Re: How Difficult Is It to Immigrate?
Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2016 11:06 pm
Xenops wrote:Systematiker wrote:
Even if you're in-demand, check out the points system for Canada, other stuff makes a difference. My wife and I looked at it, we'd have to pass the French test. We're not going, though (well, unless this election changes my wife's mind )...
Ultimately we left due to the age-stratification of the society. I simply wasn't old enough to be taken seriously in my field (I shaved a few years off, and US Americans started earlier than Germans comparable to my situation). So wherever you're headed, look at how the work culture will be and how you will compare to your peers of similar education and experience, that may be a big factor for your satisfaction as well as your viability on the job market.
Thank you for reminding me about the points system. I remember looking at that in the past, Australia's in particular, I think. Good point that they will prefer their own countrymen for hiring; even if you qualified, do you think you could have gotten a job?
I will be in my early 30's by the time I can move abroad: is this still considered too young?
Well, I could probably pass the French test, knowing I was going to be taking it. My reading pulls up my overall level, and a few months of serious focus would probably do the job. My wife could pass it now. With preferential employment, well, in the EU I no longer have that problem, and if we were to go to Canada (again, super unlikely), remember, I'm in one of two very specialized fields. If I got on at a uni somewhere, that sort of work doesn't fall under the preferential employment laws. Heck, even if I couldn't pass the French test, I could get a religious work visa.
As for the age: that all depends on country and how you compare. I just told my story from Germany as an anecdote. I was 28 when I finished my doctorate (I'm 31 now), and at the time, people around the same age as I were still in their university studies (there have been many changes in German law, obligatory service and then optional civil service, shortened periods, and now the G8 for school, so many people I knew hadn't been able to start uni until 22 or so, for a degree that's 5 years in the best case). It was just a situation for me and for academia, where the new norm is to do a couple of postdocs (and it's getting that way in the States, as well); I was competing against people who were a few years older who had just finished, but also people who had a 2 or 3 year postdoc under their belts and were right around 35. And that was for a spot for a habilitation. 40 is the sweet spot for tenure in Germany. I didn't want to do almost a decade of postdocs just to get my habil done.
I told the story to illustrate what you should compare: If you will be in your early 30s with 1-2 years of experience, how old are people in your field with 1-2 years experience? Would you be a lot older or a lot younger? Either one can make things tough on you.
Oh, and zenmonkey's comment about grad school is really true, it's often not only a lower hurdle, many places have laws in place that allow you to stick around and look for a job for a certain amount of time after finishing.