Beginners tips from the beginner vol.1
Today I threw away my first Canadian toothbrush. Such a fulfilling moment! So glad to be #alive #nofilter #besties #forever21 #behappy #notwrittingnewposts #hippiehashtagbullshit. It takes few hours to write something meaningful and especially to correct all the gramar mistakes (see what I did there?!? #grammarjew) and I'm short on time and as always, lazy. If you're an outdoor person and love food, saying that you're bored in Vancouver is a crime against humanity. Add a usually 9+ working hours a day and you get the idea.
Dad, you're going to google translate this so tell mom to send more woven socks from zavicaj, old ones are dying. Also, she needs to get rid of flying sooner or later. :D
Dad, you're going to google translate this so tell mom to send more woven socks from zavicaj, old ones are dying. Also, she needs to get rid of flying sooner or later. :D
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| Vancouver Downtown |
Some things are set in motion, some things are already done, some planned for a near future. A lot of stuff is happening (for example, rain has become less annoying, finally!!! and Nutella was again on discount at Safeway!), a lot of new people from all around the world, countless places to visit just an hour driving. After work sometimes I just want to lay down and sleep, especially now when days are shorter (Vancouver is just a little bit norther than Paris). All in all, one thing is for sure, I can see myself here this time next year for sure.
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| Golden Ears, BC |
But today we have gathered here for a different reason. Not for my (boring and unconnected) stories but for a different kind of writings. I got a lots of information and experiences from a couple of blogs and forum(.hr) and always felt some kind of responsibility to continue that tradition. Dozen of questions where in my inbox about this and that. Best way to answer them is to answer in some kind of a public place. Every now and then I'll try to write kind of mix of my suggestions/experiences/tips how to start/why to start/how to continue. Of course, quality of stuff written will be vastly influenced by my Canadian learning curve.
In 10 days it will be 2 months since I came to Canada and saying that you have to take my words with a dose of healthy reserve. I still have a very limited view for things around me. Probably even with some pink filters while observing stuff.
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| Grouse Mountain overlooking on Vancouver photo: Internet |
First things first, try to be as honest to yourself as possible and ask yourself what are you lacking back home and what do you expect from Canada (or any other country for that matter). Going (moving) somewhere without a clear idea why is a bad idea. At least for me it is. I don't like uncertainties and I don't like "stress" that derives from those uncertainties.
Everybody have their own reasons why are they thinking about leaving more or less comfortable positions. Leaving something that you gained behind is a hard thing. Possibly loosing everything and gaining nothing. If you're feeling that you want to go somewhere (not run away from somewhere), I strongly suggest to go for it. I'm a type of person who wants to have most things under control and with good mental/information preparation I had only 10 minutes of crisis since I landed in Calgary (ok, ok, today rain and wind where so strong that I wanted to quit my job immediately :D ). I find starting here (and I suppose other parts of Canada are no different) quite easy especially with this beautiful mindset most of the Canadians have. At least that is my experience, but I reckon it is a general rule.
I'll be talking primarily about Canada and about younger generations without 5+ years of skilled experience. My general impression is that if you're for example a engineer with 10+ years of experience and have good English, you can apply for Permanent Residence tomorrow. I did some research in the past about Australia, New Zealand and most European countries but don't want to possibly mislead somebody. Also, Canadian immigration web site is alpha and omega for every piece of information. Read it carefully.
If you have under 35 years, easiest way to come to Canada is to apply for Working Holiday visa. To this date, only 337 people applied for entering the pool and 275 visas are available. Personally I applied for last year's round 5 months after the pools were open. But better sooner than later. After you get into the pool and (if you) receive Invitation to apply you need to pay some amount of money (170$ if I remember correctly) and upload some documents and in 99.99% you'll get the visa. Only document that you really need to prepare in advance is Certification for not being previously convicted in English language (officially translated). After you got your Letter of Invitation you have one year to activate that visa (by entering Canada). Visa is valid for a 365 days after activating. WH is an open work permit type of visa, meaning you can work for any employer as long as your visa is active.
