My background is as follows:

-I see myself in Canada towards the end of Feb 05 with my husband and 7 year old son

-I am 33 years old and a Bachelor of Science (microbiology and biochemistry) from Mumbai University and have one-year experience in quality control laboratories in Pharma Companies in Mumbai during 1990-1991.

-I subsequently, went for a career change and obtained Masters Degree in HR from Mumbai University.

-I worked in HR for about 3 years till my son was born in 1997.

-My son suffers thru constant allergy cough and bronchial problems due to various reasons right from the time he was 4 months. Due to his constant ill health, I quit work and remained at home ( 1998 onwards) to take care of him.

-His health still requires attention and I am constrained to think of taking up home-based or part-time assignments till such time that he grows out of his health problems.

-My skills in computers are limited to typical office-based MS Office applications, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint and Internet usage.

Given the above, can someone suggest me how best I can engage myself in HR related or Computer industry related home-based/part-time assignments that could fetch me an income of at least CAD 1000 to CAD 2000 a month in Toronto?

Also, please advise whether such assignments require additional skills/qualifications that I could perhaps try and obtain in India, before landing in Toronto (GTA) i.e. by Feb 2005.

Your help will be highly appreciated.

Grace, my 2 cents

I also sufferred from constant allergies and running nose when I was in India (VIsakhapatnam to be precise). Maybe its 'cos of the humid weather, coupled with pollution and sea-breeze !
I have a feeling your son's symptons will change once you land here.

Unfortunately, home-based opportunities are quite limited these days (esp. with the docom bust). Please be forewarned, that the Canadian workforce environment has a glass ceiling, when it comes to HR or other managerial level posts. I presume, you are Christian. With our skin color and coupled with a latino-sounding name, you can easily be mistaken for a latino (read Mexican). I dont think, this is the common norm, but just to be careful.

IMO, your best bet is to revive your Microbiology career. You may wish to venture into bio-technology. There is a skill shortage in this field and you may get "genuine" and "meaningful" (whatever those terms may mean) employment with bio-tech skills. The salary will be to your expectations as well. Can you achieve such sills while at home ? I dont think so.

If, however, you wish to pursue some home-based employment then there is a scope for you to venture into day-care (considering that this is your major constraint). You will need to take a licensing exam and then you can start your own day-care center.

I would also suggest that you, very carefully and intesely, browse through a major portion of da posts in this forum. I may have missed out on certain aspects. You can get a better idea by referring to them.
Best of luck

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"Aur Vaise Bhi, Sharafat ki jab kapde utarti hai, sabse zyaada mazaa shareefon ko hi aati hai"....(From The Dirty Picture)

Warning !! SCAM ALERT !!
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=4169 & http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=1379
This is a Useful Health related Tip
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=3865
Please visit
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/quran/verses/009-qmt.php for some interesting Information ! (Especially 009.005 )

Thanks a lot O_ N,

I very much appreciate your suggestions and valuable insights.

I know its going to be difficult for me to start my career again (in Canada).....but as u feel....I too am hopeful that my son's health will be better there. In that case, I am very keen on upgrading my skills, be it in HR or Microbiology, and taking up a career-oriented job.

Its really encouraging to see so many members in this forum who take time off from their busy schedule and reach out to help others.

Grace,

Ottawa_Nerd may be right abt. the allergies. And Mumbai's weather is polluted and humid (no offence to mumbaites). Hopefully things will work out for your son.

Keep your option open with Microbiology. Some bio tech firms may be willing to talk to you. Also health related govt. agencies may hire thru emp. agencies.

Reg. day care. I think you need to take some first aid/CPR training. You can take it when you come to Canada. You could baby sit upto 3 kids, I believe. That would help you reg. your son.

desi in ottawa,

Thank you very much for your advice. I am feeling quite positive.

Frankly speaking, I was not very hopeful of receiving a reply to my query. Now, I have received two encouraging replies! I plan to gather more information from the Internet based on the suggestions made by you and Ottawa_Nerd and hope to make a proper start.

For us, as prospective immigrants to Canada (who will be landing in Canada for the first time), it is a tough task to foresee and plan things in the right perspective, in terms of career as well as various issues involved in migration and settlement. Thanks to supportive people like you who make things easier for us.

hi Grace,

I am so surprised to read your situation....its soooo.... similar to mine! My son who is 2 yrs older to your son had been told he is allergic to Mumbai's polluted environment. Everytime we went out he would start to cough for days and days. We did allopathic and homeopathic medicine in India but with temporary relief. We were told by the doctor not to take him out of the house......imagine that! But after we came to canada all his bronchial problems were gone. Thats coz of the clean weather! So dont worry..ur son wont have any pollution related problems here.
Regarding your career.....its similar to mine.....BSc and Masters in HR. I tried and am trying in HR but no one seems to even consider any experience which is 4 years old. I checked different sites for Science jobs but found they want a PhD for research assistant jobs! Finally I decided to forget HR and Sc jobs and be ready for anything like CSR etc. So goodluck and All the best !

Sakt.. Hope you are really Sakt in real life also

Welcome to the real world called "Canada"

Forget abt your work experience. It's zilch when it comes to Canadian markets (unless you have some rare skills that folks here want). A Phd for research assistant is common these days, as you have a host of ppl doing their Masters degrees. The situation will get worse as many ppl in Masters are enrolled in their PhD programs. So if you want to catch up, I would suggest you revive your Science career.
As for H.R, I had warned Grace to not think too much abt that. Canadians (read white's) dont like Brownies bossing over them. Its a hard fact of life and better to accept it.
However, my second prediction is also true !.. Glad to know your son's problems have been rectified.
I would add one caveat though. I did not have to take any allergy tables or syrups while I was in Calgary and in Ottawa.
2 years back I visited India. I got the flu there and when I came back, my immune system had failed. I caught the FLU again in Canada, along with those symptoms of running nose and common sinus problems.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Aur Vaise Bhi, Sharafat ki jab kapde utarti hai, sabse zyaada mazaa shareefon ko hi aati hai"....(From The Dirty Picture)

Warning !! SCAM ALERT !!
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=4169 & http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=1379
This is a Useful Health related Tip
http://www.canadiandesi.ca/read.php?TID=3865
Please visit
http://www.cmje.org/religious-texts/quran/verses/009-qmt.php for some interesting Information ! (Especially 009.005 )