• Search for:

• Subscribe

  Blog feed
  Comments feed
  Picasa photo's feed
  
  To view my pics, visit Picasa
  

• Recent

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

• Random

  

  

  

  

• Blogs and links

  • Green Zebra Guide
  • Happy Frog
  • John Bollwitt
  • Life on Saltspring
  • MapleMole
  • Metblogs Flickr pool
  • Metroblog Vancouver
  • Miss604
  • PoCo Flickr Groups

• Past posts

  • August 2010 (3)
  • July 2010 (10)
  • January 2010 (1)
  • August 2009 (1)
  • April 2009 (2)
  • January 2009 (3)
  • October 2008 (1)
  • September 2008 (8)
  • August 2008 (1)
  • June 2008 (1)
  • May 2008 (2)
  • April 2008 (1)
  • February 2008 (6)
  • January 2008 (3)
  • December 2007 (6)
  • November 2007 (1)
  • October 2007 (11)
  • September 2007 (8)
  • August 2007 (1)
• 

As a follow up to my last post I thought I’d add that help is at hand for all professional job hunters in the Vancouver area. However, it’s a case of unearthing the buried treasure. There seems to be a multitude of Provincial and National Government funded programmes that the intrepid professional job hunter can tap in to.

I was at a British Expats Meet up group last month and struck up a conversation with a guy that was having similar problems in finding employment. He mentioned that he’d been to the north shore YWCA for a 6 day course for professional status immigrants, the PTW workshops. So I called the YWCA and was asked to contact Vancouver Family Services as I’d need a referral to sign up for the workshops. Next step was to meet with a Case Manager in the Employment Services team to discus options for the job hunt. It was at this meeting that I really started to discover the buried treasure.

Even though I’d been to a Canadian Human Resources centre to ask about what assistance was available to new immigrants, nothing was mentioned about the YWCA or FSGV, or for that matter, any other agency providing assistance to job hunters.

Anyway, following a discussion with my newly appointed case manager I was presented with a range of funded programmes that I could tap in to, the most interesting being a 10 day Successful Contracting and Consulting (SCC) course. My next step is to attend the SCC and follow it up with the PTW to learn all I can about how the local market works. If I find employment, fine, if I don’t I’ll be geared up for self-employment.

So, despite the transition penalty help is at hand. It’s a case of don’t give up, network, make contacts, take advantage of funded programmes, whatever it takes to beat the statistics.

Is it naivety or could I have prepared better than I did?

What’s become very apparent is that Canadian employers do not offer a level playing field to new entrants. I’ve been told stories about professional people arriving, seeking employment and ending up in the land of under-employment (in jobs far below their potential). So how does this happen? It seems that new entrants are purely and simply discriminated against.

The first hurdle is getting professional and educational credentials accepted. For example, I have Chartered Environmentalist status in the UK, however in Canada I can apply to be a practitioner in training and after 2 years apply for full status as long as I can prove my 10 years UK experience. The alternative is to re-qualify through a Canadian educational establishment, despite me having a post graduate diploma.

The next hurdle is not having Canadian experience. It appears that international experience counts for little. I was browsing an article in the Canadian Immigrant publication entitled the transition penalty and it was sobering reading. This links in with the recently reported stats that within the first 5 years from landing, new immigrants are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as Canadians .

So, if you’re thinking of making the move to Canada I would suggest:

• • Make sure you have a job offer, or
• • Plan to go self-employed, be an entrepreneur or similar, or
• • Be prepared to accept a lower standard of job just to get that vital Canadian experience, or
• • Retrain for the construction industry

The way things are really begs the question, why do the Canadian Government allow trained, qualified and experienced professionals in to the country when that group of people will struggle to add anything to the economy other than another digit on the jobless figures.

I was downtown meeting with Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR) today and discovered that when it rains in Vancouver, boy, can it rain. On the positive side, it seems that rather than complain about the weather, locals just break out the brolly and get on with life. I captured brolly culture at Georgia and Thurlow along with a shot under the canopy of 1111 Georgia.

