Mech Eng in AB - What do I need to do?

[Kalasri87]

I grew up in Australia and currently work as a mechanical engineer (3.5 years) and I've been thinking about quitting and moving to Alberta and finding work.

I want to move overseas to experience something new. However applying from Australia to Canadian companies doesn't seem to work. I think I have a better chance if I'm there and trying to find work.

I have a Working VISA, APEGA Engineer In Training (EIT) Status and Free Accomodation (Family) available in Edmonton.

What do I need to do in terms of finding a job? I've trawled through websites to find job ads and have been applying for them.
Is there anything else I should be doing but I haven't been?
In terms of networking, I have no contacts in the industries in Alberta. How would one go about networking?

P.S. Am I being stupid or should I the plunge?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Katayoon]

Ironically, there are so many canadians wishing to migrate to Australia and you decided to leave Australia behind to come here. But as everybody has own reasons, I am not going to ask questions here.

They say here that the first step in networking is to do an unpaid internship. In Montreal we have a program called interconnexion which provides some internships to new immigrants. There must be something like that in Alberta too. I am not a fan of unpaid work so I do not have any personal experience with this.

However I can say that filing applications online rarely gives results. One must use phone/visits actively to contact employers directly. Over 90% of businesses in Canada are SME and most of them have no means to advertise jobs on high street websites. So there is some chance of finding job when you enquire directly at the company. I got two jobs by walking in directly into the company but those were wll below my qualification level. Still, better than nothing.

I grew up in Australia and currently work as a mechanical engineer (3.5 years) and I've been thinking about quitting and moving to Alberta and finding work.

I want to move overseas to experience something new. However applying from Australia to Canadian companies doesn't seem to work. I think I have a better chance if I'm there and trying to find work.

I have a Working VISA, APEGA Engineer In Training (EIT) Status and Free Accomodation (Family) available in Edmonton.

What do I need to do in terms of finding a job? I've trawled through websites to find job ads and have been applying for them.
Is there anything else I should be doing but I haven't been?
In terms of networking, I have no contacts in the industries in Alberta. How would one go about networking?

P.S. Am I being stupid or should I the plunge?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.