Job Prospects for Canadian CS students abroad.

[Matthew44]

I am taking CS at the University of Regina and the thought of having to spend the rest of my life here is a frightening one. I was wondering if any of you had experience finding CS related jobs in other countries (is looking blindly on the internet for jobs a bad idea? should I be using specific job site?). Any experiences you have had or advice would be greatly appreciated. I will be graduating in 2012 with a co-op designation (4 4-month work terms) and would like to have an exit strategy prepared beforehand.

[jbking]

I worked in the US for almost 7 years in total, and would offer caution if you want to go in a similar route. There are a couple of different types of visas that would let you work in the US, a TN-1 and a H1-B, and I have used both in the past. A TN-1 will grant you temporary worker status that can be renewed each year but can't be used toward being a lawful permanent resident, a.k.a. a "green card." A H1-B is good for 3 years and can be renewed once to last up to 6 years at most. I was initially down on a TN-1 and had a transfer to a H1-B and was had the initial work done before 9/11 so I may not know what the new rules are in terms of going into the US. There are some sites that cater specifically to people wanting to go into the US under a H1-B I believe. There is a cap of 65,000 H1-B visas that can be issues each year and that is met usually on the first day of the fiscal year so it can be hard to get one.

I do have to ask why you wouldn't consider working in any of Canada's bigger cities like Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver? Each has a bit of a tech hub to it, if you want to live in a big city.

[Vermette]

jbking @ December 2nd 2009, 12:06 wrote:

There is a cap of 65,000 H1-B visas that can be issues each year and that is met usually on the first day of the fiscal year so it can be hard to get one.

In (I think it was) 2007 the H1-B quota was hit in under 3 hours.

[Matthew44]

jbking @ Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:06 pm wrote:

I do have to ask why you wouldn't consider working in any of Canada's bigger cities like Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver? Each has a bit of a tech hub to it, if you want to live in a big city.

I don't want to leave Canada permanently and ideally I would like to settle down in either Montreal or Vancouver. That being said I would like to work abroad for at least a few years and experience something different. I'm not really that interested in the states, I was thinking more along the lines of Europe or Australia.

[Tony]

Matthew44 @ Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:16 pm wrote:

That being said I would like to work abroad for at least a few years and experience something different.

In most foreign countries you'd require getting some sort of a work visa. For your purposes, you might be interested in looking into getting a Working Holiday Visa. It's a sort of cultural-exchange-agreement between different countries, designed for young people; but it allows for employment (with a bunch of restrictions, so look into the details). Canada, being an original founding member of the program, puts you in a very good position in terms of number of choices (just about everywhere).

[jernst]

You could always consider grad school at a university outside of the country it's sort of like a job