Hi all,

I plan to move to Montreal sometime later this year and was wondering how hard it is to find programming jobs in Montreal for non-French speakers.
I am keeping this post general as I am just hoping to get some idea of the environment there.
Specifically, if anyone is interested, I have around 9 yrs of developlment experience, an MS from the States and work experience with top US/Indian consulting firms - Accenture, Wipro etc.

Am working in Bangalore at present...

My French is just above minimal - I can order a meal in a restaurant. I did pass the interview with the QC selection officer though That was 40 minutes of French...

I ask because I see a lot of posts on GTA/Vancouver etc. but not much on the Quebec area and Montreal in particular.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Alexm,

Just curious. When u have an MS from USA and worked there, why r u moving to Canada? I think things are better in USA than Canada wrt IT jobs (by reading some of the posts on CD).

Anyways, Montreal is ok for non french folks. Lots of Indians, Sri Lankan Tamils etc. I think CGI has their HQ in Montreal. Give it a shot. For your exp u should have a good chance. Also Ottawa is less than 2 hr drive from Montreal. Keep Ottawa on your radar. This is the Silicon Valley of Canada. At the same time, keep improving your French. Helps a lot when getting good jobs.

DIO

IT market is currently doing good in specific IT areas but normally employers prefer Billingual .
I know Accenture has lot of openings in ERP area around montreal.
IBM stopped all recruitments upto July 2005(Actually I was trying to push one of my friend).
HP also recruiting jobs in entry level ..my wife's friend joined there last week after finishing his MS in Concodia
I would say rather than concentrating on Montreal open your horizon in other areas also(like Ottawa) ...and post your resume to potential recruiting agencies.

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ani

Hi Ani

Thank you very much for your post.

Could please tell what are the areas in IT are demand in Canada right now. It is helpful to IT people. Please share your views about IT market in Canada.

Thank you.

PMA.

Quote:

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Orginally posted by ani70

IT market is currently doing good in specific IT areas but normally employers prefer Billingual .
I know Accenture has lot of openings in ERP area around montreal.
IBM stopped all recruitments upto July 2005(Actually I was trying to push one of my friend).
HP also recruiting jobs in entry level ..my wife's friend joined there last week after finishing his MS in Concodia
I would say rather than concentrating on Montreal open your horizon in other areas also(like Ottawa) ...and post your resume to potential recruiting agencies.

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Knowledge is Power

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alexm,

Just curious. When u have an MS from USA and worked there, why r u moving to Canada? I think things are better in USA than Canada wrt IT jobs (by reading some of the posts on CD).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I do agree with Desi in Ottawa's comment.
Unless you have any job or visa status issue in USA you may need to continue your US based job until you find a suitable job here in Canada.
So my advice will be complete landing formalities ,go back to USA and continue job hunt from there ....

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ani

Actually, I am in India right now...got laid off in the States a few years back and returned to India.
I applied for Quebec - it's faster than the Federal selection process; very much so in India.
Yeah, I saw a few postings here about the opportunities in Ottawa. Would like to try Montreal if possible, but if things arevery bleak then I guess I will have to look at other cities.
Am thinking of the trying for the States again but am a little cautious because I do not want to go through the whole layoff experience again - lost a decent amount of savings in that process.
Btw, I am in the .Net area; have been for the past few years.

Thanks a lot for your inputs guys; it's really helpful to get feedback from guys in Canada/States while sitting here in India.

alexm,

Dont be under the impression that if u work in Canada, u will not be laid off. Look at the way Nortel has done. Thousands were laid off. It's all profit and loss issue. U should know by this time.

If u r in India, I am pretty sure that with your education and exp. in USA, u should have a good job. If not something is not right. Job scene is much better in India than in Canada for IT. So think abt coming to Canada.


DIO