Stress Engineer from US moving to Alberta - How's the work situation? 5

[Stringmaker]

I work as a stress engineer at a gas turbine manufacturer here on the east coast at the moment. I love doing structural/stress analysis work and using FEA as a tool to design and solve complex engineering problems. I'd like to move to Alberta, either Edmonton or Calgary, this coming year as my fiancee is living there for the foreseeable future. What prospects are there in aerospace, automotive, defense, or other industries which require a skill set similar to what I have? I've been looking online and most things seem to be geared towards the Oil & Gas industry.

I have an MS in Mechanical Engineering, great analytical skills and work experience, am highly proficient with Ansys, LS-Dyna, and Nastran, and am pretty handy with a few CAD programs too. Jobs seem tough to come by up there. Does anyone have suggestions where would be a good place to look which I may not have overlooked already?

Thank you!

 

[SNORGY]

I suspect that in Canada - Alberta in particular - a large percentage of engineers leave the engineering profession more because of how fed up they get with it than how flat the employment market is. This is especially true when MBAs start calling the shots in engineering companies and relegate the role of (and respect for) the engineer to a level comparable to that of the immigrants (who, somewhat ironically, are probably also engineers) who come in and vacuum the floors after hours.

Not that I am in any way bitter.

Others leave for the United States simply because nobody in their right mind could possibly enjoy two thirds of the year being -20 F if they had a chance to live someplace pleasant.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[ornerynorsk]

No offense intended Moltenmetal. I'm thinking back to a place in time and a particular situation. I shouldn't let my own singular experience of the past muddy up the water. Thanks for calling me on it.

 

[moltenmetal]

snorgy, most of the engineers leave the profession right after graduation. Some leave right away by choice, never intending to practice engineering, but a great many others don't get a chance to enter the profession to find out if it's a good or bad gig. Bad economy equals no hiring of fresh grads- which equals "shortage" of mid-level candidates ten years later...

The same is true for a great many fresh immigrants who never get an entry position into the profession here, and eventually lose their profession working in "survival jobs". No job- no Canadian experience. No Canadian experience- no job...So- why is the Canadian experience a concern for employers? If you're an employer, why take a risk on somebody who hasn't proven themselves yet in the local marketplace, when there are ten candidates in the applicant pool who HAVE already? Less of a concern for the OP whose work experience and education are from the US, but a BIG issue for immigrants from India or China etc.

As to the MBAs, they're the ones lobbying government to keep the supply taps open- if they have to treat engineers like professionals and pay them accordingly, they feel hard done by. The more engineers there are on the market, the happier these guys are. They want a "flexible" labour market, which means an over-supplied one!

I hear you about the cold. But to each their own. To me, you can always put on more clothes to deal with the cold, but most people really need to remain clothed to a certain extent regardless how hot it gets outside, not only for their own modesty I might add... Me, I'd prefer Calgary to Houston any day of the week- but the Fort, I'm not so sure...

Of the Canadians I've known who have left for the US, it hasn't been for the weather. It's been for the job, and the pay, and the weather has only been a bonus (or a minor disincentive). A few even come back BEFORE retirement...

ornerynorsk: no offense taken. I just wanted to understand where you were coming from. Sorry to hear you got the shaft.

 

[SNORGY]

moltenmetal:

It's certainly true here (Alberta) that the death of the economy in 1983 (the year I graduated) produced such a surplus of young folks who ultimately got into something else that, when 1993 came around, there was a big shortage of engineers in the "ten years of experience" range. It then took yet another decade to compensate for that void, because engineers were either too green or too gray.

To some extent, immigrants filled that void, and our governing Professional Association took measures to embrace and encourage what was coined as "inclusivity". And, by and large, the vast majority of the immigrants in this influx were skilled, excellent people.

Now, the market's flat, and we're getting rid of the people in between the greens and the grays. Green's are cheap, grays are either invaluable or ensconsed, and the rest are expendable.

We might be in the "here we go again" mode.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[Unotec]

Snorgy, you get a star.
I am an in-between green-grey, immigrant, that has battled with APEGGA unsuccessfully so far.
Funny, everywhere I've worked my peers have recognized my engineering, but there is but ONE confirmation test I have not been able to pass out of the four I was asked to present.
Got laid off, found a job back in the home country nonetheless, but looking forward to go back to Calgary as soon as I get a chance.
Oh, and the comments about the weather, I actually moved to Canada in search for snow and the outdoors... I'm mexican.

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>

 

[thruthefence]

" Unless you want to do maintenance on 50 year old Beavers and floatplanes,......"

why would you think the OP would be allowed to do this 'menial work'? Transport Canada is very particular about who maintains & inspects the aircraft under their supervision.

 

[ykee]

Unotec -- have you checked out PEO? I thought they were more open to acknowledgin credentials of foreign trained engineers. Then you could apply get status in AB because of the reciprocity agreements.

 

[Unotec]

ykee, never thought about that. I'll look into it.

Thanks!!

<<A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown>>