dubajek:
congrats. Please is it paper or online Application

Online

Applied on Feb 22 for family member
He got PPR on 11th March

Previous success stories here gave us courage to go without any agent

canadaman18:
Seen a couple people ask if they can PM me , no need to ask

Feel free to PM and I'll respond when I can.

Also Ive been thinking of having a small project designed to help people wanting to learn get up to speed.We'll all collaborate via Git using GitHub / BitBucket and create a medium sized app in an Agile manner.

Gonna be a web app involving HTML CSS JavaScript and Java Spring framework(altho open to alternatives( using a noSQL Database. Let me know what you guys think

Alright Ive thought of a good first project . A while ago I had to develop a simple plagiarism detector. It compares two (text) files and computes a similarity percentage. This was all done in Plain Java now I want us to create a web application with a front end where users can upload two text files themselves and the app generates the plagiarism score.

The source code for that is here

While I work on creating our environment , feel free to take a look at the code and let me know if you have any questions e.g how the code works , choice of data structures etc.. I've tried to ensure the code is optimal from an algorithmic POV but of course suggestions to improve are welcome( I believe one way would be to use some ML to ensure better results but I think for our purpose this works) .

NOTE : there are some simple text files and synonym file which I used as a test , feel free to update the synonyms file with more content and try out different text files. Again let me know if you find any bugs.

In order to keep this thread from being derailed , let me know if you want to join by sending an e-mail to 'expressentrycoding@gmailDOTcom'

There is a list of things I need to do to get us started ;
Create an architecture diagram for the app
Planning on hosting the code that computes the plagiarism score on an AWS lambda
Host the front facing web app on AWS
Set up a public repo where the project will be hosted and add Continuous Integration , Code quality check e.t.c
Set up an Agile board where we can track progress

Once all this is done , we'll divide what needs to be done based on areas of interest and pick our tech stack . Theres gonna be a lot of relatively simple front end stuff e.g home page, result page , error page so lots of learning opportunity. Theres also gonna be back end work to process the uploaded files.

Not sure when Ill be done my part as Ill mostly only be working on it weekends but Ill let you guys know when that is .

Cheers

Mapleking:
@canadaman18

I know Toronto is the hub of IT jobs in Canada. What do you think of Ottawa, i read Kanata is becoming a hub of IT and offers a great prospect for IT jobs.

What do you think?

Yeah Kanata is a hotspot for tech jobs. As a matter of fact, 80% of tech jobs in ottawa are in Kanata

Seen a couple people ask if they can PM me , no need to ask

Feel free to PM and I'll respond when I can.

Also Ive been thinking of having a small project designed to help people wanting to learn get up to speed.We'll all collaborate via Git using GitHub / BitBucket and create a medium sized app in an Agile manner.

Gonna be a web app involving HTML CSS JavaScript and Java Spring framework(altho open to alternatives( using a noSQL Database. Let me know what you guys think

mozzti:


Thanks for sharing bro!

I'm a UI/UX Designer and i'd like to send you a PM concerning this?

Yep

iaatmguy:
any time i bring my "john thomas" and wee wee in public, then i remind myself, you must comport yourself, remember you are going to an organized environment and country. that being said, how do you guys take a leak, when you are pressed or how common are public toilets?

There’s usually places like Timmies or McDonalds one can use but in general like someone said , plan ahead.

Id definitely be careful peeing in public . Chances of anything happening are low but there’s always a chance a cop might spot you and depending on his/her mood you might find yourself getting a ticket and i’ve heard (but not confirmed) certain places considering it a sex offense

One more branch of software I forgot to touch on is Quality Assurance (Software Developer in Test).

Roles involving this I actually believe are the best for people who are new to programming. Reason being that you don't have to know programming languages in and out , you are simply testing what someone else has done.

Learning to do this of course involves some training but it is no where as rigorous as coding. For example , given a problem like finding optimal routes between two points, the software developer will have to come up with design and algorithms to solve this problem.