Other way to try to come to Canada to work in short term is to actively send resumes. Writing cover letters. Doing research on the companies in your field. Adapting EU resume to Canadian standard. Here is custom to not put picture, date or place of birth, gender... Chances for getting job without acquired working permit are slim but it is worth a shoot. For example I got 5 interview opportunities sending resumes from Croatia. Of course, I got a work permit. I'm pretty sure that I would get 0 interview opportunities if I didn't have work permit.
Every Canadian province also has their specific immigration streams called Provincial Nomination Program(s). Each and every one of them have specific rules and they are constantly changing. With obtained provincial nomination you're going to a Federal level of immigration but for now, if you acquire provincial nomination your doors to Permanent Residence are open. For some provinces you can get provincial nomination almost without ever visiting Canada before. Every PNP has its own web site and you can take a look.
There are many many many rules and information regarding ways to immigrate in Canada. I'm still having some doubts about some tiny but important specifics. In short, easiest and most pain free procedure is get WH visa and come and try to stay if it fits your needs. Express Entry, LMIA, extending work permit, applying for second WH, Young Professionals... Things to wrap your mind around, but leave it for some later stage.
Canada is a big country (6 time zones) and once you got your WH you need to decide where you want to land. It is a fairly different place than Europe, to put it mildly, big cities are far away. I decided I want good mountains and choose western Canada. After that pretty much choice was between Calgary and Vancouver. I choose Calgary (for known reasons) but after 10 days ended up in Vancouver. Maybe for somebody choosing mountains instead of easier way to Permanent Residence is going to sound stupid, but as I said before, I want to live best of it and keep the bar high. If I don't succeed to prolong my staying after first WH visa world is not going to end. There always have to be backup options. Everyone has its own idea what they want and how are they planing to achieve it.
After deciding where you want to move to, start doing things you do best. Researching online from the comfort of your (our) chair. If you are really interested to that shouldn't be a problem. Better your preparations are, less stress there will be. Less stress also translate into less spending money because of lack of good information.
I landed in Calgary with 5500$ CAD (mostly saved through the year plus some donations from family and friends :* ), get my SIN number and debit card and that is it. I planned that would be enough to live without job for 2,3 months, even if I move to Vancouver. It is not a lot of money, especially from this perspective but considering average Croatian paycheck it was a solid amount.
Some things aside from job seeking I strongly suggest to do back home is to go to Craigslist and Kijiji and bookmark places you would like to visit a possibly to move in. For first few days renting an airbnb apartment or going to hostel is best out of bad options. Ideal option would be finding a room to rent first or second day. Having a place to stay puts you in position where you can concentrate on your goals, without moving around every few days, without having few more people in a dorm room and of course saving money. Simply when you find a place to live, you start building things around it. Finding closest bakeries, shops, restaurants, pubs...
If possible close to skytrain station which makes all commuting much faster. Research public transport. Vancouver public transport website is pretty informative, having maps with public transport routes giving you idea how are things connected. If you come in the middle of the month probably it would be cheaper to buy daily tickets with some kind of their transit card instead of monthly pass. In next couple of days skytrain network is going to expand and it is going to be worlds longest automated rapid transit system. Robots already took our jobs :D.
I pay for my room 650$. Utilities here are mostly included in the rent price. You can get a room from 500$ and up. Monthly skytrain pass is 124$ for 2 zones. Cellphone for the first month I payed 30$ with 200Mb of data and 150 min of incoming/outgoing calls. Now I'm paying 60$ with extra 1G of data. You can get much cheaper with some providers but in general, cell services here are expensive. You can buy really cheap cars but car insurance is variable but also very expensive. For now I'm not even thinking about buying one. I still don't have much need for it. As I mentioned previously many times, food here is very good. You can easily find a good place to eat outside for McDonalds prices. I still haven't found a place with shitty food and I work/eat all around Vancouver Metropolitan area.
