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| Subject: Studying Again to Practice your Profession? |
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Hello,
I´m an electrical engineer and my wife and I applied for an immigration to Canada. I´m aware that I won´t be able to use my profession there since I have to fulfill several requirements.
There were several engineers (who had 10 yrs. of working experience) I read about in forums and articles who went to college again and then joined organization respective of their fields. Is there anyone who did the same? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Is it really worth the time, considering you have a family to take care of?
Thanks
[01-11-2007,21:39]
[**.95.18.126]
nogienugz |
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(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
You are on the correct track, thinking of going to the school.
I´m a Civil Engineer. Pure electrical engineers jobs are mostly government related. Good news that in Canada Govt. jobs are in general lucrative than the pvt. sectors.
You should be aware that admission in Canadian universities is not also very easy either, tough competion is also there as well.
Advantages:
- You´ll get a valuable Canadian degree which you can use almost every where in the world. So you can have easy access in some other place also.
- By achieving that you are placing yourself well ahead of many other competitors.
Disadvantage:
Not any. A higher degree can´t have any disadvantage.
Should be named as challenges:
- Getting admission.
-Financial, you will be eligible for student loan after 1 year though, but still with your family you may have to go through some hardship.
- Depending on where you from, you may find initially hard time in the school.
Is it worthy? Like said before, of course it is. If not in Canada, somewhere else. Though don´t assume blindly that it would warrant you job in Canada. There are many people remian jobless evenw ith local degrees and have to leave for USA or somewhere else. I´m one of them.
So head up and take the challenge.
[01-11-2007,22:54]
[**.152.223.9]
Departed_Canadian |
RE: Reply to the Studying Again to Practice your Profession? (in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Departed_Canadian,
Thanks for the insights. Good to hear it from a fellow engineer,?. Can you elaborate these:
1) Tough competition in universities; Are you referring to high grades that one should maintain?
2) "Initial hard time" in school; Does this also include racism? btw, I´m asian.
I know that you have your own reasons for using your talents somewhere else. And I think you did it because it´s the best thing to do in your situation.
Regards,
[02-11-2007,01:35]
[***.5.65.193]
nogienugz |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Each province has their own regulatory body in your case. Some provincal regulatory associations will not even assess ones credentials until you have a Social Insurance Card while others will do it by mail.
We have had several clients who were in Ontario working without authorization who could not get Ontario to recognize his credentials. We had them apply to another province and they recognized his credentials. Now he is working in his field earning a little more then others due to his personal skills.
Instead of asking others here start contacting every provicial regulatory body in your field to see if any of them could assist you! Each provice or territory has their own requirements.
Roy
www.cvimmigration.com
[02-11-2007,07:45]
[**.52.219.173]
Roy |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Roy,
Thank you very much. Yes, I´am aware that every province has its own set of requirements in granting license for engineering position, so being license in one province does not mean that you can practice your profession in another province. Things like these are readily available online, or just by just making phone calls. These things were also explained to us by our immigration consultant and I already did my homework on this subject.
What I would like hear or read are "experiential" information; personal stories of those who successfully migrated to Canada but chose to get into a university again.
[02-11-2007,09:13]
[**.95.18.126]
nogienugz |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Nogienugz,
You have to do both, search official websites and listen others experiences specially in your field, if possible from your country. Specially you can´t gett the answers directly in any websites which you asked. You are correct, I took my decision based on my ground, apparently some wise men don´t like that decision. In their opinion you should go hungry in Canada with higher degree qualifications rather than move somewhere. I don´t want to discourage you in any ways, but look closely in the web and you may find many different versions.
First of all, do not simply assume that just having a license or Canadian degree is good enough to warrant you a job. Don´t know about others, but in ON, for Civil Engineers, you need to have min´m 1 year of Canadian experience, and if you don´t have degree of some prefered countries then have to face an interview.
Seems very easy. Yes, it is. BUT, here is the chicken & egg argument. You need 1 year experience. Fact is, without any effective personal reference possibility of getting hired with foreign credential is very slim. Canadian employers emphasize more on "Canadin Experience". That is even not supplemented by local degree or license. How to get Canadian experience? In Canada, most direct way is to by Govt. managed Co-Op program. Students before graduating already got at least 2 co-op experiecne, most of the time after graduating they are hired by the same companies. Problem is this co-op is only for the undergrad students unless you can manage by your own. That basically explains with Canadian Masters degree many immigrants are not able to find jobs in their field. I would strongly suggest you, if possible chose a field of study which has guranteed co-op program rather than your personal choice. I know a gusy with U of T masters have to go back to a community college for 2 semesters to have some co-op experiecne, then he got a good job.
1) Tough competition means simply competition for admission. Canada doesn´t have too many universities to support all. With the onslaught of immigrants & subsequesnt job hardle, many guys like you prefer to go for the higher studies. So you have to compete with all. University requirements are also higher. Like in the U of T, the need 75% in your undergrad, also TOEFL/ESL. Good thing is no worry about GRE like American schools.
2) Not necessarily racism. Racism exists everywhere, in all countries, not just in Canada. But if it is here, it is not any point that you should consider. Don´t worry about that. Challenge means, in North America the education system is totally different than Asia, if not from Singapore. So you will need a little time to adjust. You may find the 1st semester little challenging. Also may have some problem with language, accent.
[02-11-2007,10:21]
[***.254.208.242]
Departed_Canadian |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
I am an engineer. First off your comment that being licenced in one province does not mean you can practice in another is true but usually if one province licences you then you shouldn´t have any problems getting licenced in another. It is usually transferrable as most of the provinces have similar requirements. So it is getting the first licence that is hard.
Also i would recommend going to AB. It is heaven for engineers. You are more likely to get your credentials recognized in AB if you have lots of experience. You might have to write a technical exam to get your P.Eng but it sure beats going to school for 4 years.
Also like Roy said instead of asking here write or phone to the local regulatory bodies to see what they say.
[02-11-2007,10:30]
[***.191.224.61]
vc |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
I would also recommend thinking outside the box and thinking of a province other than ON. I know its colder in the praries but you didn´t come to Canada for weather, did you??
This is just my general observation on this forum.
[02-11-2007,10:35]
[***.191.224.61]
vc |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
VC´s last advise is fully agreeable.
In general, Alberta has now the most to offer, though other than extreme cold, life is more expensive there too. But, for the sake of job those factors should be minor, specially in your initial stage.
You may do some job search on the net and compare the prospects.
[02-11-2007,10:53]
[***.254.208.242]
Departed_Canadian |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Thanks guys. I´m getting lots of infos here. Yep, I chose Alberta as our destination in our application.
[02-11-2007,11:00]
[**.95.18.126]
nogienugz |
(in reply to: Studying Again to Practice your Profession?)
Alberta is red hot at the moment. A word of caution - every engineer waiting for immigration also knows this fact and is thinking the same thing - go to Alberta.
Think BC as well.
[02-11-2007,11:25]
[***.121.220.199]
sharon |
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