Your job as a tester could be as easy as feeding in inputs and asserting the expected output.

It could also involve testing the UI and making sure everything works as expected/Most likely what you'll be doing will be slightly more complex but this is just an example

The pay is still decent , usually 15-30% less of what a software developer gets paid. But you'll get exposed gently to software development and could eventually transition to a developer yourself.

The learning resources are same as always , udemy , udacity , youtube e.t.c

mikkyphp:

I would appreciate you let the guys know that it is not an easy task to come to Canada and change your field and get a job. I know a lot of Nigerians don't want to continue with the job roles/ fields they performed in Naija. I have heard this from many with Banking/branch experience. Many recruiters and hiring managers look intently at your previous experience, especially if you're foreign trained, before considering you for an interview. They wont understand why a previous "banking officer" or 5 years all of a sudden is touting expertise in Machine learning, OOP and Web frameworks.

If you're self trained in programming or other IT fields, you have to show remarkable expertise and properly represent your projects and achievements in your profile/resume.

Also ask why they should consider a foreign trained individual for entry level positions, when most companies have co-op/internship programs and Graduate leadership training programs that get guys straight from school. Most have student loans, and companies will prefer to give them Canadian trained individuals priority so that they can pay back and also contribute to the economy by way of taxes.

PS: I'm speaking for IT and allied job roles, as this is what i know about.

Yes its not an easy task. But a change in field isn't something that will disqualify you from getting a job if you can prove you can do the job better than the other candidates. My post explains how exactly you can get yourself up to speed and become a top candidate.

If you're able to successfully answer all the technical questions and follow ups , they wont reject you for someone who struggled through the questions simply because they schooled in canada

Guitarlife:

You are right, but python is the language of the future altho you might not be a good programmer if you learn to programme with Python.
What I have done is to switch totally to Python with my data science and AI projects but I run my Data Structures and algorithm course with JAVA.

That way I am not loosing out on the nitty gritty behind the hood.

Take for example there is a pop method in Python, something that you have to code a stack to get in JAVA.

Python is a language for the future for sure and very nice with Data science . I personally have used both but was just saying it’s nice to learn with Java

Also i’m not sure if I understand what you mean by coding the stack? Java has a stack class which has the pop method. Unless you are simply saying that in python no extra work is required to instantiate a stack unlike Java

Apologies if i misunderstood you

Greatkhad:


Oh they do, thats great then. What languages do u code in? I just started python.

Python is a good start for people from a non technical background. My only problem with it is a lot of stuff is done for you with the easy-to-use syntax so you might end up not truly understanding what's happening under the hood.

I use Java day to day atm but Ive worked with many others including Python

ottawasenators:
Very detailed points here i must say.

Now for someone like myself(Techno-Functional consultant) in the ERP implementation space (SAP, oracle) , any advice that will be of help to me, considering i'm heading to ottawa. I have researched and confirmed availability of jobs in my specialty in Ottawa.

Hi there , I dont have any specific advice per say . I know Ottawa is also a good spot for IT jobs, so just look at Glassdoor and try to apply to as many jobs as possible. Job search is most times a numbers game.

One thing I'll say is to consider the government , they typically pay a little less than private sector but you'll have lots of time off , the work is not as demanding(which for some people might be a negative) and you have unrivaled job security. Most times government jobs are not posted on job sites like Glassdoor so you might have to do some extra searching to find them

DadR:
Thanks for the info.

As per Computer Engineer, does User Support Technician or IT Helpdesk Support fall into this category?

Then how easy or difficult it is for someone with A+ and ITIL certification to get an entry level IT Support job with little or no experience?

NB: I have Banking work experience but intends to switch career to IT.

Thanks

User support from what I know is not as strict interview wise so I wouldn’t bother with Leetcode or CTCI. Best to just focus on learning a bit about the product you’ll be supporting but I’m not an expert in the area so I can’t say for certain .