If you are coming with low to mid budged, getting any job in the beginning sets thing in much more relaxed motion. My assumption is that young guys renting a room, working for 10$ (which is minimum wage) an hour can live from month to month. That would be a start without going out for beers, without going to restaurants, watching where you are spending your dollars, but if in need it can be done. There are a lots of jobs here and probably your first job will be for much more but one has to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I think here anyone with a mindset prepared to leave home and move 10 000 km away will easily get some job. Maybe at the beginning it wouldn't be a glamorous one, but it will be a job.
By working you meet people, making new friends. Those friends have their own friends etc. That way you build your social network in a very short span of time. Doing what you did back home brings new people into your life. I recon that most jobs here are going trough social networking. For example if I have somebody I know living right now in Vancouver with something inside a skull and some experience doing anything, I could get him to work for the company I work now for at least 15$ per hour. For engineering and other "better" jobs most of the positions are never advertised online.
I'm not sure what to write more. As soon as I post this one online I'm sure I'll remember something to add up. Or leave it for vol. 2 of this books of wisdom (not). Oh not to forget to mention it once more, check forum(.hr). It is a long read but it's worth it. Also, check some of Canadian journey blogs on the right. For me reading things mentioned above was a source of many information as well as a very good motivation to proceed in the right direction. Also be aware that some things are outdated and some are completely subjective experience that might not imply to you, regardless of good or bad ones.
Next week weather forecast is a possible snow in town. Maybe even a white Christmas (not sure but I think last was 2006). Like in Split, people here are not used to driving in snowy conditions and they promise a lots of entertainment on the streets if it really snows. Many trees in town are already light up and if it snows it would be a really nice sight to behold.
Till next time, thank you for reading and thank you for almost 10 000 views :D
Everybody have their own reasons why are they thinking about leaving more or less comfortable positions. Leaving something that you gained behind is a hard thing. Possibly loosing everything and gaining nothing. If you're feeling that you want to go somewhere (not run away from somewhere), I strongly suggest to go for it. I'm a type of person who wants to have most things under control and with good mental/information preparation I had only 10 minutes of crisis since I landed in Calgary (ok, ok, today rain and wind where so strong that I wanted to quit my job immediately :D ). I find starting here (and I suppose other parts of Canada are no different) quite easy especially with this beautiful mindset most of the Canadians have. At least that is my experience, but I reckon it is a general rule.
I'll be talking primarily about Canada and about younger generations without 5+ years of skilled experience. My general impression is that if you're for example a engineer with 10+ years of experience and have good English, you can apply for Permanent Residence tomorrow. I did some research in the past about Australia, New Zealand and most European countries but don't want to possibly mislead somebody. Also, Canadian immigration web site is alpha and omega for every piece of information. Read it carefully.
If you have under 35 years, easiest way to come to Canada is to apply for Working Holiday visa. To this date, only 337 people applied for entering the pool and 275 visas are available. Personally I applied for last year's round 5 months after the pools were open. But better sooner than later. After you get into the pool and (if you) receive Invitation to apply you need to pay some amount of money (170$ if I remember correctly) and upload some documents and in 99.99% you'll get the visa. Only document that you really need to prepare in advance is Certification for not being previously convicted in English language (officially translated). After you got your Letter of Invitation you have one year to activate that visa (by entering Canada). Visa is valid for a 365 days after activating. WH is an open work permit type of visa, meaning you can work for any employer as long as your visa is active.
Other way to try to come to Canada to work in short term is to actively send resumes. Writing cover letters. Doing research on the companies in your field. Adapting EU resume to Canadian standard. Here is custom to not put picture, date or place of birth, gender... Chances for getting job without acquired working permit are slim but it is worth a shoot. For example I got 5 interview opportunities sending resumes from Croatia. Of course, I got a work permit. I'm pretty sure that I would get 0 interview opportunities if I didn't have work permit.
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| St Mark's, BC |
There are many many many rules and information regarding ways to immigrate in Canada. I'm still having some doubts about some tiny but important specifics. In short, easiest and most pain free procedure is get WH visa and come and try to stay if it fits your needs. Express Entry, LMIA, extending work permit, applying for second WH, Young Professionals... Things to wrap your mind around, but leave it for some later stage.
