Soumya moved to Canada in 2021 with a childhood ambition and a business degree ahead of him. Five years later he is 27, back in India, and honest about all of it: the year it took to find a job he was proud of, the four to five hundred applications that went unanswered, three years sharing a room with a stranger, and a PR approval that never came. He does not call any of it a failure. He is back for six months around his wedding, running three Canadian clients remotely while bootstrapping a food business — and he fully intends to return.
Soumya is 27. He moved to Canada in 2021 chasing a childhood ambition, spent five years there, sent four to five hundred job applications, shared a room with a stranger for three of those years, and never got PR. He is back in India now, and he does not call any of it a failure. He also does not call it permanent.
Soumya moved to Canada in 2021, at 22, for a postgraduate programme in global business management. He had a bachelor's in IT from India behind his and, by his own description, a family that had pointed him abroad since he was a child.
His father had tried to go and could not. "I was kind of groomed that way since I was a kid," he says. "So it just felt like it's my thing." Everyone on his mother's side is in business, and he had decided early that the business he wanted to build would not be built in India.
There was a third pull, and it is the one he still defends: work-life balance. He had heard that the work culture abroad was better than what he was seeing at home, and he is unambiguous that on this point the belief turned out to be correct.
Ask him what opportunity actually meant and he gives a specific, unglamorous answer rather than a slogan.
He studied at a college that also ran an MBA programme. He was a four-year IT undergraduate. The MBA graduates had four years plus two more. Both groups were competing for the same placements. "That itself shows you the difference," he says. Two extra years of education, no separation in outcome.
He is careful not to turn this into a verdict on India. He has friends thriving here and says so. But he wanted a market where the extra effort showed up somewhere, and he did not believe he would find it where he was.
One difference he did find abroad is worth quoting for anyone weighing a move mid-career: in India, in his circle, essentially everyone starts as a fresher on a fresher's salary regardless of what they bring. In Canada, he says, if an employer likes you, you can enter at a mid-level position. The ladder is not mandatory in the same way.
He did the preparation properly. Six months before graduating he started reaching out on LinkedIn, building connections, planning to land a job the moment his degree arrived.
It took about a year to find a job he was genuinely proud of — the kind, he says, that you put on your LinkedIn.
The mechanism he describes is worth understanding, because it is not really about the job market. It is about cash flow. Most students are already living paycheck to paycheck by the time they graduate, because they have been juggling part-time work throughout. Graduation does not relieve that; it intensifies it. So people grab the first offer that appears and then wait for a better one to fall into their lap, which it does not. Eventually they quit the job they never wanted and start the real search from a standing position.
"They take whatever opportunity they're getting and then they hold on to it," he says. His point is that the pressure to earn immediately is what produces the wasted year, not a lack of ability.
He arrived with more than a fresh degree. He had run his own drop-shipping business for roughly a year before leaving India, so he had real exposure to running and managing something.
It counted for very little. "People wanted experience, but they didn't want Indian experience," he says. What employers were filtering for was Canadian experience and, he felt, a Canadian accent.
The numbers behind the search are bleak in a way that rarely makes it into student brochures: roughly four to five hundred applications, and only a couple of replies — most of those rejections. He is explicit that he would have preferred more rejections to more silence. A rejection closes a loop; silence leaves you refreshing an inbox.
What worked instead was networking, and he is emphatic about it. Which college you attend matters, he says, precisely because of who you end up standing next to. Those are the people who refer you into the role you actually want. If you are weighing a move in the other direction, the same logic sits behind the career reset a returning family went through after 20 years in Japan.
He had an education loan. His father paid tuition where he could; he worked to cover the rest and did not want to ask him for more.
Then the line that lands hardest: he shared a room — not a flat, a room — with another person for about three years of his stay. He had his own room in India. "That is not an expectation that you would have," he says.
The structural reason is hourly pay. Starting roles are frequently paid by the hour rather than by the month, so a day not worked is simply money not earned. There is no salaried floor underneath you. That is what keeps people in shared rooms and what makes the paycheck-to-paycheck pattern feel normal rather than alarming — including, he noticed, among Canadian friends who saw nothing unusual in it.
Her objection to that complacency is practical: medical bills there are expensive, and living with no buffer is a bet that nothing goes wrong.
Two reasons, one administrative and one personal.