If you have any kind of technical background and some certifications I don’t think it’ll be too hard getting an entry level IT job in Ontario. might take a few months of looking though

At the end of the day it depends what you’re passionate about , if you’re passionate about it you’ll be good at it and if you’re good at it and pray and trust God ,there are jobs

Hey folks , dont know if this advice has already been shared but the best place IMO for a prospective applicant is Glassdoor(and no I dont work there )

Glassdoor allows you view job vacancies , perform "easy apply" and thus send applications out quickly.

But my favourite feature is the salary , reviews and interview sections. You can get an idea what your prospective company is offering others so you're not lowballed , you'll learn about the workplace culture and recognize some places to avoid or places you wanna absolutely apply to and the interview section will prepare you for the level of difficulty to expect .

Greatkhad:


This was a great read! Thank you for taking out time to share this info.

I recently took an interest in coding, while some days it can get difficult. I hope to someday be great at it. I think i might focus on back end, dont know if i am creative enough for the front end.

Please do you mind me sending a PM sometime?

Yes feel free buddy.

And honestly the feeling of some days being difficult will never go away. You'll just learn to embrace it lol so don't let that discourage you.

My expertise is back end and yeah I get your reservation towards front end. Although most times companies have a UX designer who creates the mock ups so all you have to do is follow their design and add the logic to make it work

Zutlin:


This is detailed. I definitely will be reading this again and again. You touched on an aspect I haven't quite decided on yet - area of interest.

Now there are lots of questions running through my head. Please can I PM you?

If its for a personal question then yeah you can PM. but if you think its a question that could help other engineers / developers living in canada or moving to canada soon then you can also post here

Zutlin:


Wow! Thank you so much for this. I've been taking (free) online lessons towards being a software developer and I intend to do a bridging program when I land. I know I still have a lot to learn before I can apply for any developer job but I'll start with these materials tomorrow.

Please are there any bridging programs you can recommend? My destination is Mississauga, Ontario.

Sauga is definitely a solid location for Software related jobs and youre close to Toronto so good pick

Depends what your background is and what your area of interest is. Software development is pretty broad and I personally think its much better to become a master of one specific area and some knowledge of others than just knowing a bit of everything with no expertise in one(other developers will argue with me on this i'm sure).

In general there is Back End Development which usually involves very strong knowledge of C++, Python or Java.

And there is Front End development which nowadays involves knowledge of Frameworks such as Angular / React / Vue / Rails

There is also Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning but this is fairly advanced and while it doesnt hurt to pick up as a side interest, most jobs only hire very experienced AI engineers or PHD holders. (ofcourse there are exceptions)

There is also the dev ops / build tools route which usually involves a lot of scripting in Bash or PErl. I personally find this boring but some love it.

There is also the Database route although with noSQL technologies becoming more dominant and a lot of scaling and balancing all done automatically and cloud storage , this route I believe is a dying one.

Finally there is Full Stack Development which involves a bit of everything.

Note : the questions asked in interviews at top software companies and the ones youll see in the material I mentioned are usually language independent. Theyll focus more on complex problem solving using any language of your choice although most places from what I hear frown at using JavaScript

To finally answer your question I dont know any bridging programs per say but my advice is once you have an area of interest , use udemy or udacity to learn more about the tool stack for that area, and then work n a personal project which will look good on your resume and get you more comfortable with development. Do this alongside leetcode for optimal result .

Hey folks, this advice is specifically for those in IT Field more specifically software / computer engineers ,and Full stack developers

There is a lot of demand for professionals in the aforementioned fields with extremely good salaries. It is not rare to meet an entry level grad making 80,000+ a year , infact that is what a top grad can expect in the GTA. An experienced developer can make 150K + easily. Now given the demand , are these jobs easy to get , YES and NO.