Canada is a big country (6 time zones) and once you got your WH you need to decide where you want to land. It is a fairly different place than Europe, to put it mildly, big cities are far away. I decided I want good mountains and choose western Canada. After that pretty much choice was between Calgary and Vancouver. I choose Calgary (for known reasons) but after 10 days ended up in Vancouver. Maybe for somebody choosing mountains instead of easier way to Permanent Residence is going to sound stupid, but as I said before, I want to live best of it and keep the bar high. If I don't succeed to prolong my staying after first WH visa world is not going to end. There always have to be backup options. Everyone has its own idea what they want and how are they planing to achieve it.
 |
| Some of the views from the office, Vancouver downtown |
I landed in Calgary with 5500$ CAD (mostly saved through the year plus some donations from family and friends :* ), get my SIN number and debit card and that is it. I planned that would be enough to live without job for 2,3 months, even if I move to Vancouver. It is not a lot of money, especially from this perspective but considering average Croatian paycheck it was a solid amount.
Some things aside from job seeking I strongly suggest to do back home is to go to Craigslist and Kijiji and bookmark places you would like to visit a possibly to move in. For first few days renting an airbnb apartment or going to hostel is best out of bad options. Ideal option would be finding a room to rent first or second day. Having a place to stay puts you in position where you can concentrate on your goals, without moving around every few days, without having few more people in a dorm room and of course saving money. Simply when you find a place to live, you start building things around it. Finding closest bakeries, shops, restaurants, pubs...
If possible close to skytrain station which makes all commuting much faster. Research public transport. Vancouver public transport website is pretty informative, having maps with public transport routes giving you idea how are things connected. If you come in the middle of the month probably it would be cheaper to buy daily tickets with some kind of their transit card instead of monthly pass. In next couple of days skytrain network is going to expand and it is going to be worlds longest automated rapid transit system. Robots already took our jobs :D.
I pay for my room 650$. Utilities here are mostly included in the rent price. You can get a room from 500$ and up. Monthly skytrain pass is 124$ for 2 zones. Cellphone for the first month I payed 30$ with 200Mb of data and 150 min of incoming/outgoing calls. Now I'm paying 60$ with extra 1G of data. You can get much cheaper with some providers but in general, cell services here are expensive. You can buy really cheap cars but car insurance is variable but also very expensive. For now I'm not even thinking about buying one. I still don't have much need for it. As I mentioned previously many times, food here is very good. You can easily find a good place to eat outside for McDonalds prices. I still haven't found a place with shitty food and I work/eat all around Vancouver Metropolitan area.
If you are coming with low to mid budged, getting any job in the beginning sets thing in much more relaxed motion. My assumption is that young guys renting a room, working for 10$ (which is minimum wage) an hour can live from month to month. That would be a start without going out for beers, without going to restaurants, watching where you are spending your dollars, but if in need it can be done. There are a lots of jobs here and probably your first job will be for much more but one has to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I think here anyone with a mindset prepared to leave home and move 10 000 km away will easily get some job. Maybe at the beginning it wouldn't be a glamorous one, but it will be a job.
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| St. Mark's, BC |
I'm not sure what to write more. As soon as I post this one online I'm sure I'll remember something to add up. Or leave it for vol. 2 of this books of wisdom (not). Oh not to forget to mention it once more, check forum(.hr). It is a long read but it's worth it. Also, check some of Canadian journey blogs on the right. For me reading things mentioned above was a source of many information as well as a very good motivation to proceed in the right direction. Also be aware that some things are outdated and some are completely subjective experience that might not imply to you, regardless of good or bad ones.
Next week weather forecast is a possible snow in town. Maybe even a white Christmas (not sure but I think last was 2006). Like in Split, people here are not used to driving in snowy conditions and they promise a lots of entertainment on the streets if it really snows. Many trees in town are already light up and if it snows it would be a really nice sight to behold.
Till next time, thank you for reading and thank you for almost 10 000 views :D
da bar imaš ponudu na hrvatskom jeziku
ReplyDeleteIsprike, al nisam razumija :D
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