本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Some Words for Non-IT Professionals
First, I like to give a briefing about myself:
I came to Canada in 1992 as a visa student to pursue in degree in mechanical engineering in
a Ontario university. I got my first job in 1995 from a CAE company in Oakville and now are
working for a CAE company with global presence.
It has come to my attention that many of Chinese professionals immigrated to Canada were
converted to IT workers. It is no sin for
a computer graduate to continue his/her profession here in Canada. However, the reason,
excuse and justification used by the professionals from other areas are highly debatable.
The reason for their conversion is exclusively as follows:
It is easier to find a IT job.
It might be true since the threshold to enter the IT industry is low. Some experience
in C++ and Java, plus the common sense, will land someone on a job (at least several years
ago). Whereas to enter other industries such as mechanical, chemical are much more
difficult since the positions are very demanding. However, once you began to work as a
professional in the area of your expertise, the work are far more rewarding both
professionally and financially in addition to the job security.
In the past several years, some of my friends and classmates immigrated to Canada from
China, Europe and Japan. Like most of netters here, they experienced the hardship in life
adjustment and difficulties in job hunting. Some entered the "express" computer training
programs and became VB, VC or Java programmers. They are now living so-so life and 9-5
working hours are no fun for them.
However, some of them withstood the difficulties and temptation, with the faith in their
expertise and knowledge, succeeded eventually.
Here are some examples:
Dr. Y, a Ph.D of material science from a Chinese university, came to Canada after 2-years research in
Germany as a Alexanda Von Hamboldt scholar. There was no job for him except a post-doc offer
from McGill university. Not long after, the research funding drained up. He had no income and
his wife, a brilliant JiangXi lady, worked as a waitress in Montreal Chinatown. Life was
extremely tough for him, but he did not give up. One day, an unexpected phone call from a
top Canadian mining company lead him a job as a project leader in its research center
in Sheridan Park, Mississauga. Now he is the youngest section head in this billion dollar
company. Endurance prevails.
Dr. L, a Ph.D in control theory from Delft university, came to UT as a self-sponsored
researcher. He was on faculty in Delft university at that time, but he felt uncomfortable
to live in N. Europe and immigrated to Canada. He is a smart man and quick in adjusting
himself to the Canadian reality: he was no longer a respected faculty member in Europe
but a jobless immigrant in Canada(being self-sponsored == no-pay). With this mental change,
he found a job in Bombardier as an aircraft control engineer (thanks to his spacecraft control
experience in China).
Every Chinese immigrant in Canada possesses different talent and is gifted in one way or
another, there is every reason for him/her to be successful one way or another. What is
crucial is to find or develop the channel(or skill) to unleash your talent and potential.
In IT industry, there are many channels: VB, VC and JAVA and so on. In higher
level, there might be UML, Product Life Cycle an so on. However, in other industries, the channels
are not so obvious because of the demanding skills involved.
I, in no way, downplay the significance of IT industry and the stiff requirements to be a qualified
IT professional. As an engineer with many years programming experience in C, C++, Fortran, Small-talk,
Perl, Python and other seldom-heard languages, I fully understand that developing the clean, maintainable,
reusable and re-configurable codes requires the high level of sophistication.
However, it is sad to see many non-IT professional with many years of education and working experience
can not find a suitable, professional job in Canada and switch to non-professional jobs. Abandoning those valuable experience is more or
less like abandoning part of life. Knowledge of industries in Canada will certainly helpful for them
to develop proper skills. For the people with experience, it is easier for them to know the process and
apply their experience in the process. For the in-experienced, the skills will transfer their knowledge
from bookshelves onto the work-floor.
As an experienced engineer in mechanical engineering, I felt obliged to sharing some of experience
and knowledge I acquired in last few years with my country man and women. Hopefully this will shed some
light on the way some people are wandering. I also invite the experienced professionals in other area
to join the discussion.
To be continued.....更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
First, I like to give a briefing about myself:
I came to Canada in 1992 as a visa student to pursue in degree in mechanical engineering in
a Ontario university. I got my first job in 1995 from a CAE company in Oakville and now are
working for a CAE company with global presence.
It has come to my attention that many of Chinese professionals immigrated to Canada were
converted to IT workers. It is no sin for
a computer graduate to continue his/her profession here in Canada. However, the reason,
excuse and justification used by the professionals from other areas are highly debatable.
The reason for their conversion is exclusively as follows:
It is easier to find a IT job.
It might be true since the threshold to enter the IT industry is low. Some experience
in C++ and Java, plus the common sense, will land someone on a job (at least several years
ago). Whereas to enter other industries such as mechanical, chemical are much more
difficult since the positions are very demanding. However, once you began to work as a
professional in the area of your expertise, the work are far more rewarding both
professionally and financially in addition to the job security.
In the past several years, some of my friends and classmates immigrated to Canada from
China, Europe and Japan. Like most of netters here, they experienced the hardship in life
adjustment and difficulties in job hunting. Some entered the "express" computer training
programs and became VB, VC or Java programmers. They are now living so-so life and 9-5
working hours are no fun for them.
However, some of them withstood the difficulties and temptation, with the faith in their
expertise and knowledge, succeeded eventually.
Here are some examples:
Dr. Y, a Ph.D of material science from a Chinese university, came to Canada after 2-years research in
Germany as a Alexanda Von Hamboldt scholar. There was no job for him except a post-doc offer
from McGill university. Not long after, the research funding drained up. He had no income and
his wife, a brilliant JiangXi lady, worked as a waitress in Montreal Chinatown. Life was
extremely tough for him, but he did not give up. One day, an unexpected phone call from a
top Canadian mining company lead him a job as a project leader in its research center
in Sheridan Park, Mississauga. Now he is the youngest section head in this billion dollar
company. Endurance prevails.
Dr. L, a Ph.D in control theory from Delft university, came to UT as a self-sponsored
researcher. He was on faculty in Delft university at that time, but he felt uncomfortable
to live in N. Europe and immigrated to Canada. He is a smart man and quick in adjusting
himself to the Canadian reality: he was no longer a respected faculty member in Europe
but a jobless immigrant in Canada(being self-sponsored == no-pay). With this mental change,
he found a job in Bombardier as an aircraft control engineer (thanks to his spacecraft control
experience in China).
Every Chinese immigrant in Canada possesses different talent and is gifted in one way or
another, there is every reason for him/her to be successful one way or another. What is
crucial is to find or develop the channel(or skill) to unleash your talent and potential.
In IT industry, there are many channels: VB, VC and JAVA and so on. In higher
level, there might be UML, Product Life Cycle an so on. However, in other industries, the channels
are not so obvious because of the demanding skills involved.
I, in no way, downplay the significance of IT industry and the stiff requirements to be a qualified
IT professional. As an engineer with many years programming experience in C, C++, Fortran, Small-talk,
Perl, Python and other seldom-heard languages, I fully understand that developing the clean, maintainable,
reusable and re-configurable codes requires the high level of sophistication.
However, it is sad to see many non-IT professional with many years of education and working experience
can not find a suitable, professional job in Canada and switch to non-professional jobs. Abandoning those valuable experience is more or
less like abandoning part of life. Knowledge of industries in Canada will certainly helpful for them
to develop proper skills. For the people with experience, it is easier for them to know the process and
apply their experience in the process. For the in-experienced, the skills will transfer their knowledge
from bookshelves onto the work-floor.
As an experienced engineer in mechanical engineering, I felt obliged to sharing some of experience
and knowledge I acquired in last few years with my country man and women. Hopefully this will shed some
light on the way some people are wandering. I also invite the experienced professionals in other area
to join the discussion.
To be continued.....更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net