Why No?
Unlike a lot of professions (and of course no disrespect to those professions) software interviews are much more than a cultural fit or situational questions. You can expect multiple rounds of technical interviews and questions like "What is OOP" will be warm up at the most. So how do you get yourself prepared for this "exam" , the only answer is practice. It doesn't matter if you have been a developer for 10+ years, without practice you'll have forgotten a lot of the fundamental Data Structures and Algorithms which will be heavily tested for.

What then is the best way to practice :
1. ' www dot leetcode dot com ' is one I highly recommend. There are tons of questions but if you can solve one or two questions per day in easy mode and then ramping up difficulty progressively , after 2-3months you should be among the top candidates in most interviews.

2. Cracking The Coding Interview is another one . This is a comprehensive book that covers a lot of topics as well as provides tips on how to ace interviews at companies like Google, Amazon etc

I came here to share this because I know we Nigerians are smart and I personally want to see more Nigerians in top tier tech jobs but it's hard because most people wont even pass the first round relying simply on their existing experience.

Why Yes?
As I said above if you religiously go through the above material , youll find that your skills will move to a whole new level and these interviews will become very easy.

For anyone who takes interest in the materials and has questions on algorithms or implementations and so on , let me know

Source : Im a software engineer at one of the top 3 companies in the world.

Happy Coding guys !

k997bomb:
Hello nairalanders,
Please is it difficult to get a PR in Canada after one year masters program and one year PGWP,
What options do I have to stay in Canada after my masters program.
Thank you in anticipation of your swift replies.

Answering this as I currently have a PGWP.

I'd say it depends on the amount of work experience you have before . Invitation to Apply(ITA) is based on the CRS score so 1 year master's program in canada should be a decent boost .

If you already have some work experience in Nigeria, then apply for a PGWP after your Masters's program(you'll almost certainly get 1year , some are lucky and get longer even though they only studied for a year). Note : You immediately have implied status once you apply for the PGWP meaning you can legally assume you have the PGWP till a final decision is made. Once youve applied for PGWP then apply for the PR.

You can simulate your score online but I believe with a Canadian masters and 1 or 2 years work experience in nigeria you should be good enough to get an ITA unless your age is high.. And in that case then maybe consider PNP.

Now on the flip side , if you have no work experience before the masters , then things become a lot more difficult. I believe then your only way out would be PNP while on the one year work permit .. otherwise when that one year runs out you'll have to come back to Nigeria to apply for PR

Hey guys , just a piece of advise / information I wanted to share :

IF YOU PLAN ON STAYING IN CANADA AFTER SCHOOL , ENSURE YOUR SCHOOL IS ONE OF THE SCHOOLS THAT QUALIFY FOR A PGWP. THERE ARE SOME DLI USUALLY PRIVATE COLLEGES THAT DONT

Hi Sir,

Depends on what you’re willing to do

Trade certificates aren’t very expensive and you could get a job in plants and sites and make very good money . However the job isn’t easy and takes away family time although if you weren’t working like crazy you could still be making like 70k. I know a 35 yo guy who’s been working as a welder for 10 yrs and earns 150K.. Also there’s dignity of labour so no one will look down on you for any legal occupation

Secondly if you want the professional route you could start by making doing some canadian certifications fixing up your resume and applying to jobs. They’ll likelt be entry level and will not pay too much initially but it’s a start and you’ll have something to do . If you’re technology inclined no harm in trying to pick up software / web development BUT only if that’s what you’re passionate about

denaven:
Please i need you advice,My wife got PPR last month ,we are a family with 3 children but my main worry now is what to do in canada, My wife is a medical doctor but am a private business man but am also a graduate , l have never worked with my bsc engeering certificate and i have little or no working experience on that line .....i do not like the idea of staying back in nigeria while my family goes to canada and l will be visiting sometime,am 37years and l believe in family staying together ..i have decided to go with them and settle down in canada for the sake of my children,i will hand over my business to my brother and my tenant send the annual rent to my accout but what can l do in canada,i know l cannot run my business in or from canada..i just have to face reality on ground and start looking for job but what type of job can l seek as a new arrival with no specific job skill in canada and graduatelly progress ..please l need advice from people on ground on what l can do.

nua07:
Good evening House,

I just got my GCMS
Please I need all the gurus in the house to help me digest it

Seems like the officer is not convinced your sponsor will indeed sponsor you . Who is the sponsor ?

