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I went out to Alberta in 2008 for better employment after being laid off from my job in Halifax, stayed out for years but then missed everyone on the east coast. I gave up my $115,000/year job to be with my family and friends. I knew I was going to take a pay cut, but what I didn’t know was that I was still going to be unemployed after three months of being back! I have 10 years of experience in my field and had TWO interviews since Christmas time! And it’s not that there were hardly any jobs to apply to (I’m not an idiot, I made sure there were available jobs before heading back). I applied to 12 positions I really wanted, and about 30 that were lower level. The vast majority of responses I got were rejection emails! What the fuck is up with this place?? In Edmonton, I got interviews for much better jobs than the ones I’ve been rejected from in Halifax. So clearly it’s this city, not me! —Back To The West I Go
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2015.
Bye! NO, seriously now… Why would you give up your job simply because you missed your friends? At that rate of pay you could easily travel to visit or have them come visit you.
Something doesn’t smell right about this bitch…
“gave up my $115,000/year job to be with my family and friends.” = Got laid off when oil prices tanked. Why would you move without already having a job?
ya thats nova scotia 60 thousand dollar education and 10 years experience is baseline for an unpaid internship
It’s probably you
Yeah, I’m a bit suspicious of folks who think it’s reasonable to compare Alberta (possibly the most inflated, easy-peasy labour market in North America) with anywhere else. Of course we can’t compete with Alberta. No one can, at least not until the recent slide in oil prices.
Fact is, Nova Scotia’s rural labour market is mostly in the tank, but Halifax stands up just fine. More job openings per applicant than most cities, higher median salaries, greater proportion of full-time to part-time jobs, and lower unemployment and higher labour-market participation than most other cities (the latter meaning that no, people haven’t just “given up” looking for work).
Halifax’s job market isn’t fucked at all, statistically speaking.
And this bitch does seem a bit like axe-grinding–like SHIMD said above, who leaves a 115k a year job with nothing else lined up, just ’cause?
Luckily, I personally knew someone who was working for a NS company that was hiring. I did a phone interview and then they skyped me from Calgary. Usually, they didn’t even do the skype but they made an exception with me (probably because my friend got me in…the job wasn’t even advertised). I was really lucky because otherwise it’s actually not that easy to have something lined up before relocating unless you have a lead like I did or you’re moving to another branch within the company you’re already employed with. Have fun getting any more than a phone prescreening just applying for jobs online on the other side of the country…most of them just tell you to talk to them when you’re there. That’s my personal experience.
I’ve wanted to come back to NS since last September, so when I went home to visit for two weeks, weeks before doing so, I applied to about 6-8 positions in hopes to squeeze in a couple of interviews (maybe flookily I’d end up with a job and get to move back?). No one contacted me. And once I got back to Calgary, I still wasn’t getting calls for the jobs I applied for. So I don’t think OP’s situation is far fetched.
Also, it’s very possible that OP missed family and friends, and this wasn’t necessary a lay-off. I made almost as much as him/her (now I’m only getting just under $80,000 here in NS) in Alberta, but I only got to see my family and closest friends 1-2 times a year, some times not even that. I had a couple of fairweather friends in Calgary but they couldn’t hold a candle to the people in my life back home. I spent 3 out of 5 Christmases away, one being literally by myself when I just broke up with my boyfriend weeks before. I missed many weddings and funerals. No, I do not regret moving to Calgary for 5 years–it was one of the best decisions I’ve made…but only for my career.
You should have stayed in school.
YOU wanted one of these 12 positions. THEY did not want you.
I question the logic of stating that the local job market is f’d just because there wasn’t a high paying job that was vacant, or soon to be vacant, when the OB had a whim to move back here. The reality is that many ex-Nova Scotians would love to move back here to a good paying job. When one comes up there will always be lots of applicants and competition. It’s the same just about everywhere – except in a few boom towns – but we all know that what goes boom eventually goes bust.
You probably got laid off from the oilsands (lol no one who’s ever lived in Nova Scotia would ever come here without a job lined up), but there’s nothing stopping you from trying to get a job in Ottawa or Toronto and flying to Nova Scotia like everyone else OB. You still have time. Save yourself while you still can.
@M2A, you know that Toronto actually has higher unemployment than Halifax, right? And about triple the number of applicants per job, and lower new job creation, relative to the population size. Believe it or not, Halifax is a better town for job hunters. But I’m gonna assume you won’t let like, facts and statistics sway your Hali-hate.