Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Bonjour!
so i decided that its time for me to broaden my horizon and relocate myself to a different country for a year. Im quite nervous at the idea of moving to a new country but i think it'll be a great challenge and experience for me.
After a bit of research i found out that Montreal has an amazing art scene which is what i'm after. The problem is though, that i am no way near fluent in French! i will definitely make my effort to learn the language before i get there but i don't know how lucky i'll get with that. I really think that Montreal has a lot to offer me but i also need to be able to financially support myself whilst my stay there so it is very important that i get myself hired! So i suppose what i'm trying to get at is that, what would the chance be for someone who is not very fluent in French to find themselves a job (like at a cafe or something) in Montreal?
Also if you have any other tips for me about living in Montreal, it will be very much appreciated!
Last edited by jagadamba; 04-27-2012 at 07:37 AM..
Okay, I'm sorry but I've got to be brutally honest for your own good. You have no chance of being hired for any job working with the public without fluent French, so cafe is out. You maybe could get some work doing labour in something like a warehouse, but even then, it's not easy to get that from across the pond. I can't really give you advice other than I hope you get lucky and find an employer that will take you on, scoring work can be tough even for people who are't coming from abroad. Montreal is, however, the cheapest big city to go live in in Canada, and the most fun for someone of modest means, so in that respect you've made a great choice. But overcoming the language and employment barriers will be tough. Really apply yourself, and you could make this work, but I won't tell you it's going to be easy and that you'll definitely find something.
I have to agree with with the above poster - it can be really difficult to get an job here that is only in English, and you do have to be qualified to work here (visa, etc - I am not sure the requirements). There are some jobs like telemarketing or closed captioning that are downtown, and some manufacturing jobs (mostly in Ville St Laurent area). There are some things like dishwashing. I know Anglo fine arts graduates who have done all of these things, but honestly a lot of them get by with the help of a bilingual partner. If you have the right to work in Canada, there are also places like Ubisoft & EA Games, or large international companies whose client base is overseas or in the US.
Look on Craigslist for jobs and room-mate situations - most of Kijiji will be in French. If you want to live alone the cheapest plan will be to stay our of the trendy areas like the Plateau and Mile-End, and look instead in working class places like Verdun (still a lot of English there). Hochelaga Maisonneuve is also less expensive, but it is very French and has some issues (sex-trade, drugs etc). However, Montreal is a very safe city and I have never had a problem in that neighbourhood.
A note on rentals...... we count rooms, not bedrooms, and lots of apartments don't come with a fridge or stove. So, a 3 1/2 is a one bedroom with a kitchen, livingroom, and bathroom, a 4 1/2 will have two bedrooms or one and a double living room, etc.
Yeah, finding a job in the service industry without french is near-impossible. Before I knew french, I did get hired at a couple of restos downtown as a busboy, but they were mostly just "trying me out". I got paid under the table but I didn't really get a solid working schedule. I wouldn't do that again. Once I had a work permit, I got hired at a cafe... which is amazing, considering I hardly knew any french, but I had a connection through a friend and they just kept me off the cash. Your luck with that is better in English neighborhoods at places by the english universities - but even then, it'll be tough.
Depending on your education level, I've found that having a B.A. - and not looking for service industry jobs - really changes things, as a lot of new companies in MTL speak english in the office if they have an American/Canadian or International client base. Most of those jobs are career-oriented 9-5's though... not very fun. Then there's the call centers, but those are mostly scams and it really sucks, but hey, it got me through 3 summers at 11/hr... what else was there. Oh yeah, if you know a littttle bit of french, a grocery store may hire you as a stock-boy. I did that, but it was the night shift, and that sucked.
i am a good example. i am from ireland, and ive been in montreal since early january. if i was staying here in the long term i would of learnt the language. but going home next month. but anyway, the majority of the work ive gotten is crappy labour work. but you get english speaking telemarteking work, i did that for a bit and its soul destroying lol
but what do i expect when i cant speak french. learn as much french as you can and you'll have a much better experience here.
and wait till you see the women here lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
