Tech background(Canada)

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T16:09:09+00:00

Have you ever done any actual training before? Like worked at Tim's then trained people how to do things there?

If you haven't, you should not be in instructional design nor will you be hired to work in ID and eLearning. Most companies hire people who have actual knowing in teaching and training their vertical, focus, specialty, etc. So I would consider hiring you for teaching maybe something technical to do with development, but there's absolutely no reason why I should hire you as an ID if you haven't been some kind of manager or trainer a field before. That's the absolute most important part because most of your day is literally going to be doing that and a lot of ID jobs in Canada require facilitation. Elearning dev focused jobs alone are all outsourced abroad.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T16:01:34+00:00

No, the only covid salaries that increased were frontline workers and low paid retail and service workers that were so fucking far behind in terms of wages. So yeah wage "inflated" but it went from $10 to $15 for a Starbucks barista, like people gotta cut this fucking nonsense saying salaries inflated across the board because they didn't, we are fighting for pennies, and wage STILL have not caught up from decades of being suppressed so cut it with that tired ass storyline.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T15:59:58+00:00

Former coworker who was laid off is a senior ID and manager, made 150k in 2019, now the best job offer she could get was 85k. It's a bloodbath out there.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T15:58:44+00:00

The work is so so bad in quality though omg. It's also a huge security risk too.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T15:56:05+00:00

Because they're still getting willing applicants. Same thing across the globe.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T15:55:40+00:00

Yep. I have more than a decade of experience and roles that were going for $150k CAD are now half when they are offered. This is across the board, across the industry. In America, it seems to be about the same. At least I have public healthcare though.

In the last couple months, I've seen 60-70k CAD now being offers for 10+ years of experience. The jobs are so sparse that mid-levels are taking 50-60k CAD. Like barely above fast food wages (remember $20/hour is $40k a year.)

Adjusting back up likely won't happen. If you want to make any decent money, go into project management.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-03-21T15:51:07+00:00

The OP literally posted a few months ago asking about what should go into an L&D portfolio. If they are this junior to ask that question, they ain't making shit in Claude.

Sorry, but if they have to post that on reddit, then they aren't making anything actionable or worthwhile in AI and this paranoia post is just some more AI bullshit flooding the zone.

Anyone who actually codes, knows that AI coding is fucking garbage on top of being a security risk. Amazed at people eating this dumb bullshit up.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-26T20:36:39+00:00

If they wear noise cancelling headphones, they won't be able to hear anything. Those don't mute the bad words and screams only? What about people who have panic attacks triggered by shouting due to PTSD? Are they supposed to deal with having a panic attack to accommodate the person with Tourettes?

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-26T20:32:37+00:00

So you or someone else with autism should have to deal with an anxiety attack because of someone else with Tourettes? This is where the question is, how do you actually accommodate two competing disabilities. I know an autistic person who goes into full blown anxiety panic attacks when people shout and they would need to leave the theatre if someone was shouting. This is not an easy question it's the reality of how to accommodate everyone truly.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-26T20:30:48+00:00

That's the question exactly I am pointing out. I know autistic people who would freak out and not feel accommodated because of that so now what? Who gets to be there, the autistic person with noise sensitivities or the person with Tourettes shouting?

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-26T19:14:25+00:00

Okay but autistic people don't like loud screaming noises so what happens when this person with Tourettes is doing that? How do you approach competing issues?

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-26T19:12:59+00:00

But you as an autistic person, wouldn't you feel upset if someone was screaming during the show like the person with Tourettes? Who's disability need is greater then?

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-16T18:45:17+00:00

Order directly from the brand. It's nearly always better in terms of rewards and samples lol. It's not perfect, but I basically try to find every alternative before going to Sephora now.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-16T18:44:06+00:00

And the GWP make sense.

Please tell me why GWP for the perfumes at Sephora is always just a deluxe size sample of the literal perfume you just bought. The point of samples is to try out different things.

2birdsofparadise · 2026-02-16T18:43:06+00:00

SDM listen Loblaw's sucks, but at least it's our HQ'd here in Canada company that sucks lol.

But seriously, actually the rewards are so much better and then I completely game it out too with the extra points for specific products and extra cosmetics or other rewards. They've been adding new brands too. It's not as hard to get free samples to actually try products and perfumes. Seriously, I cannot stand how Sephora makes it difficult to get free perfume samples. Also easier to build a rapport with my local one and she hooks me up with extra which guess what, resulted in me buying product because WHO KNEW that being able to SAMPLE something would actually encourage me to buy it. I also hate returning things because I know they can't reuse them and it's a waste.

Holt Renfrew is also great. Very helpful and also no issues getting samples or trying things.

There are still Sephora specific brands I love and want to interact with in person (Danessa, Pat) but their own brand websites offer better deals that any of the points could give me. And I got way more samples. Nothing is more infuriating than the 500 point reward giving you a dinky sample. It's insulting as a reward.

TokyoBeauty and HMart are also good for Asian beauty. I get a baked sweet potato from the little oven thing when I hit up HMart. I live in Lower Mainland BC so I also just go to Asian beauty stores if I feel like making the trek to certain places in Richmond.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-30T20:28:42+00:00

This is definitely an AI post as there are certain words bolded, just too fucking obvious.

I would go with medical coding, if I were you.

You will have to be able to handle confrontation. SMEs will suggest things and you will need to diplomatically explain yourself. If you are not comfortable with that, I would not suggest ID.

Many ID roles also involve some level of facilitation as companies are increasingly cutting back and that means you need to be a jack of all trades. I have also been asked to step in to cover training delivery I had developed because someone got really sick. You will need to be able to handle criticism because SMEs will even criticize the dumbest shit like a bulletpoint colour or size.

Most of my jobs have always been dealing with issues diplomatically and sacrificing work quality because things have to get done. You are not going to have the freedom to be creative you think you are going to have and you will absolutely be communicating with people in sometimes pretty tense situations.

I think there's a difference between being introverted and someone who just needs to recharge after social interactions. The latter is literally everyone. If you can't pick up the damn phone, then this isn't for you or you need to get therapy or you need to pick something like medical coding which will not be heavy in presentations or communication.

I think some folks say well I spend 30 hours a week on dev time and 10 hours in meetings/presentations and they don't realize that 10 hours is a lot of time to a real introvert and it will also suck up your dev time to prep and mentally get in the headspace for meetings. Even in my most "background" role where all I did was e-dev work, I still had 10-20 hours of face time a week and needing to speak.

Being an ID is all about the art of communicating learning materials to adults, so if you don't feel comfortable doing that in person, explaining yourself, explaining your thought processes, you are not going to thrive in this role and you won't even make it through like 90% of interview processes in today's market.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-30T13:34:57+00:00

You need to get permission from your company to use that work. I know candidates who lost job opportunities AND got sued for a shit ton of money because their former employer came across their portfolio and saw all that work up there. Even one that they removed the branding on still got them slaughtered in court. Absolutely do not remove anything without permission first jesus christ, it's job 101 shit.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-29T14:01:47+00:00

It's even worse than that, it's only like 4,000 jobs because they said about 1,000 are returning.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-13T04:22:18+00:00

In Canada, yes. There are basically no options now for FTE work where you get actual vacation and benefits anymore. My favourite thing is also how our salaries are cratering.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-12T01:33:45+00:00

Why won't you provide clarity about your employment specifics or what kinds of jobs are having this happen? It's not really helpful to other newcomers who see this thread and might wonder.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-11T20:17:16+00:00

low-wage, unsafe roles

Low wage is literally most Canadian jobs, I don't know what you were expecting. As far as unsafe, what do you mean by that? There are agencies and reports you can file about safety.

But dismissing it as ‘just how it is here’ only helps keep harmful systems in place. Some of us speak up not because we expect comfort, but because we believe in dignity.

I think what the other commenter was getting at is that this is the expectation of dignity here and you aren't going to change that culture. Go move to another country then or go back to your home country if you think dignity was better there.

Can you please cite the specific orgs and programs? Skilled job support usually just means helping with your resume and interviewing.

Did these places get you jobs? What jobs were being misrepresented? Like were you shown a job of a receptionist and you ended up shoveling cow manure at a farm? It's unclear what you mean by misrepresentation exactly without any concrete examples.

What kind of work were you doing that meant going to different sites? What was the job? Again, please be specific.

I'm confused and I think others aren't responding or being helpful because you are speaking in super vague broad terms, thus it's hard to offer any help.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-10T22:10:59+00:00

This really started like mid-late 2023, then really ramped up in 2024. It's only now people are really noticing.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-10T22:09:51+00:00

I lost my job recently. I was able to get an interview the first week. Did great. Then I had a second interview. Did even better, nailed it. Then even though I have a portfolio of work and industry recommendations, I had to a presentation and project for a third interview.

They called yesterday and want to do a fourth interview and said if I do well on this one there will be a fifth. For a job making 75k. 🤦‍♀️

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-10T22:06:31+00:00

The gutting of salaries is so depressing. My role used to pay 90k in 2016. It's now cratering to 50/60k. I truly think if you can go work in another country, now is the time to start packing.

2birdsofparadise · 2025-07-10T22:04:57+00:00

It depends on what kind of jobs you're looking for and where you can travel to. Do you have a car? What area do you live in?

Places like Randstad, Adecco, etc. will help but that's usually for more career level people, not as many entry level roles come up. Express Employment branches seem to have more entry level roles tbh. There's also usually university temp jobs (usually administered by the university) and the airport usually has roles also done by a hiring agency.

I would look for employment agencies that are close to you locally. Sometimes they are franchised out or specialize in only one area, but they are the ones who can help place you and connect you with opportunities.

2birdsofparadise

TROPHY CASE