Some advice to job seekers

[lenaitch]

The likelihood that a dream job will be in one of those places is nearly zilch

I suppose it depends on one's skills and aspirations. I found mine. Our daughter and son in law are in a northern Ontario city, own their own home, make decent coin and prefer to live nowhere else. A few years ago a friend found his in Yellowknife.

You underestimate how important this is to people.

[/QUOTE]
I'm not saying they're not important, but if they are part of the metric to not pursue an otherwise ideal job then they are unnecessarily limiting themselves. This country was basically founded on people seeking their pot-o-gold (or kicked out of someplace else).

 

[Admiral Beez]

You underestimate how important this (proximity to family and friends) is to people.

This is such a cop out. Our Great Grandparents, Grandparents or Parents didn't let family ties, nostalgia and sentimentality keep them in the old country. In the 1970s when I was a young lad my parents moved from the UK to Mississauga, ON, leaving behind cousins, parents, friends and home. I’m sure it’s not easy, but you go where the opportunity is. And if you’re young you’ll make a new family of your own.

 

[Undead]

^you seem to be struggling with the idea that people might have a different perspective or priorities than you

 

[lenaitch]

^you seem to be struggling with the idea that people might have a different perspective or priorities than you

No struggle on my part. Different perspectives are what discussion forums are all about. If somebody chooses to narrow their career prospects for what, I feel, are peripheral reasons, fill yer boots but if the concern is that a job cannot be found at a living wage in a particular region, friends, family and a familiar environ might not fill the gap.

 

[Undead]

No struggle on my part. Different perspectives are what discussion forums are all about. If somebody chooses to narrow their career prospects for what, I feel, are peripheral reasons, fill yer boots but if the concern is that a job cannot be found at a living wage in a particular region, friends, family and a familiar environ might not fill the gap.

My comment was directed at the Admiral!

 

[Admiral Beez]

^you seem to be struggling with the idea that people might have a different perspective or priorities than you

Not true. What I’m giving is a different perspective as a counter option to what seems to be the norm of today’s younger adults: less prone to permanently leave their childhood home until their early 30s; closely tied to family and childhood friends; and, disinterested in seeking a career, home or building a family of their own outside of the GTA (this makes sense here, being an Urban forum).

You do you, nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but if our ancestors had done the above Canada wouldn’t have any people other than FN, which the latter would likely prefer. Our nation was built by people stretching or severing ties with family, friends and childhood foundations to build new lives for themselves. It’s not for everyone, and once experienced one has a greater perspective of what one wants in life. As I wrote earlier, I moved to NB, but after experiencing three years of Atlantic Canadian life I realized I missed Toronto and my little corner of Cabbagetown, so we returned to where we started, but with a now more informed perspective. Certainly I would/will miss my soon to be adult children if they decide to move far away, especially as I age, but they are not anchored to me.

There are tons of jobs and inexpensive housing across this nation. You don’t have to go as far as Dawson City, Yukon either. Here are Urban Planner jobs in London, ON, I imagine there are dozens of urban planning graduates here at UT fighting over the few openings at Metrolinx and Toronto city hall, but would never consider a job in London because it stretches ties with family and friends. This is the cost of that limited perspective, a possible door, a fork in the road not even considered.

 

[Towered]

No struggle on my part. Different perspectives are what discussion forums are all about. If somebody chooses to narrow their career prospects for what, I feel, are peripheral reasons, fill yer boots but if the concern is that a job cannot be found at a living wage in a particular region, friends, family and a familiar environ might not fill the gap.

If one truly has a loving relationship with close relatives, I wouldn't simply dismiss that as peripheral reasons.

 

[afransen]

No struggle on my part. Different perspectives are what discussion forums are all about. If somebody chooses to narrow their career prospects for what, I feel, are peripheral reasons, fill yer boots but if the concern is that a job cannot be found at a living wage in a particular region, friends, family and a familiar environ might not fill the gap.

Live to work or work to live. If you think family and friends are peripheral, I guess we know which side of the debate you come down on.

ETA: I am actually the most remote member of my immediate family, but not all that far (I can do weekend visits by car). I live in the GTA for economic opportunity, though I quite liked KW when I lived there and was attending school. Was tempted to live there and commute to GTA, but I hate commuting. That would have been awful.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I have to remind myself of one thing, that it is easy for me, a university educated, straight, white, 6ft tall,. thin, able-bodied, UK-born anglophone to work anywhere in Canada, or much of the world. In my travels throughout Canada and the globe for vacation or work I always fit in or my presence is not perceived as a negative, AFAIK anyway. When I lived in Fredericton, NB I invited my daughter's godparents to visits us (she's from Jamaica, he's from Guyana), and when I took them to my employer's picnic they wondered why everyone was staring at them, to which I replied they're probably the first people of Caribbean and South Asia descent they'd ever met.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Live to work or work to live. If you think family and friends are peripheral, I guess we know which side of the debate you come down on.

