I would like fellow dopers advice on how they moved from North America to Europe. I dont think the job market here in Toronto is that great and so I’m thinking of moving so that I can work. I’m tired of sitting at home and I realize that the tech sector has been hit hard so I’m willing to move to whereever I can find a job. What I’m wondering though is if dopers who have moved to Europe if you found the job after moving there. I dont have visa restrictions because I do have dual citizenship but Im not sure do I look for work after moving there or start looking from here. In the past I’ve applied online from here to the Uk and the agencies have said that I should be living locally. Im just confused on how to go about this. I think companies dont really want to pay for a ticket to interview you or the relocation fees be it if I were to move somewhere else in Canada or the UK. I dont know. Any advice? * Sorry about rambling on too. *
I moved to Europe and found the job after moving here. I can’t really imagine doing it another way unless you’ve got some extraordinarily special skill that will make companies desperate to interview you.
I was lucky because I had friends I could stay with here while I got myself sorted. If you don’t, you might try looking up hostels in the country/countries you’re interested in and see if any will allow long-term stays - it would be much cheaper than staying in hotels, and much easier than renting private accommodation without a job. Then, if you don’t have a lot of money saved up, you can always temp while you’re looking for permanent work.
Good luck.
The tech industry here (UK) is poor too, but some analysts predict a better 2003. If you’ve already got dual citizenship then you’ve got the hardest part over with. Check sites like http://www.monster.co.uk to see what fits and how it compares to the situation in Canada. Be aware that most of the tech jobs are in the south of the country where the cost of living is the highest.
It’s really hard for a North American to get work over here in the EU (I know, I’m a North American living in France) because there is a law that says that EU citizens must be favored over North Americans.
The RATP here in France is ignoring that law, though, so if you want to work in the metro system, they don’t care where you were born. But, for tech jobs…the EU’s been hit hard as well.
Phoenix
Thank you for the responses. I guess I’ll have to go there and figure something out. I have sent out resumes from here looking at the monster.co.uk site with not much sucess. TMP seems really popular there. Oh well I guess I’ll keep trying and if the market is not doing great over there then well I guess there isnt much one can do. I must also remember to send out CVs although I’m not exactly sure what the difference is. Someone living in England said that I should include a picture, age that sort of thing. I dont know. I’m going to do a google search for an appropriate CV for the EU area.
Resume = CV, there is no meaningful difference in my experience.
An American woman has a job in the UK AFTER she received her EU passport. Her father has duel citizenship with the US and Greece. It took awhile however.
Do Commonwealth countries have reciprocal areeements with the UK?