Halloween Night !!!!

Today is Halloween !!! And it is our 1st time celebrating it... most of the houses where you can go trick or treating has fabulous & scary decorations.













We went Trick or Treating with the kids & has collected lots & lots of candies, chips & lollies.



Although, it was quite cold tonight but we still manage to go around trick or treating. My wife remarked that the atmosphere today seems like Chinese New Year .... where we go around houses to collect Ang Pow. But instead we go from one house to another shouting "Trick or Treat" & the house owner will start giving treats to the kids. Tonite you can really see all sort of ghost, ghouls, vampires, superheroes, princess etc ... roaming the streets.(seems like all the kids in the area are out tonite). The kids really had great fun tonite & the most astonishing things is that my son didn't even complain about feeling tired or need my wife to carry him.

Happy Halloween !!!

2 Different Positions Interview in 1 Same Company .....

Talk about irony ..... today I went back to the company which abt 2 months ago I was there being interviewed by the Director of Manufacturing who made the remark "Who trained you to be a Manufacturing Engineer ?" .......

But this time it was the Engineers that the position I applied for ... that interview me for a Technician position ...... this time round the 2 Engineers said that I'm over qualified for the Job & ask me to better look for an Engineer job.

Haiz .... what am I going to do? I'm sort of stuck in the middle .... being Engineer some may think under qualified or wary in employing new immigrant ..... while as Technician people think that you are overqualified & worry you will jump to the greener grass when opportunity hits .......

With whatever bad experience I had today... there is still a good news. Which I was offered the Admin job by the "Big Company", I spoke of before. Although it will be a 4-6 months job but I think it is a good start & will let me gain more Canadian Experience. Start work in the beginning of NOV.

Application of EIT status

Today my pocket has suffer a "BIG BURN" ..... lost CAD 500++.

It was an inevitable move, I have to apply for licence with APEGBC to work as an engineer in Canada but I could not get the full P.Eng status before I have 1 year Canadian Engineering Experience. Therefor my only option is to apply for EIT (Engineer In Training) and after I gain the 1 year requirement, then I will apply for P.Eng. The application fee cost abt CAD 502 (i.e. include HST 12% tax) ... however this is a one time payment & when I apply for P.Eng this fee is waived ..... but I need to pay for other stuff like Examination, Seminar & etc later for the P.Eng.

I can hold on to the EIT status for 8 years (as long as I pay annual fee of CAD 100++) hence I do not have a job at this field yet, it is a good to have this status as it shows employer that my degree is accredited by Institution. For those not accredited, they have to take several test & getting references before they could get the status. As for me I only need my University to send my academic transcript to them & once receive I will get the status in 2 weeks time. But in order to get the transcript I have to pay my UNI AUD 27 ... which I went to the bank to by a bank draft which cost me CAD 34++ (i.e. exchange rate + 6.50 fee). Then I have to send the application for to my Uni by registered mail ... which cost abt CAD 14++.

Hopefully with the receiving of my mailed application to my Uni & them processing & sending the transcript to APEGBC & APEGBC processing ...... I will get the EIT status in 6 weeks time minimum.

Well Structured Recruiting Process .....

Phew !!! I have not seen a company so well structured & stringent in their recruitment process. I went for an interview 2 weeks a go for a certain "BIG COMPANY" which I do not feel secure mentioning them here ........

After that I believe they have shortlisted me as they quickly went to checking my international references the following week ...... coz I receive notification from my former supervisors that the "BIG COMPANY" has e-mail the reference check form for them to fill in .... mostly the questions are regarding my personality, group work attitude, punctuality at work & etc.

Then this week I receive an e-mail from them requesting me to fill up an authorization form from my University to release my academic details to them for proper verification.

The WEIRDEST thing is that I only applied for a 4 months "ADMIN" job in the company i.e. they require someone who can read basic drawings & digitized their current & past paper document. Do they really need to go to such extend in checking my backgrounds & confirming it ??

Hopefully they will employ me at the end with all these processes.

Thanksgiving is Today ...

Today is thanksgiving & my wife decide that we should try to celebrate it with a Feast. This would be our 1st Thanksgiving here .... instead of having Roast Turkey (which is too large for us) we had roast Chicken's Thigh with Drumstick. We had Pumpkin Pie for breakfast .... which is not to our taste ... probably the cinnamon taste is too strong.




Firstly, she made the Cranberries sauce for the Chicken. (Cranberries + Sugar & Cook)


Before Cooking


Finished Product

Then she started preparing the Mashed Potato. (Potatoes + Carrots + Cheese + Butter + Seasoning) Followed by baking the Chicken & Fries. We even had cantaloupe for dessert.



Yummy it has been a while since we had such a Feast !!!

ps. My daughter even taught us a song that she learned at school ...

Thanksgiving is coming & Mr. Turkey said,
Oh My I need to be careful or I will lose my head,
The Pumpkin heard the Turkey,
Goodness Gracious My,
They will mix me up with Sugar & Spice,
Then I will be a Pumpkin Pie.

3 Interviews ..

This week I had 3 interviews.. on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The interview on Monday was a position for Production Technician .... which is actually a position for Production Worker. When the manager met up with me ... he quickly said that this job is not suitable for you .... & they may have an opening for Process Engineer in 2 months time ... probably will keep in contact with me.

The 2nd interview was with a Bio-Tech company, they are manufacturing a vision machine to count CFC (colony forming cells). The are hiring a Technician as well, the interview seems to proceed smoothly .... the interviewer even commented that I was at the top now as I could answer all of their hypothetical question, but he has another 2-3 more interviewee to go through.

The 3rd company is the Province's largest Natural Gas provider .... but the Job is as an Admin personnel who has to re-organize & digitize their paper documents, candidate has to be able to read simple technical drawings & well verse in computers. Moreover, this a temp 4 months contract job. The interview went pretty well as well.

I'm highly interested in the 2nd job but the pay for the 3rd job is good. Both company has prospect & may be a good place to start & advance my career. But all I can do now is leave it to "GOD" to decide.