While reading the article, I'm also reminded of the working culture in Vancouver tech scene without any of the benefits a worker might receive in Silicon Valley.
Just crappier pay, crazy uncompensated overtime, next to nothing in terms of salary bump. You don't like the long hours of work with meager pay and high living costs? You don't like coming in on the weekend? You don't like leaving at 9+ pm? Quit and good luck finding a job in the tech scene here, forever banished to the life of high hourly wages from contract jobs serving some American overlord, getting paid for overtime, not having to commute for hours in the crap public transportation system.
> You don't like the long hours of work with meager pay and high living costs? You don't like coming in on the weekend? You don't like leaving at 9+ pm?
Isn't that the games scene, not the Vancouver tech scene? I've worked in a Vancouver tech company that was happy with me working 11-7pm and paid enough to rent in the city (28 min commute) and save half of the salary...
So? Outages happen in any transit system. It's not like it happens often. Vancouver public transit is much better than in other cities, especially in North America.
lol then you have not lived here long enough. not many people here really boast about it because we all know bc transit is a dysfunctional garbage trainwreck. yes outages are common, bus drivers are jerks, its filled with weird fucking people all the time. I don't know any native vancouverite who'd claim it was anywhere close to the best. Yeah, it's pretty great if you come from Detroit or some far off remote city in the states.
Can you briefly outline where you've lived that transit outages are not common and bus drivers are not frequently jerks? I can tell you that it's also the case in Toronto, Seattle (well, bus service outages), San Francisco, and London, so I'm curious what you'd hold up as a good transport system.
I'd have to get some kind of sponsorship and visa to work and live there. I'd go there in a heartbeat if there was opportunity there.
Don't get me wrong. I lived in Vancouver all my life. I love it, it's home. But we also have the lowest salary in the country in the tech industry, we have zero protection from exploitative employers, crowded labour tech market with a small job market.
Well about the time I was out of university in Victoria, I got a few linked in recruiter pings from Seattle, and then a few months later 'the flood' started and I started getting a lot of interest. I would really consider just contacting Seattle recruiting firms directly, you might just not be visible to them because you don't have any us linked in connections. What are your skills?
I'm really surprised that Vancouver is so low, since your just a relatively instant TN visa away to Seattle a 2hr drive away. The only people who would be 'stuck' there are non-canadian immigrants, and I'm guessing that's relatively low.
Oh yeah, at the border, only say your job description to them when they ask. So if your TN visa letter says 'software engineer', do not say 'software developer'. Your job description to the border people is only what is officially allowed for your job category in a TN visa too. Make sure the employer's letter is done properly by a lawyer.
The basic process is:
1. Get an email invite for an interview
2. Print out this email and tell the border people your only going for an interview and they'll do the proper TN paperwork in the country afterwards while you wait in Canada
3. They should mail/email you the TN offer letter, tell how the process works if they decide to hire you.
4. You go to the border with the TN visa letter, you tell the border people your applying for the TN status/visa. You'll walk into the office, they'll review it, might make you do a bunch of shit and answer questions and if they accept they'll stamp your passport with the TN status.
Just crappier pay, crazy uncompensated overtime, next to nothing in terms of salary bump. You don't like the long hours of work with meager pay and high living costs? You don't like coming in on the weekend? You don't like leaving at 9+ pm? Quit and good luck finding a job in the tech scene here, forever banished to the life of high hourly wages from contract jobs serving some American overlord, getting paid for overtime, not having to commute for hours in the crap public transportation system.