Job Discussion Forums

Jillian · Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject: Canada Connect?

Has anyone read the job post from Canada Connect? They say that they will help you find a job in Mexico if you send them your resume and pay them 15 bucks. Sounds good... I just wanted to know if anyone has used them before or knows anything about them? Thanks!

Jillian

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I think there's a thread in this forum on Canada Connect if you search for it. I thought that 15 bucks was for a Spanish test...I could be wrong

joshua2004 · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2004 9:01 pm Post subject:

I have only heard very few good things about paying someone to find you a job. The rest were about how it was a scam or they find you jobs you could have easily found yourself.

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

Yeah, we already did this one.

Lisa M · Joined: 17 Nov 2004 Posts: 18

Hey Jillian,
I paid the $15 about a week ago and I have received 3 job offers.
Two of them not so great but one from ITESM which is a University there.
So far it seems that the $15 was worth it.
Sometimes I guess not all agencies are a scam, hasn't seemed that way with Canada Connect. The schools that wrote me were all ligit.

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

Ben Round de Bloc · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946

joshua2004 · Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2004 6:31 pm Post subject:

Jillian · Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2004 3:21 am Post subject:

juststeven · Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 117

Jillian,
You hit the nail on the head with one swing "CUIDADO'. So many American and Canadian girls go to Mexico for the adventure. They are young graduates ( or as the Brits say, 'fresh' graduates) and they are looking for a new experience in life. God bless them for their strength and will. However, there are many situations where you young ladies, albeit educated ladies, will find yourselves in situations where you have been lied to ( oops, a dangling preposition!). The Mexicans want young , pretty gringas to come and teach them, in the 'fly-by-night' schools. You will recieve a miserable wage and be taxed; you will also be at the whim of an obnoxious Mexican male to do his bidding.
Make sure that you have enough money to get home!
CUIDADO

moonraven · Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094

Sorry, steven, but I don't think what you wrote is at all indicative of reality here in Mexico. I don't know which "fly-by-night" schools you are talking about, but the majority of jobs here in Mexico are pretty much on the up-and-up. That is not to say that you can't run across some bad apples in the bunch--but word gets around about them pretty fast, and one of the reasons this site exists is so that people can ask before they leap into the unknown.

Anyone who works legally here will be taxed--the same as in the US or most other places in the world. Salaries may or may not be miserable--I have been here almost 13 years and have yet to receive a salary--even when I worked only 3 days a week--that didn't allow me to pay my rent, buy decent food and have some fun traveling. So far as I know, no teacher has been forced into slavery here. A job that doesn't pay enough to meet a particular person's needs should simply be refused, not whined about.

As for obnoxious Mexican males--I find that to be a highly racist label, and although obnoxious males exist here--as they do everywhere (I noticed a higher concentration of them in the US, BTW--especially last month when I was there and testosterone seemed to be in business for itself)--I have found ALL my male employers to be very respectful, and most of them have bent over backwards to insure that I was happy working with them. In fact, the only employer who cheated me was a hypocritical gringa from Chicago--and she cheated everybody.

The biggest fly in the ointment is usually that of having unrealistic expectations. Mexico is not a Corona beer commercial, nor an ongoing remake of a R. Valentino movie; it a big, highly variegated country with a rich and complex culture dating back to before the time of Christ.

I would say that the biggest CUID�DO is that of making a fool of oneself in another culture.

Folks who are genuinely searching for advice on this forum would be well-advised to spell out their situation in as much detail as possible--not come on like Litle Miss Muffet and then complain when other folks assume that the facade is real. This doesn't only apply to posts. I am personally very tired of folks PMing me for help getting jobs without specifying their background or even what KIND of job they are looking for.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I was about to respond to that earlier remark about Mexican males...glad you got it first Moonie

I have to agree wholeheartedly. I'm sure there have been instances where some male boss took advantage of a female foreign teacher. I'm also sure that many US and Canadian male bosses take advantage of Mexican females contracted as slave labour in the fields. Probably happens everywhere.

Any female, or male for that matter, should exercise a degree of caution and street smarts when traveling anywhere outside of the 5 meter radius of your place of birth. The further you go, the more caution needed, particularly when you change the language and culture.

Moonie, I agree. Mexican males, for my experience, are quite freindly and extremely helpful. People here seem genuinely happy that you are visiting their country, be it for economic reasons, or sheer nationalistic pride. I lean on the pride side since this country does have so much to offer the world. I still consider it this best place to live, right behind Salmon Arm, BC, my little utopia, so far away.

juststeven · Joined: 18 Aug 2004 Posts: 117

Okay, Okay - perhaps the "obnoxious Mexican male" thing was a bit too much! I somehow knew that the Raven would take to flight with tallons drawn. Sad

My concern was to alert young female grads about potential problems from 'companies' that recruit from the US and Canada. I say this as a father of two teaching daughters that had very bad experiences in Mexico. As for the 'racist' issue, the mother of my girls (God rest her soul in heaven) was from Sonora. Me parece que las mas bonitas mujeres del mundo vienen de Sonora! Guy - you seem to be a very caring and professional educator. Mexico is lucky to have you.

richtx1 · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 115 Location: Ciudad de M�xico

I'm not the only one here who earns part of their income working for these fee-placement services. The one I've been doing work for charges substantially more than 15 dollars, but provides substantially more services. Not everyone who wants to work here can afford to come on their own, look for a job, negotiate a decent wage, find housing, etc. Not everyone wants to, and may find fee-for-placement services cost or time effective.

some waygug-in · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 339

Just one small point that I think has been missed in this thread.

It still amazes me that so many "schools" in Mexico and elsewhere continue to advertise for inexperienced, untrained people, with ads that say things like, "no experience necessary" or "no degree required" and then these same places seem genuinely surprised at the results they get.

They go out of their way to find clueless kids just out of university and then they are "shocked" that these kids can't handle the situation.

Go figure.