Down and out in Calgary - looking for advice

[Hali87]

Humbly reaching out to ask for help and/or advice.

Earlier this year I made the decision to move out of the place I’d been living in in Halifax since 2019. It had gotten pretty dysfunctional - falling apart due to neglect from our landlord (rent cap meant that it was no longer worth investing in, I guess, to the point that half the rooms had no working light fixtures and only one of the burners on our stove worked), and also very noisy as it was a townhouse and the unit next to us was overstuffed with about 10 VERY loud and excitable tenants - and my bedroom shared a paper-thin wall with their unit.

However, there just wasn’t really anywhere else to move into in Halifax - vacancy rates there have been at about 1% for the last several years, and with the rent cap only applying to “old” leases, anywhere new (to me) would have been way out of my price range. I technically could have moved back in with my parents but that did not feel like a tenable option for a number of reasons.

Around the same time, a close friend of mine in Calgary needed a roommate, and the price was right, so here I am now in Calgary. I moved here at the end of July and while I was looking forward to the change in many ways, a big part of me really did not want to leave Halifax and I was pretty depressed about having been priced out of the city that I had put so much of myself into over the years. Which is a big reason I haven’t been active on this forum for the last several months. The improvements in Halifax are great and all, but it all kind of stings when I can't actually live there anymore.

I was assured by many people that it would be quick and easy to find a job here. But I started applying to jobs before I moved and still haven’t found anything. I’ve applied to about 100 by now, interviewed for 8. I’d actually turned down two short contracts with a federal agency that were offered before I moved, because I was convinced I’d be able to find something more stable (the offer - ironically, doing housing market research - was basically work for a month, then a month off, then work for another month, then nothing) - but that turned out to be a huge mistake.

I have a Master’s in Planning but haven’t had much luck with planning jobs here. Actually interviewed for a Development Officer position with the City - they got back to me about a month later and said that I didn’t have enough experience. Interviewed for a couple other more entry-level jobs in the field but didn’t get them either. And otherwise there just haven’t been many other non-senior-level planning jobs available, either with the city or with any of the surrounding municipalities, or the Province, or any firms with offices in the area that I know of. There is a planning school here so I imagine there will consistently be a lot of competition for any that do open up.

I’ve also been applying to things like bars (I have ~7 years bartending experience, although the last time I worked in a bar was about 8 years ago), gyms, admin assistant positions, translation jobs (I have about 3 years of experience doing that freelance), event management (a few years of experience doing that as well), delivery driver stuff, construction jobs where I’m told “they’ll hire anyone”, basically anything I can at this point. I’ve been here for almost 5 months now and was able to start driving for DoorDash a few weeks ago - before that there were no openings. So I’ve just been doing that as much as I can (7 days/week, ~12 hours most days), although it works out to about minimum wage after factoring in the cost of gas, with no benefits or overtime pay.

I am not keen on taking an entry-level job in the oilfields but increasingly it just doesn’t look like there are many other options for me. I’m considering doing the course to become a realtor, although that will take about a year. An acquaintance here has also been encouraging me to get into the “startup” scene although I don’t really know much about that kind of thing.

It’s also been pretty lonely, though I do have several friends and some family here, everyone is just busy all the time. And I mean ALL the time. And when they’re not, they’re off taking 2-week vacations to Europe or Cuba or Mexico. I can’t even imagine being in a position to do that. I’d like to be. And I am confident that I have the skills and work ethic to excel somewhere here. But I just can’t get my foot in the door anywhere.

So as much as I hate asking for help, I figured I would reach out on here to see if anyone knows of any opportunities or has any advice. Maybe someone knows someone who is hiring for a position in Calgary, or for remote work, or maybe someone has some insight on whether or not it would be a good idea to take the real estate course (I don’t know many experienced realtors myself) vs continuing to try to get a planning job or maybe even go some other route, or has some insight into when the City’s next big round of hiring is likely to be.

I am grateful that my living situation is at least substantially better (and our rent is actually very reasonable) but otherwise I feel pretty lost here and don’t really know where else to turn at this point.

