Working in Canada…



Our experience working in Canada

 This post was written for international students who are thinking about study at VIU and are concerned about how is the job market for international students in Nanaimo.  Since mid-January, Renato and I are working on-campus and since mid-February we also started to work off-campus, so we had both experiences to share with you guys!

First of all, during your first six months here, you cannot work off-campus, only at VIU.  At the website https://career.viu.ca/ , the university discloses both, on-campus and off-campus, job opportunities.   It is not necessary a visa to work at VIU.

For us, it has being an amazing experience to work on-campus, especially because we are working on something related to our background. Renato and I are developing and implementing a social media strategy for the MBA program.  You can check it out: became a VIU MBA fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/viumba; follow VIU MBA on Twitter http://twitter.com/viumba; and also check the MBA Experience collaborative blog http://viumbaexperience.wordpress.com/.

After six months studying in Canada, you can apply to get a work permit, which allows you to work 20 hours off- campus.  The process for us was really quick, in less than 3 weeks we got our off-campus work permit.  You can do everything online at the Government website; everything is really simple and clear. After starting your process at the website, the second step is to get VIU´s “approval” for the visa, and to get this, it is mandatory to have good marks in your previous semester. 

After we got our off-campus work permit, Renato and I started to look for some a part time job. Mainly jobs that we could work on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; not to undertake our studies during the weekdays. Less than a month later, another pleasant surprise that Canada gave us! We got a job, yes…we got a job…we got the same job, actually!

We are working as Professional Interceptors in a large department store to promote a credit card. As our supervisor said, our job is “walking and talking”. We were impressed with the friendliness of the majority people that we are approaching. In general, almost everybody has been really nice with us and we are also doing well with our sales!  The other good news: Working 15 hours per week off-campus, plus 5 hours per week in at VIU, we are earning enough to live here, to cover all our expenses. Of course we do not spend a lot! But it is really possible to live here working 20 hours per week if you share your expenses with someone else!

We also need to organize better our time for studying and working at the same time, but it's not impossible! Time flies ... and self-organization is fundamental.

But we really recommend this experience outside the school. We are here also to know this country culture and the Canadians; and the best way to do this is working! 

 Now I need to go. I already wrote a lot. Now it is time to relax a little bit and go to the bed. I woke up at 7am, worked from 9am to 4pm, finished one assignment for Wednesday and also prepared the dinner!  After all, besides studying and working and am also a wife! Keep The Fire Burning...and Have a Good Week!