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Foreign Service - Strike?

Abe1004

Star Member
Jan 1, 2013
199
11
Category........
Visa Office......
Ankara
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
22-08-2013
AOR Received.
26-08-2013
File Transfer...
13-09-2013
Med's Done....
02-07-2013
Interview........
28-05-2014
DaveSav said:
That number is not for foreign immigration officers/workers, I'm assuming you got that from wow jobs as that's the number they come up with. It's not really an accurate site and those are referring to jobs within Canada which is not the group on strike and not the comparable group to PAFSO

This is from the pafso site, salaries below not including benefits.

FS-01 Desk officer: 62,793
FS 02- Senior Desk Officer 82,630
FS 03 - Dep Diretor/Legal Officer 104,026
FS 04: Senior Officer 112,512

The reason they were on strike is because a person doing the same/similiar job in Canada is making:
FS01 85,381
FS02 118,995
FS03 131,548
FS04 149,450
Those are all higher ends stats. There are a lot of paper pushers, ones who are not even desk officers. The mean salary of 51.174 is based off everyones salary not top end of the variance.
 

costaudjoe

Hero Member
Oct 30, 2011
438
16
Interview........
NA
Passport Req..
NA
Becki567 said:
I am a citizen how do I get one of thise jobs!!!
http://www.international.gc.ca/jobs-emplois/faq.aspx

A. Candidates who wish to apply for a career at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada will be invited to write the Public Service Entrance Exam (PSEE). The PSEE is an unsupervised test that is completed online from any location where candidates have access to a computer and an internet connection. It is suggested that candidates complete the test in a quiet location away from disturbances.

Candidates who pass the PSEE must write each of the following tests:

The Situational Judgement Test (SJT)318
The Situational Judgment Test (SJT) 318 assesses whether you have the required judgment to solve problems in work-related situations. The SJT presents you with challenging hypothetical situations that one might encounter at work, and that involve working with others as part of a team, interacting with others, and dealing with workplace dilemmas. In response to each situation, you are presented with five possible actions that one might take in dealing with the problem described. You must select the one response alternative that is the most effective, and the one response alternative that is the least effective in dealing with the problem described.
The Graduate Recruitment Test (GRT)
The Graduate Recruitment Test (GRT) assesses your general cognitive ability, i.e. your ability to use reasoning skills to solve problems.
A Written Communication Proficiency Test
assesses your ability to communicate in writing.
 

Passport2Canada

Star Member
Sep 17, 2013
73
0
Category........
Visa Office......
Ottawa
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
15-2-2013
AOR Received.
25-2-2013
Med's Done....
5-2-2013
Passport Req..
3-9-2013
VISA ISSUED...
12-11-2013
LANDED..........
04-02-2014
mask8 said:
no way. average income in US is something around 35k. I am actually surprised immigration officers are not paid that well..
A household income maybe, but a lot of Americans have to live on minimum wage. In Florida where I live, minimum wage is $7.79. Thats less that $15,000 a year before taxes. We aren't talking about household incomes here anyway. We're talking about individual workers making 50,000 and more. How can anyone not think thats decent money?
 

QuebecOkie

Champion Member
Sep 23, 2012
1,140
47
Very French Quebec
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
23-10-2012
AOR Received.
28-01-2013
Med's Done....
10-04-2013
Passport Req..
AIP 30-08-2013
VISA ISSUED...
DM 30-08-2013
LANDED..........
10-10-2013
$50K/year, when your position means you will be far from family, outside of your native land, and your spouse will likely remain un-or-under-employed doesn't really sound like that much to me. I feel a certain amount of similitude with the foreign workers, as much of what they experience parallels the experiences of military families (my husband is military; his posting to the U.S. is how we met). Sure, his salary as an officer looks pretty nice from the outside looking in. However, his career means it will be hard/impossible for me to have much of a career of my own. If we had kids, it means that every few years, we'd wrench up the roots they'd put down and whisk them off to some strange new place. I means that we don't get to decide where we live. It means we're unlikely to ever live close to either of our families.

$50K is a decent salary for one person (though to call someone making $50k/year rich is absolutely absurd and laughable). As a household income, it's a lot less decent, and when that $50k is received in trade for living in a foreign country with all of the challenges and drawbacks that entails, it begins to look rather inadequate.
 

