you want to make it successful rather than stressful.

[sicasey]

Nick M said:

OK, slight tangential answer here, but...

I've got to question your motivation for such a move. We're looking at a similar move at the moment, and information is plentiful on the internet and in other resources such as books available from Amazon. It's not hard to find, really it isn't. Eric's link above also gives you a lot of access and there are tools on there to see whether you'd qualify under the current points system.

At the risk of sounding harsh, if you can't find the basic information you need then the chances of you a) making a successful application and b) making a successful transition to living in another country don't look too good. How would you find out about local healthcare ? Insurance ? How to buy a house ? Taxes ? Buying a car ? Driving licences ? etc., etc., etc.

Moving to another country is not to be taken lightly, but can be very rewarding. We spent three years in the US and learned a lot about moving overseas, and back again, not just in terms of the nuts and bolts, but what it feels like to live in another country with minimal 'support network' around you.

Basically, you need to do your homework if you want to make it successful rather than stressful.

In true PH style was there really any need for a reply of that nature?

My original post was to simply put the "feelers" out there during a brief five minute break during my day job hopefully explaining why I didn't have the chance to structure it better for YOUR understanding.

Clearly a move to another country is not to be taken lightly and research into housing/health care etc would be nescessary.

The trouble I was having was related to discovering the best route to secure work in for example Cananda without having to go out there first for a few months, a point you have clearly missed.

However, a massive thanks for the excellent replies I have recieved so far.

[Nick M]

sicasey said:

In true PH style was there really any need for a reply of that nature?

The trouble I was having was related to discovering the best route to secure work in for example Cananda without having to go out there first for a few months, a point you have clearly missed.

sicasey said:

For a few years I have had the desire to find a new job in say Canada or similar but I just can't figure out how to go about it.

Sorry if you didn't like my response, but all the info is out there if you *really* want to find it - in the time it took to type your initial post you could have found a lot of the info in Google.... Or ordered a book from Amazon.

You say you've got the desire but don't appear to have done much about it, hence my challenge about whether you've fully thought through all the issues involved. It's not simply about finding a job, there are a raft of other matters to consider which vary from person to person.

[thetapeworm]

Nick M said:

Sorry if you didn't like my response, but all the info is out there if you *really* want to find it - in the time it took to type your initial post you could have found a lot of the info in Google.... Or ordered a book from Amazon.

You say you've got the desire but don't appear to have done much about it, hence my challenge about whether you've fully thought through all the issues involved. It's not simply about finding a job, there are a raft of other matters to consider which vary from person to person.

It would be pretty quiet around here if everyone went out and researched things fully before posting

[Nick M]

thetapeworm said:

It would be pretty quiet around here if everyone went out and researched things fully before posting

But... If people were to ask questions from the basis of having done a bit of research beforehand, the quality of the responses and advice they get might be more useful.

I generally ignore a lot of "tell me everything about X" type questions because my immediate assumption is that someone can't be arsed to find the basics out for themselves. However, if somoene asks "I've been looking at X and run into a problem - can someone help me to sort out this aspect of it" then people may engage with them differently.

You only get back what you're prepared to put in, sort of thing.

[rhinochopig]

My advice to anyone considering emigrating. Visit the place first - for at least a month.

It never fails to amaze me the amount of threads that crop up about how crap the UK is and how it is so much better in NZ, Aus, or Canada and yet the poster has never been. They're not the Utopia that PH seems to think they are, they all have their own set of problems, and you need to make sure that these problems are ones that will not bother you.

Don't like where you live in the UK, try somewhere else. There are parts of it that still offer a cracking standard of living.

[sicasey]

Nick M said:

But... If people were to ask questions from the basis of having done a bit of research beforehand, the quality of the responses and advice they get might be more useful.

I generally ignore a lot of "tell me everything about X" type questions because my immediate assumption is that someone can't be arsed to find the basics out for themselves. However, if somoene asks "I've been looking at X and run into a problem - can someone help me to sort out this aspect of it" then people may engage with them differently.

You only get back what you're prepared to put in, sort of thing.

Don't underestimate a persons experience, knowledge and guidance, it's priceless IMO.

[Nick M]

sicasey said:

Don't underestimate a persons experience, knowledge and guidance, it's priceless IMO.

Precisely.

And I say that as someone who has a) already lived overseas, b) has been researching what is involved in living and working in Canada, and c) is probably about to go and work in Malaysia for 18 months...

[Nick M]

rhinochopig said:

My advice to anyone considering emigrating. Visit the place first - for at least a month.

They're not the Utopia that PH seems to think they are, they all have their own set of problems, and you need to make sure that these problems are ones that will not bother you.

+1

Having been overseas before we experienced the full array of 'differences' and some of them were easier to overcome than others.

At the moment we're actively looking into Canada, but are trying to arrange trips out there at the crappy times of the year, i.e. not the height of summer when it's warm and everything seems rosy.

Also trying to get a handle on what it's like working for a Canadian employer if you're an expat. Are you a second class citizen for example ? Are you able to command the same salary ? That sort of thing.

Then there's the issue around how much holiday they get (or rather, don't...). Trying to see how I'd adapt to that, and what alternatives there are, e.g. contracting.

A bit of objectivity and practicality goes a long way.

[Tonsko]

We nearly moved to Canada, organised a holiday over there and then got some consultation on the immigration process. While it is undeniably a beautiful country, the people seem lovely (those whom we met), there was something about the place...it just felt a bit 'new'. Then also my mum showed signs of Alzheimer's - so we elected to put immigration on hold for a bit to see how things panned out over here.

[SplatSpeed]

well i did it two years ago

we live in a little community, and have fitted in realy well

there is a right way and a wrong way to fit in!

[Nick M]

SplatSpeed said:

there is a right way and a wrong way to fit in!

Care to share your thoughts / experiences ?

I'm guessing that 'being British' may not be the best strategy

[SplatSpeed]

Nick M said:

Care to share your thoughts / experiences ?

I'm guessing that 'being British' may not be the best strategy

there are two british couples here

us and another

we settled in by offering to help but not trying to run things, we introduced ourselves and let the grapevine spread the word.

wifey joined the heritage centre to help out, i joined the fire brigade.

we joined and didn't try to run or change things, the other couple did!

just introduce yourselves and let people adapt to you don't try to force or change people!