[SignalHillHiker]

Sent ya a PM with a connection. They're easy to miss on the top right.

EDIT: He's expecting your message, knows lots of planners, one of whom is hiring, so do check Also, there's a WhatsApp group in Calgary you'll need to be in, he can give you the info.

[niwell]

Really sorry to hear that, and I know how tough it can be when in such a position.

Probably not your ideal work but a friend of mine was a head chef in Calgary (in Toronto now) and helped open a couple very good restaurants. He definitely has contacts in the industry and might know people to reach out to about bartending - I'd be happy to reach out if you're interested.

[hipster duck]

Hey Hali87, sorry to hear about your situation.

I don't have any contacts in Calgary, so I can't help you that way, but I can give you two tips for job hunting - one that I learned many years ago when I changed my career and needed to start getting professional experience, and one that my friend learned when he was broke af and just needed a casual job that would hire him on the spot and pay him quickly.

For professional jobs, I would highly recommend this book. The idea is to follow a process where you research jobs based on the common keywords in the jobs you want to apply to and then keyword stack your resume. The book details a step-by-step plan that actually worked for me.

LinkedIn is kind of cringe, but if you're new to a city it can be your friend. Look for people who are even 3 degrees of separation from you at companies you want to work at (say, the City). Then trace back. Contact the person who's 1 degree of separation from you to put you in touch with the person who's 2 degrees of separation from you to put you in touch with the person at the company. Ask the person that's 2 degrees of separation away if they know anybody else in the space that's hiring. There's a high likelihood that the person who's 2 degrees of separation away from your "ideal company/job" is in the same industry and knows about other opportunities.

If you need money fast, my friend told me that whenever he moved to a new city, he just applied for a McJob on the spot using a "McJob Resume". So that would be one where you strip out all of your higher education (unless you took some kind of certification course), and all of your professional work experience. Don't lie about the tasks you did, but be "creative" about the timelines so it looks like you've had continuous McJob-type work. As long as the job isn't M-F, 9-5 you'll have time to apply and interview for the professional jobs (which, unfortunately, have a long turnaround time).

Good luck!

[niwell]

Originally Posted by hipster duck

LinkedIn is kind of cringe, but if you're new to a city it can be your friend. Look for people who are even 3 degrees of separation from you at companies you want to work at (say, the City). Then trace back. Contact the person who's 1 degree of separation from you to put you in touch with the person who's 2 degrees of separation from you to put you in touch with the person at the company. Ask the person that's 2 degrees of separation away if they know anybody else in the space that's hiring. There's a high likelihood that the person who's 2 degrees of separation away from your "ideal company/job" is in the same industry and knows about other opportunities.

This is great advice. For government jobs it also doesn't hurt to reach out directly to hiring managers and ask for an informational interview - not sure how it is at the City of Calgary but we hire a lot of people on contract without formal competitions. It's much less time intensive and risky on our end. Even if a position isn't a good fit they may know of someone else looking for someone with that skillset. I'm not sure if the City has a staff directory online but that's a good way to track people down - linkedin works too. I know the Alberta government is fairly short staffed in more professional areas as we have had some people jump ship to Ontario recently - doesn't sound like a great place to work tbh but still offers good experience. I imagine there's at least some positions in Calgary?

And government cover letters / resumes can be longggg compared to private sector ones. Don't be afraid to describe exactly what you did in projects and what you learned from them. For policy/planning jobs being able to see how people present themselves is sometimes more important than skills on paper.

[O-tacular]

Sorry to hear that Hali. It's tough moving cities and cost of living here is the highest in the country right now. Most of the Calgary forumers left SSP for Skyrise cities years ago. I know there's some guys who work in planning and at architecture firms there.

My company is looking for sales people (though I'm not sure if that's what you feel comfortable doing). Sending you a PM after this.

[urbandreamer]

What's it like in Alberta if you don't have graduate degrees and are looking for manufacturing jobs like supervisor, logistics etc? One reason I hesitate to move out there is I literally am a nobody with no contacts or specialized training.