Her visa was ending. He could have applied for an extension, but he rated the odds of refusal as real. The alternative routes were slow — learning French to open another pathway, for instance, which he is in fact now doing.
The second reason is that he is getting married in about six months. Rather than spend that window fighting an extension he might lose, he decided to come home for six or seven months, be with his family, and go back afterwards.
He talked it through with his father, who told him simply to come back and stay as long as he wanted, and with his partner, who made the argument that stuck: when else would he get this much time with his family before jumping back in?
The decision still took about six months of turning over, and it still hurt. He left the apartment, the job and the friendships he had built. And he had to leave his cat, whom he could not bring with him. For families weighing the same problem, the practical side of moving an animal is covered in the account of a family who brought a 12-year-old dog back from the US.
Asked directly whether moving back felt like failure, his answer separates two things that get conflated.
The return itself: no. He grew up abroad in the way that only living alone forces. He learned to run a household, make his own friendships, be responsible for himself in a way he would not have been in a home with staff and family around him. "I came back as a better person than I left," he says.
The immigration outcome: that is where it stung. He had studied, he was doing well at work, he volunteered extensively — and the PR approval still did not come. "I'm doing all this stuff and then I still couldn't get the PR approval." That felt, for a while, like time lost. Immigration rules keep moving, and he names that instability as the thing that made five years of effort feel provisional.
It is a distinction worth holding onto. The story people tell themselves is that going home is the failure. In his telling, going home was the growth; the unrewarded paperwork was the disappointment.
He has not treated the six months as a holiday, and this is the most transferable part of the conversation.
Throughout his time in Canada he kept one or two freelance clients alongside his full-time job — deliberately never more, so that the side work did not eat his life. That habit is what survived the move. He now has three Canadian clients, roughly 10 to 15 hours a week each, about 30 to 35 hours in total. The currency difference does the rest.
Alongside that he is bootstrapping a healthy-food company called Fifth Plate, funded from his savings, at around 20 hours a week. The target is to have it commercial before he leaves, with customers in place, then hire a business manager so it runs with minimal oversight from him.
The lesson is not "start a business". It is that the relationships and the income streams he built abroad were portable, and they were portable because he had maintained them as relationships rather than as a job.
He volunteers both sides without being pushed, which is the useful kind of testimony.
What Canada does better. Work-life balance, first and without hesitation: "3:00 my work is done. I clock out. Nobody disturbs me." After hours, he is not reachable, and nobody expects otherwise. He also rates the everyday service culture — complaints are taken seriously, people are pleasant about it — along with the infrastructure.
What Canada does worse. The job market, badly. The silence from employers. The paycheck-to-paycheck squeeze. And healthcare, which he is blunt about: a friend with a foot problem waited an entire day in emergency care to be seen, and left with a prescription for a painkiller. "Canada's infrastructure, Canada's weather, everything is amazing," he says. "But it would be much better if they had a better healthcare system as well."
Two months back in, his list is specific.
Family, as infrastructure rather than sentiment. He ran a menu tasting for around 25 fitness influencers at a farmhouse, and his cousins and sister simply turned up to help. They had their own lives and commitments. They came anyway. That, he says, is the thing that does not exist in another country.
Speed. He needed a bank account and someone came to his house to open it. In Canada he had waited days for an appointment with an advisor. Things that take three days there can take twenty-four hours here.
A genuinely hot food market. He points out that even small cloud kitchens operating out of a house are turning over what a full-time salary would pay.
What is worse. Work culture, and he did test it — he interviewed for a few roles when he got back, and got offers. He turned them down. Six-day weeks, hours of eleven to seven or eleven to eight, and pay that did not justify either. "That means 6 days of my life gone," he says. "I'll wake up, have breakfast, come to you, and have dinner at my house. There's no life."
The second thing is boundaries, and his example is a friend rather than an employer. They had agreed to meet at 7pm; the friend arrived at about 8:30, still carrying his laptop, still being called by his boss, apologising throughout. Soumya was not angry — he notes, interestingly, that five years away had made his less quick to anger — but he found it hard to watch. The friend works at a good company. The boundaries simply are not there.
The third is accountability. His mother runs a saree business; a parcel worth around ₹12,000 was lost by a delivery service, and nobody responded for five days. If you are preparing for this adjustment generally, the pattern behind why families struggle after moving back is worth reading before you land rather than after.
