Bilingual anglophones - your experience of the Montreal labour market?

[MTLskyline]

Thanks for the kind words!

[youradhere]

I have to chime in here. First off, the people who say that the hiring process is completely run off personal preference are completely correct. If the hiring manager or HR representative is staunchly francophone, they will look for one of their own. But honestly, I don't actually find that language is the most important issue, but rather culture. And that's honestly something that native Montreal anglophones have trouble seeing, because they've lived here their whole life. What I mean by this is that Quebec/Montreal culture to an extent transcend linguistic lines, and there are similarities between anglophones and francophones, especially in white collar business, that will seem foreign or even offensive to international immigrants of any language. I won't get into what these are, but suffice it to say that as an international Anglophone, you will be expected to "know your role" for a long time before being able to be yourself in an office environment. So, I would strongly suggest using resources like LinkedIn, or perhaps a recruiting agency, to get a sense of organizational culture, meaning which employers often hire international Anglophones, or even allophones, as opposed to those who favor graduates from a local university such as UQAM, Montreal, or Concordia (McGill is an exception.) So, do a search for universities such as Toronto, BC, Queens, York, Western, or other well-known Canadian institutions, and see where their graduates are working in Montreal. This will give you a sense of where to start in terms of approaching employers who are truly open minded, as opposed to those who might say they are, but will exhibit many of the cultural tendencies I am talking about. I hope this helps, and doesn't anger anytime reading it, as I am thankful to the Quebecois people, especially friends of mine, who have helped fill me in on these underlying facts during my time here in Quebec... but the cultural differences are real.

[cdnmk91]

Originally Posted by jambo101

I cant believe you'll ever get really good at a language unless you are totally immersed in it, speaking it often everyday.i've been speaking French for 35 years and to a Francophone its immediately obvious i'm not French, i get by very well in most situations where French is required but freely engaging in an oral equivalent of what we talk about on these forums i would find very challenging.
Also much depends on your ability with other languages as some pick it up easier than others..

I am coming back to this post shamefully late, but just wanted to chime in and thank people for their comments.

I completely agree that immersing yourself in a language is super important! I haven't made the move to Montreal yet, but am still seriously considering it. I've been doing some internships in Gatineau where I've been working in a really bilingual environment and according to francophone colleagues, my spoken French is quite good.

So I'm guessing in your situation that you're working mostly in English?

[cdnmk91]

Originally Posted by youradhere

But honestly, I don't actually find that language is the most important issue, but rather culture. And that's honestly something that native Montreal anglophones have trouble seeing, because they've lived here their whole life. What I mean by this is that Quebec/Montreal culture to an extent transcend linguistic lines, and there are similarities between anglophones and francophones, especially in white collar business, that will seem foreign or even offensive to international immigrants of any language. I won't get into what these are, but suffice it to say that as an international Anglophone, you will be expected to "know your role" for a long time before being able to be yourself in an office environment.

That's really interesting and something I've never heard of before. I just recently finished a bachelors degree on the west coast and have been thinking about doing further studies in Montreal to help myself get established there. But the main school I've been looking into is McGill (I wouldn't mind UdeM either, but I'm not sure if my French is quite there yet).

So you feel like there's a subtle ant-McGill or anti-outsider bias in the labour market that transcends linguistic lines?