International LDR And The Cost Of Education.

[Secrecy]

Catchy title just to get everyone's attention, yeah?

Anyways, I'll try and keep this as short and sweet as possible... More theoretical situations that help me wrap my mind around things.

My boyfriend and I are an international LDR couple, with me living in Nebraska in the United States, and him living in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. My ideal situation would be to move up there as quickly as I can after I graduated college... But the idea of me repaying my student loans is kind of daunting to me in that respect. I will owe roughly $100,000 in student loans once I graduate, and I don't really know how quickly I would be able to get a job in Canada if I move there. To those who live in Canada, or understand the nature of the beast that is finding a job in another country... How easy is it? I will be majoring in graphic design, and am wondering how difficult it is to move up there and begin a job search in hopes of finding a company that will hire me on and sponsor me for a visa so I could become a permanent citizen? I would need a job as quickly as possible to begin paying off that debt, so me going up there and living with him for a year and then applying for a Common-Law Partnership visa would be pretty darn near impossible, because I would be drowning in six months of student loan debt by that time with no form of income.

So I guess my biggest question is... How likely am I to find a company that will actually hire me on as an international person, and sponsor me a visa? Or would I be better off finding another means of becoming a permanent resident there so I could legally work within the country? I would love some advice, especially from people who may have actually immigrated from one country to another, especially on a job basis.

[sewbama]

So I know NOTHING about finding a job internationally, and really not a whole lot about finding a job in general. I graduated with my bachelors degree a little over a year ago, and had done NO job searching. none. It worked fine because I got into grad school. Now I have my masters and I'm going for a PhD. So I haven't had to deal with the debt repayment issue yet.

But one thing I learned at the beginning of grad school is you are supposed to start looking for a job before you graduate. Like a long time before you graduate. So for the typical student that graduates in May, if you don't have your resume out to like 10 companies before December, you are way behind. So try to get ahead of the game. Make sure you have all your info for your resume ready. Try to find the career center at your school, and get them to help you. Colleges tend to have a lot of resources for job finding. So utilize them. I never have because I think I want to spend my whole life in a school... But there are a lot of people there that can help you, or know someone who can.

I knew a lot of people that had job offers finalized before graduation. So it is definitely possible. Probably a bit more difficult internationally, so you just have to make sure you know what you're up to. Just work at it, read a lot. Find websites with info for your major in Canada. You'll be alright.

[Secrecy]

So I know NOTHING about finding a job internationally, and really not a whole lot about finding a job in general. I graduated with my bachelors degree a little over a year ago, and had done NO job searching. none. It worked fine because I got into grad school. Now I have my masters and I'm going for a PhD. So I haven't had to deal with the debt repayment issue yet.

But one thing I learned at the beginning of grad school is you are supposed to start looking for a job before you graduate. Like a long time before you graduate. So for the typical student that graduates in May, if you don't have your resume out to like 10 companies before December, you are way behind. So try to get ahead of the game. Make sure you have all your info for your resume ready. Try to find the career center at your school, and get them to help you. Colleges tend to have a lot of resources for job finding. So utilize them. I never have because I think I want to spend my whole life in a school... But there are a lot of people there that can help you, or know someone who can.

I knew a lot of people that had job offers finalized before graduation. So it is definitely possible. Probably a bit more difficult internationally, so you just have to make sure you know what you're up to. Just work at it, read a lot. Find websites with info for your major in Canada. You'll be alright.

Thank you sewbama. <3 I really appreciate it. And I am in NO WAY close to graduating right now; I am only going to be starting my second year of school next month, so I, theoretically, have a lot of time. But that is exactly the reason why I am asking the question so early on because I know it can be a tough and long process, just as I plan to start paying on my student loans while I'm still at school before I graduate, beginning this year. I wanted to do it last year, but I ended up falling behind because of a surgery I had that sucked away every last penny I had. :c

[kittyo9]

I'm also going to be looking for jobs in another country after I graduate. There's an international job fair every year at MIT that I want to go to this year to take a look at what's available. I don't know if they have something like that near you, but it would be good just to look around for one. You might consider joining a site like LinkedIn, where you can post your resume and look at company profiles (along with locations) online.

You can also see if your school has any resources to help you find a job after graduating. Not all students stay in the country, so chances are you're not the first person who's come to them asking for help finding a job in Canada. I don't know what your university is like, but we refer to our stuff as "Career services," and there is usually someone there you can go and talk to about finding a job. They also keep tabs with alumni who are often eager to hire graduates from their alma mater.

You might also consider trying to apply to more scholarships to alleviate part of the student loan pain. Looking for local scholarships for your home town/region/state gives you better chances, and even a $500 scholarship can offset a large amount of cost for you.

If nothing else, Craigslist has (possibly sketchy) job postings for major areas in Canada...