Asked what he would tell someone about to do what he did, he gives four things.
| Do this | Why he says so |
|---|---|
| Choose the college by its outcomes | He was told repeatedly that the institution does not matter. He disagrees firmly. The college decides who is standing next to you, and those people are the referrals. |
| Pick the course you actually want | His own programme was one he genuinely wanted — but he watched classmates pick it because it was the easy one to get into, and that choice follows you into the job search. |
| Network relentlessly | Professors, fellow students, seniors, clubs. Do not skip a club to pick up another hour of part-time pay. Away from home, the friends you build become the family you do not have there. |
| Start by the third semester | Not after graduation. Begin looking at what roles exist and what you want before the final semester closes in. |
He says he was never without work across five and a half years in Canada, and he attributes it to one specific method that has nothing to do with applying online.
Do not walk around handing out resumes. He has been a restaurant manager himself, and he is candid about where those go: into a pile nobody opens.
Instead, open a map, pick a target area, and call the places in it. Ask whether the manager is in. Ask to speak to them. Introduce yourself, say where you are studying, ask whether they are hiring. If the answer is yes, book the appointment on that call. If it is no, you have spent ninety seconds instead of an afternoon.
The secondary benefit is the one he rates highest: by the time you walk in, the manager already knows your voice. You are not a stranger with paper. You are the person who called.
Soumya moved to Canada in 2021 at 22, for a postgraduate business programme, chasing opportunity and work-life balance. It took roughly a year after graduating to find a job he was proud of, across four to five hundred applications that mostly went unanswered; employers wanted Canadian experience, not the business he had already run in India. He shared a room with a stranger for three years because entry-level pay is hourly and there is no floor beneath it. PR never came, despite studying, working and volunteering — and that, not the leaving, is the part that felt like lost time. With his visa ending and his wedding six months out, he chose to come home rather than gamble on an extension. He is not idle: three Canadian clients, about 30 to 35 hours a week, while bootstrapping a food business he intends to leave running under a manager. He rates Canada's work-life balance and India's family, speed and market with equal candour, and he is learning French because he fully intends to go back. This is a pause, not an exit.
The planner lays out what needs attention 12 months out, 6 months out, and 3 months before the move, with the tax, banking and logistics steps in the right order.
Bring your likely move window, your visa or PR position, and a rough split of your income between the two countries.
Auto-generated captions, lightly cleaned
0:00 The realities do come do come crashing onto you. It almost took me a year to find a job that I truly enjoy. I shared a room with a stranger for almost like 3 years of my stay in Canada. I'm doing all this stuff and then I still couldn't get the [music] PR approval. 3:00 my work is done. I clock out. Nobody disturbs me. I do want to like go back because I feel like Canada will keep me on my toes. >> Thank you very much Somia for joining us on our podcast. let's start about who you are and what made you to leave India. >> Okay. hi Avin. as you know my name is Samia. I'm 27 and then I moved to Canada in 2021.
0:55 It's been it's been 5 plus years and then the reason why I went to Canada was for the opportunities and having to do something that was not available in India. I guess it was a childhood dream of mine and also like my parents. my dad tried to go but he couldn't and then I was kind of groomed that way since I was a kid. So it just felt like it's it's my thing. so I've been like dreaming about like going and like studying MBA there, doing a business degree, having my own business someday. I come from my that side. everyone is into business. My mom said everyone is into business. So it's more like it was more of a family thing and I didn't want to like do a business in India and I I wanted to like go out have
1:51 My own business there. And also there is a lot of belief outside as well that saying that the work culture is much better in abroad in Canada or US that is 100% true. so I was also like looking forward to that having that work life balance and everything. so yeah I think that was the reason why for me it was first place that I felt like oh I should go. >> Got it. So you said in 2021 that's when you moved to Canada but you made a comment that I think it's the opportunities the lack of opportunities in India. Maybe you can expand on it like what are the opportunities that you are referring there that are lacking in India in 2021 which is like you know recent and what are those that are available in abroad like let's say in Canada >> for sure let me start with this I went to a college which had MBA degree as well yeah >> I was a bachelor in IT so I and the MBA placements both of us are getting
