The Toronto blogger: Leaving Vancouver in search of new career opportunities

By Alice M. Chacon

I won’t lie to you. Graduating in one of the toughest economic times in recent history is intimidating, to say the least. On top of that I’ve decided to move to a new city, Toronto, to try to look for job opportunities I can’t find in Vancouver. I’ll be sharing my experiences with you on the BCAMA marketline blog.

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Back in 2008, when I decided to go back to school for my MBA, I thought that it would be a good way to hone my business skills and improve my opportunities of advancing my career as a new immigrant in Canada. But only weeks into my program, the news about the economy got infinitely worse. I crossed my fingers and hoped that job prospects would improve by the time I finished my program: December 2009.

I chose to do my MBA program at the Sauder School of Business (UBC), because I wanted to settle permanently in Vancouver. But once in Vancouver, my opinions changed. I was interested in joining an international company that could give me the experience of working with a global brand, and learned that most headquarters were located in Toronto.

I finally decided to move to Toronto last summer, when I was doing my internship in Ontario. While being here in the summer, I realized that there were more opportunities in more industries. It wasn’t an easy choice. Vancouver is an amazing place to live in, and most of my friends and professional network are in that city. Moving to Toronto means starting from scratch. That is even harder considering that I’m an immigrant and looking for my first full-time Canadian job.

I moved here just after finishing my MBA in December. The greatest challenge has been building a network. I’ve been meeting with friends of friends and reaching out to Sauder alumni here. I switched to the AMA Toronto chapter and went to my first meeting last week. It isn’t easy to start a network from scratch, but I’m not alone in doing this: With a shaky economy, it seems that many young professionals are considering the GTA as a good place to look for new opportunities.

Alice is a recent MBA graduate with a specialization in Marketing Management, based in Toronto, ON. She has a background in marketing, communications and corporate social responsibility in consumer goods, software and media.  She is an avid follower of marketing trends and shares news and analyzes trends on her blog: www.alicechacon.blogspot.com and her Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/alicemchacon.