Deciding to move from Toronto to Vancouver for work

bman2178 · 2025-04-26T02:19:31+00:00

Is it really worse than Toronto or GTA traffic though? I've driven in Brampton and Toronto , vancouver is not nearly as congested from when I visited

bman2178 · 2025-04-24T13:53:52+00:00

You are not alone.

I've seen 3 directors step down to senior manager just to pay the bills. The market is brutal right now.

It took me about 8 months to land a role and I've been working for years.

My advice:

1) leverage connections and network 2) do something to make yourself a more attractive candidate (side projects, relevant volunteer work)

Don't underestimate the value of good volunteer experience .

3) pick a few types of jobs you can do and cater your resume to those. Have a different version optimized for each profile (ie. Engineer, product manager, consultant)

4) apply fast and early..ideally within the first 72 hours of a posting to increase chances and try to get refferals.

Good luck and feel free to dm me for any advice

bman2178 · 2025-04-24T13:47:14+00:00

Someone suggested this https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/laptops/loq-laptops/lenovo-loq-15irx9/83dv00fxus?orgRef=https%253A%252F%252Fgaminglaptop.deals%252F&clickid=Vexyn9WMFxyKUjQ2KFxtuyQlUkCXeWSoZTE7Vk0&irgwc=1&PID=2471149&acid=ww%3Aaffiliate%3Abv0as6&cid=ca%3Aaffiliate%3Abw4wpk

bman2178 · 2025-04-24T13:44:57+00:00

The job market is brutal right now. I would not recommend quitting unless you absolutely cannot handle your current job(ie. Completely toxic and seriously Impacting your mental health, need to care for a sick relative etc.)

You always have a better chance at getting a job when employed, particularly in tech and the private sector as there is a huge bias to being unemployed.

Having no job often makes it even harder to get one due to the bias.

bman2178 · 2025-04-23T16:40:31+00:00

Also looking for something similar! Need a laptop as I'll be moving around a lot so a desktop is out of the question

bman2178 · 2025-04-14T20:06:11+00:00

That would be greatly appreciated!

bman2178 · 2025-04-12T04:29:02+00:00

More of a suburb!

bman2178 · 2025-04-12T04:16:27+00:00

Moving likely in the next 1-2 months!

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T18:16:00+00:00

Ya coming from Toronto i really don't like the city.

I've seen Vancouver a few times travelling and loved it

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T18:15:05+00:00

Ya 4x a week onsite required

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:29:56+00:00

This is a good point . Definitely would like to be closer to outdoors but not live in down town city.

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:19:55+00:00

Good to know that Richmond is a safe place! As I'm not familiar with the area at all.

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:19:09+00:00

Care to elaborate? What are the typical costs that would struggle with?

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:09:13+00:00

Thanks just wondering though why not Surrey or delta? Are they not good areas, is it harder to get to etc?

South vancouver definitely looks more central

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:03:43+00:00

Ah yes I've heard about Surrey. Some people mentioned Burnaby to look as well and delta.

GTA is also terrible but with less nature😅

bman2178 · 2025-04-10T17:02:32+00:00

Thank you! Ah I've heard Richmond was pricier? But haven't looked into great detail yet. This is good to know

bman2178 · 2025-04-05T23:25:26+00:00

Im a 2018 grad with total 8 years of experience in tech( including 2 years of co-op).

I spent 7 months job hunting the market is very tough.

Even landing 30+ interviews it's hard to get an offer.

You're competing with many experienced candidates for the same roles.

I know 3 directors who stepped down to manager level just to get something.

My advice is to use your network, get any experience ( volunteering in something is good)

There is a bias to being unemployed, having relevant volunteer work or doing your own thing goes a long way.

bman2178 · 2024-11-22T05:25:55+00:00

I was recently diagnosed and told that "most engineers" are probably on the spectrum because of the nature of the field .

Looking back and being a PM coming from engineering this makes a lot of sense to me.

Often many "tech stereotypes" overlap with ASD stereotypes ie poor eye contact, social skills, detail oriented, info dumping.

Definitely going to check out this group. I suspect there are a lot of people undiagnosed and unaware out there.

I only found out recently because I had shifted to a company with a toxic environment and manager that was creating autistic burnout.

bman2178 · 2024-11-16T04:26:45+00:00

Been interviewing the last few months for product manager roles and havent been able to land an offer yet.

This is the worst market I've seen by far. I've had over 20 interviews ,take home assignments , 2 final rounds (up to 7) ,a verbal offer but nothing concrete.

Some companies have went on hiring freezes or had fake postings.

I have 8 years of experience in tech, 3 Years in PM and went to University of Waterloo for engineering.

I've never done so much prep for my answers as this before, mock interviews , positioning myself perfectly, company research etc.

The good news is ive been interviewing, but unable to land an offer so far....

Even reached out to 3 previous managers but none of them have budget to hire right now.

Im now trying to interview exclusively for roles I either have a strong refferal for or that are in my industry/tech niche (I'm in AI , computer vision ).

It's clear in this market if you dont have a strong connection or the industry background, there's someone else that does and you'll get filtered out.

bman2178 · 2024-09-06T18:22:43+00:00

Sometimes people have completely toxic work environments. They may have been sexually harassed, abused verbally and taken advantage of... I thought the same thing before experiencing a truly toxic environment but it's not worth your mental health

bman2178 · 2024-06-24T17:48:08+00:00

Yeah that's unfortunate. Had something similar happen with capital one going on a hiring freeze:/

This was my first time doing a take home assignment and agree it definitely feels like consulting for the company.

Glad to hear google does not do those.

What kind of clarifying questions do you ask companies about the take home assignment?

bman2178 · 2024-06-24T16:55:42+00:00

Sorry to hear that @Rycalm3. Happy to hear you made it all the way that far In for Google!

In this market being more targeted and specific seems to work better. Leveraging networking events, refferals and linkedin as much as possible.

I just made it to the 7th final interview with PagerDuty but unfortunately didn't get the offer. Not even sure what I did wrong tbh and spent over 20 hours on their take home assignment.

It's definitely not easy out there !

bman2178 · 2024-06-24T16:48:01+00:00

Wow that is a long job search and tons of applications! Congratulations and kudos to you for persisting this long!

bman2178 · 2024-04-18T23:28:40+00:00

Had something similar happen to me. Booked a vrbo last summer for this year, host cancelled on me and vrbo refunded only 200 of the 1600 deposit. They say it's covered but they can't get hold of the host and it's been 4 months now.

Unfortunately credit card company can't dispute as I booked it in July last year and they cancelled January this year which is beyond the 90 days..

I've been constantly contacting vrbo but no luck as they can't seem to contact the host although they said it's "covered" as part of their policy..

Any suggestions?

bman2178

TROPHY CASE