Well, so you decide to think beyond your country’s frontier. One word for you: CONGRATULATIONS! That’s a HUGE step and many people don’t even think about it. Getting out of your comfort zone, meeting new people, learning a new language, and living a new culture may make you a greater human being and more prepared for the rest of your life.
But don’t fool yourself. You’ll have a ton of difficulties to overcome. Never expect things to be easy or smooth. For many, the distance from the family will be huge. Others will miss their own culture or their homeland. But the golden pot at the end of the rainbow will also be there.
Are you ready to face the rain and the storm?
That’s why Railroad Concierge organized this step by step guide so you can start your process. However, we won’t start with the steps. We’ve considered much more meaningful to start with what you should consider when starting your planning. Let’s go for it?
1- Plan your steps!
That seems obvious, right? But, as logic as it might seem, there’s a huge number of students who come without knowing their next steps. You won’t need to be a project manager here, but if you don’t want to be a bomb-specialist either (who only acts before everything blows up), know what you’re doing!
2- Understand your goals
Are you coming to Canada to start your permanent residency process? Do you want to come only to study and then go back home? Are you still deciding? Those are mandatory questions you need to know the answer. Many things can change in your decisions depending on your objectives.
3- Use your background
Understand that you’re starting from scratch but leverage on your history. That seems contradictory, right? Even though Canadian companies search for the so-called “Canadian Experience” what you did so far will matter. Use your past degrees and professional experience when making decisions for your future.
4- What you want matters!
Of course, you’ll have to make concessions and give up many things for the decision of living abroad. But that doesn’t mean that you’ll give up on EVERYTHING. Do you want to change your professional area? Do you want to live near the coast? You don’t want to live in a big city? Understand that and check which regions and careers will meet your requisites. Maybe there’s a specific city that is hiring like crazy a certain profession. Did you check that?
5- Open your mind!
Plain and simple: Open your mind for new cultures, habits, and language. You’ll meet new people in their homes. Be polite and understand the differences.
6- Money talks…
You’ll spend a lot and don’t expect anything different. This will be especially true if you are coming from a country with a weak exchange relation (if a Dollar worths many of your local currency). Take into consideration that you’re re-building your entire life and everything that you’ve conquered during your 20, 30 or 40 years will have to be re-conquered.
7- It doesn’t happen to everyone…
You might know someone who came before and have listened to their story. That’s great! But understand that their path won’t be necessarily the same as yours. Many steps of the process are done by humans and many things might (and potentially will) go different regarding your visa/permits, your college application, your application for a home renting, a job interview… So understand other experiences, but be prepared and know how to act when things don’t go as expected.
Maybe we’re scaring you until now?
Good! That’s not our intention, but if this first part of our guide made you think, we’re more than happy. Thank you for your time and stay tuned for the next parts.