Job Discussion Forums

[iverin]

It has been suggested to me to try and find a job in Northern Canada. I don't have a B.Ed but I do have a 4 year combined Honours B.A. I'd love to be a TA or classroom assistant or something. Any ideas of where to find information. I've looked at the government websites for Nunavut, NWT and Yukon and have found some jobs but they require Inuit language skills which I don't have. I'd be open to teaching adults, life skills etc as well. I haven't really been able to find anything as far as jobs in Northern Ontario either. Any help would be wonderful.


Edit: I live in Southern Ontario. I have 2 months ESL experience in Japan. I have pretty good computer skills and can type 60 words a minute so I'm open to office/admin jobs as well, just don't have the college degree for it.

[cassava]

Without a B.Ed or some kind of teaching diploma, it is going to be extremely difficult for you to get a worthwhile teaching position anywhere in Canada. Northern Canada, broadly defined, usually has all kinds of posts available. However, applicants have to have the proper qualifications.

You do not state the academic area of your B.A., so it is not even possible to tell whether the degree would be of direct relevance to teaching at the elementary or secondary level.

If, for example, you have a degree in Honours French, and you are fluently bilingual, you might seek a job as an immersion French teacher in an Ontario elementary school. Even here, however, you would face competition from suitably qualified teachers. Nevertheless, if you can get a "Letter of Permission" from the relevant education body and, in addition to French, you are able to teach music or physical education, you might stand a fighting chance of getting a position in Northern Ontario.

I would strongly suggest that you get some professional qualifications as quickly as possible, even if they are from outside Ontario, since the Ontario College of Teachers would likely grant you equivalency later on. You would then be able to compete with your peers for the available jobs.

Ontario is now a have-not province, as you might know, and the economy is contracting fast. Jobs in all sectors are disappearing. Therefore, you might want to look to the West where Saskatchewan, with its massive potash holdings, is enjoying something of an economic boom. The job situation in Alberta and Manitoba is also worth investigating.

I wish you all the best.

[iverin]

Thanks for the information. My degree is in English and Comparative Literature (combined honours). I had intended on going to teacher's college all along so I also have a minor in Classics and teachables in Religious Studies and History. The reason that I haven't gone to teacher's college yet was because I had left right after graduation to teach in Japan but had to return home because of an ill grandparent. Because I've taken time "off" between schooling I can no longer get 100% OSAP funding so I'm actually trying to find a job to save money in order to go back to school. I've maxed out bank loans as well so they're no longer a possibility. My hope was to get a job to save up enough money to go to teacher's college in the next couple of years.

[Symphany]

Iverin the economy is in a recession, which makes it more difficult than in better years to get jobs, however jobs still can be had. If your immediate goal is to save money to get the qualifications you need (notably a bachelor of Ed), my advice would be not to be picky about finding work, and look for the most suitable work that you can find within your home area. General job sites like monster or workopolis regularly have postings. Cassava, the West has taken a hit lately too, and it has been found that Saskatchewan is the only province to remain relatively unscathed by the recent recession. Relocation also has its costs which are difficult to maintain with little to no employment.

[iverin]

Thanks Symphany

The reason I'm looking up north is because I'm having no luck in my own area. I check numerous sites and newspapers every day. I've been doing workshops and seeing Employment counsellors at a local career development office and the counsellor was the one who suggested looking north for a job. When she finished her B.A. she worked in Northern Ontario and suggested that I should look into finding a job like that, which is why I'm looking nationally, in addition to looking locally. Things where I am from are pretty bad right now. One example that I know of, is one of the Kelsey's restaurants had over 600 people apply to be a dishwasher.

I figured if I widened my search I might have a little more luck. I'm not looking necessarily to teach, pretty much just anything in a classroom. I'd be open to anywhere in Canada really, I was just looking northern because that was what the employment counsellor suggested I do.

[Symphany]

It sounds pretty rough. Are you in a major centre or a smaller to mid sized town? It is great that you are willing to relocate to different areas, you may want to look into major centres, ie Toronto and Ottawa if you're not already in one of those cities. My experience has been that its harder to get work in a classroom without recognized qualifications. One of the exceptions to that rule is private language schools, my knowledge is of those here in Toronto that average $10-25 per hour that are willing to accept teachers without teachers college or TESL Ontario recognized qualifications. If your career counsellor has mentioned it, definitely look into the north and don't close any doors, keep looking, best of luck with your job search.

[cassava]

Iverin:

I suspect that your job search is going to prove to be so time-consuming and frustrating that you are going to have to re-evaluate all your plans. It is likely that even if you do find a job of some kind, the minimum wage that you will receive will be insufficient for you to live on as well as to have enough funds left over to save for tuition at Teacher's College.

I think that your action from now on is going to depend, to a great extent, on what your economic commitments are, whether or not you have a family, and how mobile you are. If you are free to travel overseas, your best bet might be to find the best paying job you can abroad and to save as much money as possible over there-teaching private students also, if it's possible. At the end of your contract, you should be able to return to Canada and continue your educational career without too many problems.

For many University graduates in Canada these days, the employment situation is so desperate that they simply have to adjust their plans to suit the times. This often means selecting an option that they might not particularly like, but one which, at least, will ensure their survival.

[Jetgirly]

Alberta school boards are somewhat better off than Ontario boards at the moment. My Alberta school (sixty staff of which about thirty-five are classroom teachers) kept five of our six Education Assistants on staff for next year. Although some teachers were initially laid off for next year, all of them were on temporary contracts and they were all able to be re-hired (some had already made other plans, however). My school, which was new and therefore doubled in size last year, had ten first-year teachers on staff, of which nine were trained in Ontario. If I were you, I would look in all of the prairie provinces.

