Finding basic survival jobs. Is it so hard?

[beholder69]

There seem to be many different opinions on that, with some people saying if you really want a job in Canada, you'll find one and others insisting it is too hard. If looking for a basic job, such as in a restaurant, fast food, security guard etc, is it really so hard to find one? There seem to be a lot of job offers around and surely those won't need any special qualifications, will they?

[betty216]

Are you in Canada or outside Canada?

I think when you are in Canada, it might be a little easier to get the job, however outside Canada, you would have to find an employer willing to hire you. Not many employers are willing to go through the hassle and paperwork of hiring foreign workers, as its a hassle.

If you are outside Canada you might have to look for agencies that hire foreign workers, am sure there is a fee for that.

Keep trying and don't give up. good luck!

[beholder69]

Cheers for the response! Will be going to Canada as a PR (married to a Canadian citizen), so will be looking for a job after I get there as I expected employers would be hesitant to prepare all the paperwork and hire someone not in the country at that time.

Although I have a degree as a Mechanical Engineer, I don't have any work experience, so planning on looking for a survival job, at least for the first year or so and then see if I can find anything related to engineering. It is some posts over the net, along with discouraging words from distant Canadian relatives about unemployment etc that are worrying me, since both me and my wife won't have enough money with us to be able to live more than 6-7 months without any work and we will both be looking for survival jobs.

[scylla]

Have you seen the following site which covers what it takes to work as an engineer in Canada? It may help you in the process of finding an engineering related job once you arrive:

http://www.engineerscanada.ca/e/pr_international_ieg_2.cfm

[beholder69]

Thanks for this, it was extremely helpful, bookmarked! 

It does seem quite a long and hard process though but in any case (and not that I wouldn't love working as a P.Eng. in Canada), I'm not moving with the sole target of finding a job as an engineer, I'm basically moving because even a survival job with the current salaries would yield more than what I'd get here as an engineer and a better quality of life, judging by the average costs I've seen on the net.

That's why I'm currently more concerned with finding a simple job that will get me and my wife (we will both be looking for work of course) through, so even at 1500 CAD after tax each per month, we would have money we would never dream of here under the current circumstances.

Which BTW brings me to another question I've had for some time and can't find a definite answer for... If at a job listing I see for example "Salary: $11 per hour", how much would I actually be earning after tax? Is there a set formula?