Career advice and similar life stories!

[viniciusm]

I'm here to expose a little bit of my life situation as engineer and I´m looking for tips, advice and similar stories as mine to help define my future goals and plans.
First some background about myself: I have my Mech. Engineer Bachelor's Degree from Brazil. During my undergraduate studies I did an exchange program to Canada, where I improved my English, had engineer classes and did a research internship. When back to Brazil I had a internship as mechanical engineer and after graduated I work as mechanical engineer ( product development tasks and mechanical) for about 8 months.
Then I had the opportunity to come to Canada to take my Master's, that's what I'm doing at the moment, however the area of study is kind new for me. It is on fluid mechanics and heat transfer. So far I can tell that I will have a very good academia opportunity to learn a great amount knowledge on that field, publish some articles and add new skills.
In a way to be in touch with the design part of engineer I'm part of the SAE teams at university helping with design and manufacturing.
My doubts and questions would be about:
- As I do not have work experience in Canada, what will be some problems I could face after graduation with a Master's to find a job here in engineer?
- Would be a work experience such as summer internship interesting or necessary to have while taking my master's if I have time for that?
- What is the job perspectives in fluid mechanics and heat transfer here in Canada? I would have great interest in pursue this field after, if there is opportunities to use my knowledge to design and manufacture projects related to this field.
Thank you

 

[moltenmetal]

It sounds like you will have, by the end of your Masters' degree, enough Canadian experience to attempt to immigrate via the Canadian Experience Class or Provincial Nominee class of immigration. You should seek the advice of someone knowledgeable in immigration law though to tell you what your chances are. If you don't get in through one of these two classes, your chances of immigration are quite poor without a job offer in hand. It is difficult to imagine an employer waiting around long enough for a fresh grad to become legally eligible to immigrate.

Regrettably, the job market right now for fresh graduate mechanical engineers is quite weak, which is no surprise because only about 30% of engineering graduates in Canada actually work as engineers or engineering managers. We have been growing engineering school enrollments by a multiple of the actual engineering labour force growth rate for over a decade now, and immigration has not ceased despite a tightening of the rules- we're still taking about half as many immigrant engineers as we graduate from our engineering universities yearly. In another five years the 30% engineering "placement rate" will likely drop to 25%.

Alberta is no longer taking large numbers of engineers from the rest of the country, which leaves an oversupply in many locations. This allows employers to be "choosy" about who they hire, and they like that of course. That does not mean that you will be unable to succeed- thousands do, every year. It just means you will be in for some very stiff competition from fresh grads whose first language is English and who already have several years' worth of Canadian work experience and references to draw on.

If you have any chance to get actual real work experience here in Canada while you're a student and hence your immigration situation is not complicated, then by all means you should do it. Having Canadian work experience and references will greatly help with your job search when you graduate.

 

[TheTick]

When my dad died, I found his immigration file.

He came to Canada as a German national with a bachelor's degree in engineering. He applied for entrance to the U.S. three times and was rejected. He got a Ph.D. (organic chemistry, McGill, 1962), and the gate swung open: welcome to America Dr. Schwarz.

 

[viniciusm]

Thank you for the reply moltenmetal,

I went to the Provincial Nominee class of immigration website and I did also contact them in person. I wont have to worry about the immigration process right the way. After my Master's degree is finished I'm eligible to apply to post-graduation work permit, that will allow me to stay 2 years as a work permit. After 6 months of work experience and the employee is willing to keep my work contract I'm eligible to apply to the Provincial Nominee class of immigration.

So it turns out it will depend on my master's degree good performance and if my skills will satisfy the employers. So at the moment I will work to improve my engineer skills to become more employed as possible to get into that very competitive market.

Thank you TheTick for your story, I appreciate people like your Dad that go for new opportunities and adventurous outside their comfortable zone to improve themselves as professionals.