I’ve started researching new Canadian PRs’ job seeking experiences and a lot of them don’t seem to be a smooth process. I do appreciate learning about other people’s experiences, so I don’t set my expectations too high.
However, I’m not sure if their job seeking experiences would apply to me as not a lot of them obtained their degrees or had work experience in the U.S., for instance.
My question is: I obtained both of my BS and MA from the US, and I’m currently working as a Data Scientist with academic studies in Statistics (took a few courses in CS as well, but I wouldn’t say I could transition into a Software Engineer easily). How much do Canadians value US degrees and work experience? Would I be biased against Canadian candidates when it comes to job looking as I don’t have Canadian degrees or work experience?
I have written on this topic extensively on Quora and on the MOV North site blog. From what you mentioned about yourself you will have no issue getting a job. US tech experience and education is highly regarded in major Canadian cities like Toronto.
The only issue I see with what you mentioned (I might have misunderstood) is the lack of coding experience. Even in Silicon Valley I know from experience that in all Data Science candidates needed to be able to code.
In the US foreign talent comes in mostly on a work visa (H1B, etc). Additionally most people get their work visa either after completing a US university degree or excelling in their field overseas. Universities for example give people a chance to intern, go though campus recruiting processes, etc as a way of getting face time with potential employers. All this means those in the US already have a job. In Canada it’s a very different situation. Traditionally the work visa process for Canada has been much longer and more complex than the US. This caused most companies to go a different route and not hire people on work visas. This is even more evident by the fact that most companies don’t have dedicated staff to handle immigration related work. In Silicon Valley it’s the opposite even medium sized companies have people to handle immigration and employees on work visas are everywhere. In my opinion the old immigration process did not match immigrants to the needs of the local job market. And this made it harder for previous generations of immigrants to find the right jobs.
I have a similar question. I have a PhD and Masters in Computer Science from the US, over 2 years of US work experience and 2 years of Indian IT work experience. I am still finding it difficult to get interview calls from Canadian employers. US employers are lining up ever since I made my LinkedIn profile public, but I am more interested in Canadian companies. What do I need to do different for Canada, compared to USA?
Have you let them know you have a Canadian PR. I’ve noticed many of the companies are not equipped to handle work visa paperwork etc and just shy away from hiring foreign talent. One off the reasons I introduced the Globalskills partnership on the site so someone else can handle the paperwork etc and help connect skilled people to Canadian companies.
I know someone who’s also on here who reached out to a few companies like IBM and was quickly brought into the interview pipeline and I think he got that job.
I’m happy to make introductions do you have any specific companies in mind. Feel free to mail me directly.