Might be helpful if they can make a tuition payment for the first year to show they are serious

For anyone curious on the CAN+ program , the link is
www DOT cic DOT gc DOT ca/english/pdf/kits/forms/IMM5873E DOT pdf

canadaman18:


Does this apply to nigerian applicants ? I tried looking into CAN+ and I could only find associations between CAN+ and Indian applicants

Thanks

Was able to find evidence applicants from all countries are eligible so disregard my earlier question

OmoBendel24:
@Ninab and @MizGene;

"Visa application centres will screen all applications for CAN+ eligibility. Applications that show that the applicant travelled to Canada in the last 10 years or holds a valid U.S. non-immigrant visa will be sent to the visa office for expedited processing."

If going the paper route, call their attention to your qualifications for this at the VFS Office when you go for application submission.

Does this apply to nigerian applicants ? I tried looking into CAN+ and I could only find associations between CAN+ and Indian applicants

Thanks

Niceyenuf:
Hi beautiful people,
A little bit of a success story and some questions as well.
I applied for my mum to visit me in Canada on October 12, 2018 (I applied for a 3 month visit). Biometrics done October 24. Original Passport request: December 7. Visa about 5 days after.
I must admit I was initially bothered because she was not asked to do a medical test and thought she would be given less than 6 months but she got almost 2 years (to passport expiry).
Online app:
Documents submitted:
Pension statement
For me was just a letter from my employer showing I was employed and my yearly pay.
Letter of invitation.
Letter of sponsorship
Plus all online documents required.



My questions:
Is it advisable for her to stay more than 6 months? Saw something about not staying more than six months at a time even they give you a number of years.
If she can stay more than 6 months, must she book a return ticket? Will a one way ticket create issues at the point of entry.

Thanks for your help guys.

Congrats

I was wondering did you submit your bank statement as well?

I plan on sponsoring my parents financially and adding just my bank statement + letter of support + job letter + pay slips and the other usual docs . They’ve already successfully gotten canadian tourist visa before only difference is now I want to leave their bank statements out of the application.
Do you think we are good to go?

Thanks

gingalady:



That’s an average and every application is perculiar. Mine was processed in 1 week just the passport return took almost a month cos of Xmas holidays. All 3 of us had just one application profile

Ah I see, it’s just I thought there were separate timeline for online and paper application before and now there’s just one timeline ? Or am I mistaken ?

This is actually for my parents and last time they applied i believe it took 3wks to process and 1week to get back passport. But that was in 2016

Thanks for your response

congrats @gingalady

I looked at the processing time for visitors visa and it’s showing 69 days. Any idea if this is for paper applicants as it seems rather long.

Also I was wondering , if there’s one sponsor with dependent (wife) , do they need separate online profiles ?

Thanks in advance

Anyone know the current timeline for TRV applications from nigeria (online)
It’s showing 69 days but i think i might be entering it wrong

canadaman18:
Hi everyone , got a question
My parents have visited me in canada twice while I was a student and both times sponsored themselves. This time around I wish to sponsor them as I have a good paying job and one of them is also retired. Their SOA is quite low at the moment so I was wondering is it possible for me to use just my SOA? It will have around 15K CAD balance at least and yearly take home is around 90K
Thanks

Can anyone please advice on this ?

Hi everyone , got a question
My parents have visited me in canada twice while I was a student and both times sponsored themselves. This time around I wish to sponsor them as I have a good paying job and one of them is also retired. Their SOA is quite low at the moment so I was wondering is it possible for me to use just my SOA? It will have around 15K CAD balance at least and yearly take home is around 90K
Thanks