[Ozy_Flame]

I feel for you, Hali87. It's not easy to move to a new city in any situation, and there is definitely a period of unfamiliarity and feeling away from home. Halifax is an amazing city, I absolutely love it there too.

I'm noticing that Calgary is being positioned through water cooler talk (digital or otherwise) as this panacea of opportunity, cheap housing, community and lifestyle all rolled into one convenient package. It seems to be "move to Calgary" is the default option for those looking to get away from Vancouver or the GTA.

I'm from Calgary and I can see why people want to move there, but people should prepare to move there, or anywhere. It's beautiful, but people's lifestyles really tend to focus on work, how you commute, and how your career is progressing. It is a very work-oriented city, and as such, can feel like a rat race. People love to talk about work, live work, breath work, and tell you how they go to the mountains between work on the weekends. It's also not a city you can just walk into and get a job, despite what opinions that still linger from 2007 may say about it.

Meeting new people there is like meeting new people anywhere else - you have to just get involved socially, and let the chips fall where they may. I may recommend joining a team at the Calgary Sport and Social Club if you're into sports, I worked there very briefly years ago and you can definitely keep active, stay fit and meet people there.

Calgary also has a hell of a brewery scene, and they often put on events such as music shows, tasting nights, etc. You don't even have to like alcohol if that's not your game, most of them have non-alcoholic options too.

There's a saying I think applies here - people from the West are nice but not kind, and people from the East are kind but not nice. As someone who now lives in Toronto, I think this really does hold true.

[Justanothermember]

Maybe this is a sign that Calgary isn't the right place for you and that you should be considering positions in other cities.

[WhipperSnapper]

All I can say is keep at it if you are enjoying your time in Calgary. Expand your search and think of jobs that others wouldn't think about.

I'm speculating here. Calgary is a perennial job market but, there is a record number of people locating there making it an employers choice market.

[le calmar]

Yikes, it’s the third time this week alone I hear about people not being to find a job after X number of months and hundred of resumes. Looks like it’s though out there. Makes me fear for the worst if I were to lose my job one day. Best of luck.

[urbandreamer]

Would you consider moving to a smaller city like Medicine Hat (beautiful setting, affordable housing, friendly locals) or Lethbridge?

Your particular field, after years of expansion is under going a recession with builders stopping plans etc. I expect more layoffs. Meanwhile, consider smaller cities across Canada like Woodstock, Windsor, Belleville or Thunder Bay.

I've certainly struggled to find FT work in the GTA. Temp agencies would be the place to go for immediate, short-term work.

[logan5]

Hmm. Would have thought it would have been easy to get a bartender job or construction job. Maybe the job market is actually better in Vancouver right now? Always thought Calgary was a place where jobs were easy to get and they paid better.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

There's a saying I think applies here - people from the West are nice but not kind, and people from the East are kind but not nice. As someone who now lives in Toronto, I think this really does hold true.

Nah, people from Toronto are neither kind or nice
People from Buffalo are both nice and kind.

Hali87, never did I think we'd reach a point where Halifax is pricier than Calgary but here we are in the 2020s.

I hope a forumer can help you find leads. All the best, keep your head up and stay motivated. You'll find something soon. Explore the city and all of the walking/jogging paths and trails, lots of parks.

[MonkeyRonin]

Originally Posted by logan5

Maybe the job market is actually better in Vancouver right now? Always thought Calgary was a place where jobs were easy to get and they paid better.

Probably. This is likely a side-effect of our fucked up housing market & economy: the cost-of-living in places with the most robust economies too high, so businesses struggle to find workers; while everyone flocks to lower-cost places only to find out there aren't enough jobs for them all there. Calgary's population has been growing like gangbusters lately - wouldn't be surprised if it exceeds the economic/employment growth.

Either way, this is all a pretty sad indictment of life in 2023 Canada. Sorry you had to experience it first-hand Hali.

[niwell]

I get the impression that it's very different from Calgary's earlier oil-fueled booms where you could walk in pretty much anywhere and get a job paying well over minimum wage. Service was atrocious when I visited back then compared to what I was used to. Heard stories of people who decided to quit after a bender rather than show up hungover and just get a new job later in the week.

