How to find jobs in other countries? 1

[digitalcaptive]

I'm an engineer in Canada, with 6 years of experience. I'm not unemployed but I'm getting bored of living here. I've travelled for work extensively, spent some time with my company in Asia and the States so I have some experience with working else where. I want to know how I can look for and be considered for jobs in other parts of the world (mainly places with a better climate, lower cost of living --- thinking the caribbean, south america or south east asia) ... I am not sure where to begin when looking for opportunities outside of Canada. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[moltenmetal]

I get the impression that Western Australia is the inverse of Northern Alberta, with hot traded for cold. Perth's lovely, if a little isolated from the rest of the country (and the rest of the world really), but that's not where the jobs are for the most part. No, the jobs are many hours of driving away from Perth or anywhere else, in full-on desert.

 

[beej67]

Do you speak French?

I'm told there's a huge demand for wat/san in Haiti right now. Lots of donation money funneling its way down there with few engineers to make sure it gets spent on meaningful infrastructure improvements.

My cousin was a photographer for the Red Cross, was in Banda Aceh after the tsunami, in Haiti after their quake, and is doing solo work now. She sent me these two links:

http://www.devex.com/jobs

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/doc212?OpenForm

Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[Medeski]

A similar question I asked a little while ago...

http://eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=276464&page=1

 

[digitalcaptive]

I am not interested in Australia at all.

@beej67:

I took french immersion in school so with a refresher I think I could come up to speed in the language but I'm not sure if the needs of Haiti fit my skill sets, although that does sound interesting to work there. What is wat/san?

I am getting really depressed here, and need a change of pace and scenery. It's either find another job in a distant place or go back to school.

 

[beej67]

wat/san = water and sewer. More civil than you're interested in, but follow those links and they've got all sorts of interesting jobs in foreign countries. They might have some EE infrastructure stuff too.



Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East -

http://www.campbellcivil.com

 

[controlnovice]

Several Canadian oil/gas/mine companies out of Edmonton that have offices in Bogota, Colombia. I've talked with several Canadians in Bogota, but can't remember the names of their companies.

Despite all of the news, Colombia is a safe place. Been there many times over the last 8 years. Beautiful country, very friendly and happy people, spring time year around in some areas (with a rainy season), other areas can be downright HOT.

______________________________________________________________________________
This is normally the space where people post something insightful.

 

[rotorblade]

digitalcaptive,

Some have already mentioned this, but unless you have a very interesting background, what increases your chances will be your language skills. I work in a foreign country now - although it's not fair for me to call Spain, my new home, a foreign country. I had a very interesting bacground for my current job, but if it wasn't for my Spanish I wouldn't be here. This could change from country to country, of course, because these are the little things that distinguish the working culture in each country.

Cheers,

rotorblade

 

[macmet]

Are you only looking for engineering jobs? Why not go teach english somewhere for a year or two?

Otherwise, I recommend a company like GE and ask for those sort of assignments after getting hired. I was just speaking with a rep there that had spent 8 months in Columbia (where he was mugged btw), sometime in Peru, and most of this year in Houston.

Point is, you can travel.

 

[digitalcaptive]

>Are you only looking for engineering jobs? Why not go teach >english somewhere for a year or two?

Leaving a good paying gig to teach english? Wouldn't that set me back career wise when I'm done?

>Otherwise, I recommend a company like GE and ask for those ?>sort of assignments after getting hired. I was just >speaking with a rep there that had spent 8 months in ?Columbia (where he was mugged btw), sometime in Peru, and >most of this year in Houston.

I've done extended assignments out of country but traveling to work like that and settling somewhere are entirely different things. The living out of a hotel, and the coming and going out of airports got to me. I'd prefer something more long-term than short month at a time trips.

I kick myself saying that though, because I had an opportunity to take an extended tour of duty somewhere but turned it down in favor of these temporary assignments. One of the biggest regrets of my career so far.

 

[KENAT]

"Leaving a good paying gig to teach english? Wouldn't that set me back career wise when I'm done?"

Possibly, but you didn't mention anything in your OP about maintaining your current standard of living etc.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[bones206]

There is a lot of nuke work in China. My company has a list of over 100 positions for long term (6 month to 3 yr) assignments posted on the wall. With the amount of plants that China is planning to build in the next 20 years, your chances of finding work there might be good. In fact, several of my colleagues working on plants in China are Canadian expats.