Hi Carlos, If you have experience working in hydro electric, I'd say your skills would likely be in demand here in Canada! (Quebec Hydro being by far the largest hydro-electric generator in the world, the Niagara Falls plant, etc.). That said, getting here can indeed be a long process. Yes, a lot of people complain about our health care -- but until you've lived in other places, I don't think you realize how lucky we really are. Good luck whatever you decide upon. -marc On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:57 AM, Carlos Marcano wrote: > Hi list. > > This is a message mostly intended for those of you living in that > giant island known as Australia, or to anyone else which considers > that his thoughts on the matter might worth the hassle of posting > back. > > I live in a beautiful and graceful piece of land in South America > called Venezuela. This place is so blessed with natural richness that > even the most cold hearted will be marvelled with some of its sights. > We have also a huge amounts of underground treasures, mostly oil, gas, > iron and aluminum. But we are also suffering from other things that I > could gladly discuss off-list with anyone interested to avoid getting > into non-piclist-suitable talks as I am already stretching the rope a > little bit with this post. > > So, my family (wife and 18 months old daughter) and I are seriously > contemplating emigration. > > Top candidate countries are the usual suspects: Canada and Australia, > as those are the ones which: a) Seem to offer the kind of prospecting > life we want for ourselves and for our kid (mostly for her) and b) > Seem to have the most immigrant-friendly policies. > > Canada was our first place of interest as some families, friends and > people we know are/were either preparing to go there or already living > there. We have been for around five months gathering all the > information we can regarding immigration, living and working in > Canada. We are pretty much informed that it is very hard, initially > and sometimes even forever, to get jobs in the same line of work or > areas as the ones we currently have and that it is usual for > immigrants to work in a wide range of survival jobs or lowly paid > jobs. We know that it is relatively expensive to own a house or even a > new car. We know that health services are OK but have found pretty > discomfort or "not satisfaction" among immigrants and Canadian > citizens. We have found that nurseries (places for taking care of > small children - 4 years an less- while their parents work) are hard > to find and expensive when living on a low hour rate job. We know that > weather is a major actor in the Canadian style of living. We have lots > of facts, well, we have as much "facts" as you can get without > actually living there. > > Australia is, in the other hand, a mysterious land for us. We have had > trouble to fill in the blanks in the answers to our questions. Most of > the info we have is based on the official gov of Australia which, by > the way, have very nice sites regarding instructions and info for > possible immigrants but they are official sites and we want more "on > the ground" stories. Here is where we would appreciate any info from > the fellow piclisters with any experience on this matter. > > Some additional info, I am an Electronics Engineer; 6 years of > experience working as a Maintenance Engineer II at one of the biggest > hydro electrical complex in the world, mainly doing maintenance, > failure diagnosis and repair of power electronic controlled systems > (excitation systems for hydro gens, ups, inverters), speed and power > electric/electronic regulators for governor systems, synchronization > systems. I have had also experience in basic and detail engineering, > mainly for governor and excitation systems. I have been in charge of > the Maintenance team (we called them "sections") and have been trained > in SAP based maintenance strategies. As a hobbyist I have been > involved with programming in ASM on some micro controllers (pics, > 8051's) but it have not been my "official" job. I am 31. My wife is > also an EE, with a couple of years experience in basic and detail > engineering in hydro generation automation, has had a couple hiatus > for raising our child. > > Our biggest concerns are regarding: job possibilities and public > health and education systems for our daughter. > > We figure that the possibilities for working in our fields are a > little remote as in Canada, and we are going to begin working in some > lower paid jobs. That is OK for us as long as there are real > possibilities of raising our kid in a safe, modern and tolerant > environment. But if there are a possibilities of working as > professionals that would be a huge plus. > > I am aware that every experience is unique to those involved in it but > any guidance, info, pointers and/or help will be truly and sincerely > appreciated. We are in a break point in our life where we must try to > make the best choice as we are not getting any younger and actions > must be taken with the important notion that the future of our loved > young lad is in our hands. > > Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for your time and help. > > Regards, > > Carlos. > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist