Cabn someone give an idea of the job prospects for sales & marketing jobs in canada for a person with over 24 years of experience

It depends on an individual on how the prospects are.

Mostly be prepared to do entry-level jobs in companies like Futureshop which are retail electronic stores or tele-marketing. Foreign experience doesn't really count for much in Canada although there is a trend & demand now for recognizing foreign experience. It seems to be seen whether that really takes place or not.

I have around 15 years of sales experience & yet I am still doing entry-level job for the last one & half years. Ofcourse I did get a small promotion in my job before last 2 months but no monetary gain.

Call centre jobs might offer better pay although it gets boring. Try getting into administrative jobs or data-entry kind of stuff. Would recommend doing a small course after coming here.

What field are you in?

Rgds.

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Let's make India a better place !

Thanks so much for your prompt response. I have over 17 years in sales & marketing of engineering and industrial products, 2 years in software marketing & project management and around 6 years in management consultancy. What kind of course would you recommend that I do ? Are administrative or call centre jobs easier to get? what kind of salary levels can one expect in entry level jobs. Understand that the job scenario in Alberta is brighter than other parts of Canada. What is the reality?

Sorry for all these questions, but would appreciate a detailed reply

Thanks once again

Rgds

Chandramouli

Dear \\\"Mo C\\\",

I assume you are from South India ?. Your name is typical of people from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

I'm going to play the devils advocate here. Please do not be offended by my response. If so, I would like to apologize for the same.

Your 24 years of experience would count only if some parts of it where in North America. Otherwise you would start from scratch. Rajand has clearly given you the picture.

The population of India is 1000 million while that of Canada is 35 million.

Hence please shrink your job opportunities and expectations to the same proportion. I assume that you would completed your Bachelors Degree at the age of 22 and with 25 years of experience you are in the age bracket of 47 to 50. I would also assume that you would have two children of the age group of 18 to 15. They would be ready to go to college/University here.

Hence if you come with a savings of about of Rs.1 Crore (i.e., C$350,000) and buy a condo or a town hous at C$150,000 and invest the rest in a good mutual fund, you would be forced to work to make ends meet. This would also involve your wife working a full time job. Your children education would cost any where around C$50,000 + for a decent University program for each child.

The on going salary situation in Ontario with the current influx of immigrants is anywhere from C$8 to C$12 per hour. If somebody makes higher it would be more a skilled post like a CNC machine operator, plumber, construction worker, mill wright or an electrician. I do not see those skills in your write up. Hence you would be looking at C$10 per hour to start with and with a 160 hour per month a C $1600 per month and which is around C $20,000 per year to start with and a same would apply to your wife. The net income for you two after all Taxes would be around C$30,000 per annum. This works out to C $2500 per month. You would require a 3 bedroom house with your two teens which would work out to around C $ 1250 if you are some where around Square One in Mississauga. Your car insurance would be C$ 150 per month for a 15 year old car. The petrol cost would be around C $ 125 per month. Your groceries per month would be anywhere of C $ 150 per week. The sum of your rent, car insurance, gas, groceries adds upto C $2100 per month. You are left out with C $400 per month. This would go towards your clothing, shoes, week end visits, your life insurance, RRSP, your childrens RESP, your purchases like furniture, TV, computer, Camera, MP3 player and entertainment. Please note that I have not included your monthly telephone bill, Internet, your mobile phone charges, lease payment on a newer car and so on so forth.

From this description with your vast experience you would know that the debit side of balance sheet is loaded than the credit side. In your P/L account you know that the L side is loaded.

You will not be able to attend college to pickup a few certificates as you are working Continental Shifts-Rotating and you would be deprived of sleep/rest.

While this happening your children are growing older and they are of university age and you need to pay for their education(assuming you do not want to take an OSAP loan and hence start your children as debtor even before they start their career). You keep toiling that you would be able to get a better job some time later and it is like the carrot in front of the donkey. This event does not happen. You now start a Line of Credit and borrow money for some additional expenses and now your in a bigger debt.

You would now be stuck with your liabilities in Canada, while you sold all your properties, holdings in India. You would not be able to go back to India or where ever you came from. You will not be able to go ahead or go back.

You will be stuck where you started.

This story is applicable to 90% of people who have immigrated from India to Canada. You would reconcile saying that atleast my children would have a better life. They grow up and would like to start living separately and they would move out after college. They will not support you financially as they themselves would need to support their Canadian Life Style. By this time you would be 60 years old, and you would start saying that let me hang on for another 5 years so that I can get the CCPension at 65. By this time the heavy work in a warehouse/factory, coupled with the cold would have affected your joints with joint pain/arthiritis.

Please note that I have not counted in any house purchase from you and also any trips to India with your family where the tickets are C$1750 round trip per person.

Hence based on this Canadian Life (Hi)Story !, please plan your life at C $10 to 12 per hour for a 160 hour per week life style for the rest of your life !

There are exceptions to the rule ! For planning sake please consider the above case scenario applicable to you while you land in Canada.

Good Luck & God Bless !

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

The salary range given by Shankaracharya is correct. May extend upto $15 per hour. It is difficult to study while doing a job. Your kids might also need to work while studying.

None of the jobs are easy to get. Some call-centre jobs also require you to give 3 hour aptitude tests, 2-3 interviews, etc.

You can try fields like insurance agent, realtor where you can make use of your sales experience. Please note that you do need to give exams & do courses for this also. Also, in Alberta demand is for professionals in the field of engineering, plumbing, construction workers, electricians, truck drivers, bus drivers, etc. So not necessary job prospects are better in Alberta. Some of these professions again have stringent Canadian education & experience requirements.

If you are earning more than Rs.20,000/- per month in India, think twice about coming here. Best thing would be for you to come here with your kids (if you are coming for their study), let them settle down, you can explore your job prospects & if you don't like it, keep your options open for going back.

This is not to demotivate you but to make you aware of the reality here. Just as in America, people work in motels, fast-food joints, do labour jobs (specially those who go on green card, etc.), you have to do the same thing here.

Thanks & rgds.

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Let's make India a better place !

Guys,

U have given quite a calculative and clear picture ..........

Please add on a li'l bit by commenting on whether the same applies to experienced professional software developers and accountants also or is the picture different from them .An unbiased opinion is expected as it wud hold good for a lot of newcomers.

Manasvi.

Thanks again for those responses. I am sure your advise is well meaning and are based on the experiences of yourself and many who have come there. I have around 6 months of work experience in the US also as a business analyst(under H1B). Will that count towards something? As for my family, I only have one small child aged 5 years. I understand schooling is free till 12th Grade. My wife has around 21 years of banking experience, though I understand that she may have to take the CSC test to get an entry.

Does this change the scenario a little ?

Look forward to your advise and suggestions. Thanks in anticipation.

And yes, I am from Tamilnadu.

Chandramouli