Very different times. Anecdotally I know more people who have been laid off this year -even compared to COVID times - despite what we hear about labour shortages.

[lio45]

Yikes! That’s crazy. You’re qualified enough, can’t believe you’re not finding anything easily. I’ll echo MonkeyRonin’s comments, it’s an interesting window into today’s Canada…

If you get a job at Tim Hortons and share a 2br apt with 21 South Asians, you should hopefully be able to make ends meet! /sarcastic advice :p

[someone123]

I don't really have any connections in Calgary but I'm sorry to hear you're in this stressful situation and wish you good luck in your job search.

Originally Posted by lio45

I’ll echo MonkeyRonin’s comments, it’s an interesting window into today’s Canada…

At this risk of diluting the thread with complaints, these problems are really really obvious to certain segments of society. I know a lot of younger people (20's and 30's) who all have precarious housing and not-so-great job options despite also having student loans for degrees that didn't help much. It feels very "gaslight-y" as well since they're in a challenging environment but are often told they've never had it so good, there's a labour shortage, stop buying avocado toast, etc.

For Halifax specifically it might also be hard for people to appreciate what went on. I know a lot of people who lived there for decades and just assumed affordable rentals would be the norm forever; that held from 1960-2020 or so, basically living memory. Buying a house was never much of a money-maker nor was there the sense of "buy now or get locked out" that caused people to scramble in some other parts of the country. The tenant protections aren't great either. The city is booming but a lot of renters, a big part of society, got left out. It particularly hits people who don't have family support. Aside from being inhumane I think this situation where some people randomly make huge windfalls while others get screwed over and hard work makes little difference is a corrosive regime for a country to operate in.

[Hali87]

Just getting caught up on this now, thanks everyone for the responses and encouragement!

I did finally cave and create a LinkedIn profile about a month ago (needed it for some of the job applications) so I will definitely start trying to leverage that more. Appreciate the advice there, I had no real sense of how it works beyond the basics.

I definitely get the impression that things have changed here dramatically over the last year or two in terms of the job market and housing situations. The City (capital "C") openly talks about "the housing crisis" and there is a much larger homeless population here than I would have expected. A not-insignificant number of people have their rent covered directly by their employer, which tends to drive up prices for everyone (else). The job market seems to heavily favour those with personal connections to the employer, which in my case are very limited, although I am gradually meeting people. But it has been slow.

It seems there have been a lot of corporate layoffs recently (anecdotal, not sure what the actual stats are) and the Province also seems to have been impulsively firing a LOT of people, which combined with the larger-than-normal influx of people from other provinces/countries has created a very competitive environment, as others have noted.

As much as it might be easier to get a planning job/experience somewhere like Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge etc, I'm reluctant to go that route in the short term, mostly because I'd really be screwing my roommate over and the deal we're getting on our apartment is good enough that I don't want to give that up - circumstances aside, I do like Calgary enough that I want to live here for a while. At this point I would still rather take an unrelated (non-min-wage) job here than move again already, this time to somewhere that doesn't appeal to me and where I know literally no one. I'm also not sure that there are many positions available in the smaller centres, but I'll start looking into it more than I had been, and I guess we'll see.

(There's also Edmonton of course, where I do know a handful of people, although none of the things that people tend to like about Edmonton really appeal to me at all, so it is fairly low on my list of places I'd consider moving to, even for a good job. But again, we'll see.)

[MonctonRad]

Have you looked into working with a recruiter to try and find a position?

My youngest son has a masters degree in mechanical engineering, and only got a single nibble despite sending out numerous job applications over the course of six months. He did get hired by a consulting engineering firm in Fredericton, but, he is not overly busy there and is fearful of getting laid off. Consequently, he is still living at home with me in Moncton and commuting (he doesn't want to get saddled with a lease, and then get laid off). The situation is not ideal.

His girlfriend lives in Halifax, and has hooked him up with a freelance recruiter (a friend of hers) who specializes in the engineering field. This recruiter has already come up with several leads down in Halifax. The recruiter seems like a more promising option than simply sending out resumes.

Good luck!