An encouraging thing for me, a relatively new blogger was discovering that 2 local long time bloggers had their own take on the weather as well. More pics can be found at John’s site, and there’s also Rebecca’s thoughts on umbrella etiquette.

What a fantastic Autumn day. It’s days like this when being in Vancouver really makes sense. After discovering Zulu Records I returned with the family for another visit a wander along part of 4th Avenue followed by a stroll along Kitsilano Beach at English Bay.

4th is a real old fashioned high street with a multitude of small shops, restaurant and cafe’s. It so refreshing to take places like this in, it really makes me realise how ‘clone town’ a lot of places in the South East of the UK have become.

We stopped for a drink at a coffee shop, Jitters, with Lesley and the lads tucking in to delicious milshakes and hot chocolate. The place seemed to typify the area, a buzzing independent business, thriving in an environment that encourages diversity rather than bland brands. Keep it up Kits.

Click on the thumbnail to see the full size image

We headed towards the beach and came across this ’47 Chrysler ‘termite special’. I’m not sure how well used the car is now, but it was certainly a reminder of what used to grace the roads of the North American continent. Mind you, some serious wood filler was needed in places.

It was one of those wonderfully warm autumn days. A group of guys were playing beach volleyball, people out walking and cycling, someone was sat of a log playing guitar, others just relaxing reading. There’s something deeply relaxing about the sound of the ocean as waves lapped against the shore. I could stand watching driftwood bob up and down for ages.

Here’s what Frommers say about the Kits area.

Back in the 1960s, Kitsilano was Canada’s Hippie Central, a Haight-Ashbury-like enclave of head shops, communes, and coffeehouses. In the early 1970s, Vancouver’s super-square mayor, Tom Campbell, went so far as to propose rounding up all the tie-dyed long-hairs and shipping them off to a detention center. As the years passed, the hippies’ waistlines and wallets got thicker, run-down communes and boarding houses were renovated or replaced with new apartments and condos, and the shops came to reflect Kitsilano’s new affluence, though still with a touch of counterculture.

All in all, a pretty idyllic afternoon which really recharged the batteries.

I’ve posted lots more pics from the afternoon on my Picasa page.

What a great find. A real record store, not a multi-national clone store.

I was on a mission to get a ticket for the Athlete gig next month. Tickets for a lot of bands that play Vancouver are available from record stores or, unfortunately, Ticketmaster (not worthy a link) who happily add around $10 to the cover price. So, I found myself at Zulu Records along 4th Ave and what a smashing store it is.

Zulu is an old school store, lots of vinyl, lots of turntables, wooden counters and racks, an amazingly diverse selection of music including a complete section for local indie bands, plus early 80′s electronic arcade games to add to the atmosphere. I loved the place and can see myself spending many a happy hour thumbing though the stacks of new and used albums for sale.

Occasionally the language barrier cuts in and I find myself thinking, “what?”

A great example was a couple of days ago when I found myself on the receiving end of ‘in the boonies’ twice. Now it may be that I’m simply not as well travelled as I should be and that the folks in the old country are very conversant with the boonies. But, for those of us that struggle with the term, my basic definition would be in the sticks.It would seem that the term is derived from the word boondock [wiki] which is used to describe a remote, brushy area.

I’m sure more words and phrases will crop up, so watch out for more entries.

One thing I’ve discovered about Vancouver is that it rains. In fact it rains a lot. Some might say that for a Brit, what could be better, move to somewhere ‘exotic’ and still be able to complain about the rain. Actually, I don’t believe I’m someone that really gets agitated about the weather, and besides, in Vancouver, life goes on. People simply break out the brollies and continue.

I was out late afternoon and came up to the junction of Kingsway and Joyce where these images were taken. Vancouver has a trolley bus fleet and I was taken by the grid of overhead cables so decided to snap away. As it’s a pretty major intersection, traffic was constant and I have to admit that I’m pleased with the results of my photo opportunity. I like the contrast between the static grid, the vehicle movement and the lighting.

There have been times over these first few weeks when I’ve wondered if I should invest in a car. If I had a car, these images wouldn’t be here so there’s definitely something good about getting to know the area through transit and on foot.

Next Page →