[iverin]

Thanks Jetgirly,

My one problem is that I don't have the B.Ed or an EA college certificate. I'd love to work sort of behind the scenes as a student support staff or teacher's assistant but I think that the positions are hard to find as they're often given as practicums to people who are attending teacher's college.

I don't really know anything about the western provinces, especially northern parts of them or how to get jobs there. I have sent an email to my employment counsellor hoping that maybe she can steer me in the right direction since I've looked at the job bank websites and the government websites and haven't come across anything yet.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Keep in mind that there isn't a huge need for English literature teachers in Ontario, even in the Catholic system (I'm assuming if you have a teachable in religion that you're aware that you need a parish priest letter stating that you're a practising Catholic in good standing in order to work in that half of the public education system in Ontario) and so even having finished a B.Ed there is no guarantee by far of a job (that's why if you look for jobs as after school tutors or adult educators, they are now asking for B.Ed degrees- there are now a lot of people with them running around without a job, and so they're taking jobs tutoring for about the same wage they would make filling shelves at a big box store). Maybe you could look into getting registered in the Alberta or Saskatchewan, as others have mentioned.

If your goal is to save money, pay off loans and improve your experience profile for an application to a B.Ed, then your best bet at this stage sounds like going to Korea, or maybe Taiwan for a few years and trying to spend as little as possible while sending back as much as possible. The JET program in Japan would also be a good bet, but you wouldn't be leaving for a year (almost to the day) and the applications come out in September etc. JET is a good way to save money, though. Short of connections (and qualifications) the rest of Japan isn't as good as it used to be.

Otherwise, you'll make more money in Ontario in construction or warehouse or driving a cube truck or something like that than teaching English.

Your problem is the same as everyone's in Toronto (or southern Ontario). You have a four year degree in a subject that prepares you for entry level work in a company, assuming that companies train you to do what they want you to do. Companies no longer do that, though (they want you to decide what your career will be, go to a college and spend a year doing a post grad certificate in it, and if you discover that it isn't actually a good fit for you- and given that you are deciding on a career area having never actually done it, the chance of that happening is actually pretty high- then you start over with another post grad certificate- and yes, I'm counting a B.Ed in with this kind of certificate, more than a few people finish their B.Ed program saying that they will never be a k-12 teacher in Ontario. Many of them go overseas looking to teach. Many of them get another certificate from Humber, Sheridan etc in another area- I've known a few in public relations and a couple in advertising). And so having spent the last four to five years getting your degree, you are in too much debt to go back to school, but without going back to school you don't really qualify for most jobs. That's why employment councillors are telling you to try up north- there are simply less people with degrees meaning that although there are very few jobs, the ratio of degree-requiring jobs to people with degrees is FAR better there than in southern Ontario- especially since there is basically a college post grad certificate for every job type out there now, and so the people who are getting the jobs either have the appropriate post grad cert, or they just know somebody. There aren't so many people running around with honours degrees and post grad certs up north (people from up north who do them, are usually trying to get out of 'up north').

The two most common solutions to this problem are:
1. Leave Canada. Go overseas to teach English.
2. Get a job as a big box store manager trainee (like in Chapters/ Indigo or Staples or something), and hopefully in an area with either low rent (like Hamilton and west of it, or Bowmanville and east of it) or else near enough to your parents that you can live with them for free and take the train in.

[cassava]

[Symphany]

Gambatte, big box stores are beginning to close -- unfortunately the situation is that fewer people have the income to spend money in them. Last I heard Sam's Club (the big box division of Wal-Mart) stores were not doing as well with some or all of them closing (in Canada at least). It used to be that the retail sector was the definite place where you could get jobs but now even they are feeling the pinch. What I would advise iverin or anyone looking for work right now is to take what you can get -- that's generally the story for any recent grad and especially so right now. I would recommend broadening as opposed to narrowing the job search, so that you can get into something that allows you to save an amount that would allow you to go back to school. That job would not necessarily be for the long term (it likely wouldn't be if your plan is ultimately going back to school and teaching and the job is non teaching related) but it would get you going towards your goal. Remember the journey of 1000 miles starts with one single step.

[iverin]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Probably most people in Ontario have at least seven years of part time work experience at stores and/ or restaurants by the time they graduate university.

I guess if you can't get a job at a store stocking shelves, then the next step is look for restaurant work, or call centre maybe (if you've taken credit card info over the phone then you have experience in that, at least).

[iverin]

Other than a few months experience in a call center, a week as a receptionist and two months in Japan, I have no other work experience. I have volunteer experience as a teacher's assistant and ESL tutor but that's it. Because of the amount of money my parent's made while I was in university I couldn't have a job myself and get OSAP. Any cent I made was added to my parents' income which was already just below the cut off line and then I couldn't get OSAP... it was a ridiculous situation. So the only experience I have is what I have after university. So I don't have the retail, stocking, food serving etc experience most people have by the time they finish school.

I have actually looked into call centres again but I don't like selling or telemarketing (I usually find the quickest way to get them off the phone when they call me) and it's been hard to find inbound centres in Hamilton where straight selling isn't required (I can do some selling, like telling promotions or better prices etc)

Thanks for all the help. I just keep checking online, newspapers, friends, malls, stores etc looking for anything I can find. The Northern Canada idea was kind of a bust since they all need B.Ed certs etc. I have to meet my employment counsellor at the end of next week so I'm not sure what she's going to say about not finding any work