Do you really think the hundreds of thousands of people who emigrate to Canada every year since the 1850's are doing so because family and friends are peripheral? Are all these people below selfish in your opinion? Is that how you see your own immigrant great grandparents, grandparents or parents, as shellfish for leaving their homes and families behind to seek opportunity in Canada? If you do, that's a little sad IMO, and I'd suggest you need to put yourself in their shoes.

When I lived in NB almost everyone's adult children had left the province for work in Alberta, Ontario or elsewhere. The same, if not more so happens in Nfld, where almost all young people leave for greater opportunity down the road. Do you really think young adults see their parents back in Atlantic Canada as peripheral? IMO you have it wrong, these are often gut wrenching decisions that people make, leaving one's home country or home in Toronto to seek life and opportunity elsewhere.

My parents didn't leave the UK for Canada in the 1970s because family wasn't important, but instead they put those feelings aside and sought what they believed was a better opportunity for themselves and their children.

 

[Soop]

I think for sure when you are young, heading off to follow a job/career is great. When you are single and have no kids, it's not as risky. I went to Banff for 5 years after university and college, met my now-husband and got great, good paying job experience in my (at the time) field. But I really did miss my family and they are not at all travelers, so to see them, I always had to use my vacation to come home. Once we got married, we decided to move back to be close to our families, but by that time, we were almost 30 and had a better sense of ourselves and what made us happy. One thing that was nice about moving home, was our vacations suddenly could be wherever we wanted.

I must say, I'm glad I wasn't still in Banff when COVID started. I'm not sure how the Springs is dealing with it, but I imagine it's ghost town.

 

[lenaitch]

Look, if anybody can find a fulfilling and viable career and lifestyle in a local phone call from where they grew up, terrific but not everybody does. Leaving friends, family and familiar surroundings can be uncomfortable, particularly when you are young, but for some, to follow their dream or at least put food on the table requires trade-offs.

I find it curious that some think folks coming to the GTA or any other metropolitan area is good and natural, but not the reverse. I also find it curious that some feel that moving outside of the sight of the CN Tower is akin to stumbling onto the set of Hee-Haw, but to move to another country is exciting and exotic.

 

[lenaitch]

Live to work or work to live. If you think family and friends are peripheral, I guess we know which side of the debate you come down on.

ETA: I am actually the most remote member of my immediate family, but not all that far (I can do weekend visits by car). I live in the GTA for economic opportunity, though I quite liked KW when I lived there and was attending school. Was tempted to live there and commute to GTA, but I hate commuting. That would have been awful.

"Peripheral" was perhaps not the most appropriate word; more accurately 'primary'. In considering a future career path, job change or simply a job to feed and house my family, proximity to family and friends is, in my view, not a primary consideration.

 

[Admiral Beez]

"Peripheral" was perhaps not the most appropriate word; more accurately 'primary'. In considering a future career path, job change or simply a job to feed and house my family, proximity to family and friends is, in my view, not a primary consideration.

This is fair. One of the reasons my parents choose the GTA when we moved from the UK in 1976 was to be close to my uncles, aunts and cousins who had preceded us to Canada. So we left some family behind in the UK, but sought out others where we landed. I imagine if one of my children moves to Vancouver Island my wife and I may take that as a poke to buy a vacation home nearby, assuming relations are good.

 

[afransen]

Do you really think the hundreds of thousands of people who emigrate to Canada every year since the 1850's are doing so because family and friends are peripheral? Are all these people below selfish in your opinion? Is that how you see your own immigrant great grandparents, grandparents or parents, as shellfish for leaving their homes and families behind to seek opportunity in Canada? If you do, that's a little sad IMO, and I'd suggest you need to put yourself in their shoes.

When I lived in NB almost everyone's adult children had left the province for work in Alberta, Ontario or elsewhere. The same, if not more so happens in Nfld, where almost all young people leave for greater opportunity down the road. Do you really think young adults see their parents back in Atlantic Canada as peripheral? IMO you have it wrong, these are often gut wrenching decisions that people make, leaving one's home country or home in Toronto to seek life and opportunity elsewhere.

My parents didn't leave the UK for Canada in the 1970s because family wasn't important, but instead they put those feelings aside and sought what they believed was a better opportunity for themselves and their children.

I think you misread my comment. Lenaitch described not wanting to move away from friends and family as a 'peripheral' reason. If you have that opinion, I can see why you might prioritize moving to earn more. But that is not the same as saying that those who move for opportunities see family and friends as peripheral. A implies B does not mean B implies A. It is fine if people prioritize earning power over personal relationships, but I don't see why we should rag on people who prioritize relationships over incremental earnings.