Top 3 Canadian cities for IT jobs:

Toronto, Montreal and Calgary

Next 3: Edmonton, Vancouver, and Ottawa

Quote:

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Orginally posted by neerajj

Also Top 3 cities: Toronto ON, Montreal, QC and then Vancouver BC

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Great Discussion - Lots of information

Some Background:

I finished my Bachelors in US University. I worked for 2 years for a small company with 20 developers. Company could not survive slow US market. I was without H1-B so I came to Canada on Visitor Visa. While I was here on visitor visa I started looking for jobs on sites mentioned previously in this thread like monster and workopolis. I posted resume on Friday night to make sure I have 2 solid days to apply for jobs before Monday. Everyone kept saying that Canadian Market is not GOOD. But to my surprise, I got calls from recruiters from Monday afternoon itself. I was called in for 6 interviews (4 from recruiters and 2 from employers). After a month I had 2 job offers. So I could negotiate the salary. I have been working in same development position for over 10 months now.

Keep Positive and things will start to happen. It might just take some time. I was lucky to get the job this fast. If you have legitimate US work Experience, It WILL make difference. Before you ask my skill set is as follows:

Sun Java Certification – Java, J2EE, EJB
Microsoft Certified Application Developer for .NET (C#)
• SQL Server
• ASP.NET
• C#
• Web Services
• NET Remoting
Porting of Classic ASP app to .NET App

Well one point I would like to emphasis is – Hold IT industry known Certification in your field.

It may very well be MCAD.NET/MCSE/MCDBA/Oracle/Cisco etc. It just helps to clear up some doubts from prospective employers mind regarding your credibility. Have a proof of certification handy so they can verify. Online Transcript from Certification Provider (Microsoft/Oracle/Cisco) would be ideal.

Make sure you read up on background of current technologies used in industry buzz words. Technical recruiters would be asking you questions mostly on buzz words.

Best of Luck. Stay Positive.

Priyank

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Priyank Patel | Lead Software Engineer | Softtech olutions | softtech3p.com

Priyank,

Thanks for relaying ur +ve experience across.

Sunce u r in the related area wud u clarify which has got greater demand in Canadian IT market - J2EE / .NET & what r the wage rates (average).

On the other hand hows the job market for an Oracle DBA / Developer or a Systems Administrator (Unix / Microsoft )

U have validly stated the point abt industry certs - They give u initial credibility .

Manasvi.

I know its out there, but can someone lay down what is involved in getting certified in .NET or is it part of some broader certification from MS.
How many courses and how much effort, time for a total newbie in the area of .NET.

I am also conflicted if I should go the Java or .NET route.

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I once made a mistake, but I was wrong about it.

mercury6,
Corroborating priyank3003, I think you cannot go wrong with either of those. The key is whatever you do do it sincerely and thoroughly . there are lot of jobs in both the areas, but remember there are real good guys with those technology too.so if we do our homework correctly I think you will succeed. Just see which ever makes you comfortable

Things like .NET or java don't by themselves do much to add value.. it's hard real-time experience.. If you don't have one.. try to solve real life problem by developing your own application..
kinda like complex hello world .. that helps and keeps your skills current..
If you want ideas.. I can give plenty.. hell.. I'll even buy it if it's good enough..
Things ppl forget is.. at least with s/w.. you don't need huge investment of time and money to keep yourself immersed..
for starters..
1. Cable applications.. Get the Kit from VxWorks and start.. that's embedded..
2. J2ME applications for your cell kits.. again simulators are free..
3. Win XP Speech synthesis to allow all those multi-lingual ppl to operate in french
4. Simple web-site design for expense manager.. Yahoo Finance used to have those.. and I loved the simplicity of it.. since then I have been looking to get one free or cheap one.. but minimum is quicken or Money.. which again not web-based..
you get the idea.. try to have fun with it.. employment and jobs will follow.. and even if they don't .. well at-least you had some fun..
Seriously.. though.. Core C++ and systems programming is the things.. everything else.. just child's play..

Nice sentences !!! and words of advise too.

In b/w .NET / J2EE I still need to know from ppl working on these technologies which is more compatible to a person have 06 years of Oracle background.

I know that .NET is essentially an MS platform and uses SQL Server generally. J2EE is more of platform independent and Oracle somehow supports it by transforming their server with a Java cache and building their 9iAS around the same thing.

For freshers , I have a feeling that .NET is relatively easier to learn ..... but I need confirmation .

Whats the market for Oracle DBA Developer BTW ??Mercury , we know that u r an Oracle guy - kindly share your comments on this . For MCSE.net just google - it consists of 04 core plus 01 elective exam

Manasvi