Catou

Hero Member
Jun 9, 2013
284
6
Category........
Visa Office......
Sydney, Australia
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
VISA ISSUED...
22-11-2013
LANDED..........
Very soon.
QuebecOkie said:
... when that $50k is received in trade for living in a foreign country with all of the challenges and drawbacks that entails, it begins to look rather inadequate.
One person's challenges and drawbacks are another person's opportunities. I understand what you are saying though. A semi-nomadic life suits some people but can be hard on families.
 

mask8

Member
Aug 11, 2013
13
0
Passport2Canada said:
A household income maybe, but a lot of Americans have to live on minimum wage. In Florida where I live, minimum wage is $7.79. Thats less that $15,000 a year before taxes. We aren't talking about household incomes here anyway. We're talking about individual workers making 50,000 and more. How can anyone not think thats decent money?
well median personal(individual) income in US is 32K. I just saw it in wikipedia. household income is higher than that.
What you are talking about is minimum income in US, which I don't think mean "the average US worker" you mentioned earlier.
 

QuebecOkie

Champion Member
Sep 23, 2012
1,140
47
Very French Quebec
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
23-10-2012
AOR Received.
28-01-2013
Med's Done....
10-04-2013
Passport Req..
AIP 30-08-2013
VISA ISSUED...
DM 30-08-2013
LANDED..........
10-10-2013
Catou said:
One person's challenges and drawbacks are another person's opportunities. I understand what you are saying though. A semi-nomadic life suits some people but can be hard on families.
Totally agreed. For some the benefits of foreign travel and new experiences outweigh the drawbacks of leaving Canada, just as for many military families, the job security, training, national pride, etc. obviously must outweigh the challenges. But I get tired of people seeing these foreign positions as some sort of handout, all benefits with no down sides.
 

DaveSav

Hero Member
Sep 6, 2012
232
19
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
19-02-2013
Doc's Request.
8/8/2013
AOR Received.
27-02-2013
File Transfer...
13-03-2013
Med's Done....
07-12-2012
Interview........
n/a
Passport Req..
8/8/2013
VISA ISSUED...
14-11-2013
LANDED..........
28-11-2013
Abe1004 said:
Those are all higher ends stats. There are a lot of paper pushers, ones who are not even desk officers. The mean salary of 51.174 is based off everyones salary not top end of the variance.
Those aren't the PAFSO workers that were on strike, your number is wrong as i explained. Only 1500 workers worldwide belong to the union, this isn't every person in every office.


QuebecOkie said:
$50K is a decent salary for one person (though to call someone making $50k/year rich is absolutely absurd and laughable). As a household income, it's a lot less decent, and when that $50k is received in trade for living in a foreign country with all of the challenges and drawbacks that entails, it begins to look rather inadequate.
The starting salary is 62k
 

QuebecOkie

Champion Member
Sep 23, 2012
1,140
47
Very French Quebec
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
23-10-2012
AOR Received.
28-01-2013
Med's Done....
10-04-2013
Passport Req..
AIP 30-08-2013
VISA ISSUED...
DM 30-08-2013
LANDED..........
10-10-2013
$50K, $62K...I realize there are a lot of people out there getting by on much less (when I was single, in Oklahoma, U.S., which has a very low cost of living, I got by just fine on around $33K), but these numbers are far from the riches some act like they are.
 

RM15

Hero Member
Mar 7, 2012
211
3
Toronto
Category........
Visa Office......
Manila
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
08 November 2012
AOR Received.
23 January 2013
File Transfer...
29 January 2013
Med's Request
07 November 2013
Med's Done....
15 August 2012; re-med 08 November 2013
Interview........
waived
Passport Req..
20 June 2013
VISA ISSUED...
January 2014
LANDED..........
06 February 2014
Got this from PAFSO page on facebook:

"CIC management has plans for dealing with the aftermath of the strike and our members are cooperating with them fully".


Hope they will implement their plans (whatever they are)....ASAP!
 

OKLandman

Full Member
Jul 30, 2013
40
1
QuebecOkie said:
$50K, $62K...I realize there are a lot of people out there getting by on much less (when I was single, in Oklahoma, U.S., which has a very low cost of living, I got by just fine on around $33K), but these numbers are far from the riches some act like they are.
Hey fellow Okie trying to PR to Canada. Hope your adjusting well. Do you miss the tornados yet?
 

QuebecOkie

Champion Member
Sep 23, 2012
1,140
47
Very French Quebec
Category........
Visa Office......
Vegreville
Job Offer........
Pre-Assessed..
App. Filed.......
23-10-2012
AOR Received.
28-01-2013
Med's Done....
10-04-2013
Passport Req..
AIP 30-08-2013
VISA ISSUED...
DM 30-08-2013
LANDED..........
10-10-2013
OKLandman said:
Hey fellow Okie trying to PR to Canada. Hope your adjusting well. Do you miss the tornados yet?
PM'd you to avoid derailing the thread. :) Pleased-ta-meecha!
 

gongdi

Star Member
Jan 14, 2013
166
14
I wonder how much non-PAFSO, locally hired foreign staff get paid at foreign VOs? Probably not much. Probably work harder, too.