2:53 The same placements MBA graduates and I So which itself shows you the difference like I have four years of bachelor's they have four years of bachelors plus 2 years of education you and I are same are aiming for the same placement that doesn't make sense so I would say that is like one of the reason like if I wanted to study MBA I still have like lesser opportunities and also like the work culture isn't that that great. I've sat into the interviews and everything. don't get me wrong, there are people who are like thriving here. I have like couple of friends who are like doing amazing in their careers and everything. but for me as a person, I felt like there could be something else out there. so yeah, so I thought like I should give it a shot outside. when it comes to the opportunities the work life balance is really
3:53 Important for me. >> Got it. >> That is something you could get it in abroad if I compare it to Indian. >> So did you go there for your
4:05 Post-graduate studies or did you go there for job? yeah >> I went for my postgraduation. I did bachelor's in IT here in Gurana College and then I did my postgraduation over there. I did it in Konos Stoa. I studied global business management. >> And I know you went with this expectation of the work life balance opportunities starting the business. what's the reality like I mean if someone is planning to go to Canada right now what are they underestimating it because you have had certain expectations and you went to the reality for the 5 years >> right? >> Yeah. You know paint us the picture of what's the reality is >> for sure. to be honest with you, crashing onto you before I graduated 6 months before I I was like okay fine I'm going to graduate 6 months after I started preparing myself I started reaching out to people on LinkedIn. I started connecting with people. I
5:06 Wanted to like land a job as soon as I get my degree. So that was my plan. >> Yeah. But it did not go that way. to be honest, it was it almost took me a year to find a job that I truly enjoy. it was like most of the people in Canada live paycheck to paycheck and that is something you get used to when you go to Canada when you because you always do a part-time or something when you're in school. So it's like you do bunch of things and you start living paycheck to paycheck. So it after you graduated it automatically resets you in a way like oh like I need to find a job immediately now. So a lot of people not just me even like my friends what they do is they immediately grab on to something that they get.
6:01 >> Yeah. >> they don't necessarily take the time to like find a job. they take they take whatever the opportunity they're getting and then they hold on to it and then they expect that another opportunity that they like falls into their lap which does not happen. So basically you'll be like doing the same job that
6:19 You don't want to do and then eventually you will be like you know what I don't want this and then you quit the job and then you'll actually look for something that you want and then you can probably find something that you want to do. So I would say for me reality was kind of like that. I was preparing for it almost for 6 months to get a job. I did find like couple of leads here and there don't get me wrong but people wanted experience but they didn't want Indian experience. so for me it was like really hard because I went right after graduation right after my bachelor's and then even before I went right before the graduation I had my own drop shipping business for a while which I ran for almost a year. so I was pretty solid when it comes to like business or like management and stuff like that but people didn't care
7:19 Honestly. it was more like they needed Canadian experience and they needed like the Canadian accent and stuff like that. So I would say that was the reality. it took me time to like find a job for like almost a year to find a job that I felt like okay fine this is the job I'm kind of proud of. Let me put it on my LinkedIn. It's like that. >> Got it. And how does that compare to the opportunities? I mean that was one of the reason right I think you know you mentioned like in India the people who have done bachelors and then the post like MBA might have the same opportunities. How does that compare to the opportunities in Canada like you know from your own experience?
8:05 >> how does it compare? I would say definitely from which university you come matters >> in Canada because when I was first moving to Canada my dad had a lot of people suggesting him that saying that oh it doesn't matter which college she goes to it doesn't matter which university she goes to but I think that is that is not right it is definitely matters which college you go to and the kind of people that you meet and also the kind of connections that you meet. because at the end of the day those are the people that will refer you to a better job and to like a better posting. for me personally from what I saw in in India among my friends it's very hard that you get a senior level position or like at least like a associate position. everybody has
9:05 To start as a fresher with like 20 20,000 or a 30,000 salary. It's like it's a mandatory. But in Canada it's not like that. If they if they like you, they will give you that opportunity.
9:19 It [clears throat] doesn't necessarily have to be like you have to start from the scratch. Yes, they yes they do ask you for experience, but if they do like you, you will be able to at least enter as a mid-level position. That is something I have realized over time with my experience like job hunting or with my experience inside companies and corporates and stuff like >> You made a comment about a lot of people live their paycheck to paycheck. I mean so is that only in the student life or like after they get into this opportunity? I know things have evolved, changed in Canada like what's happening right now in 2025 before you left what's the reality in terms of the financial yes there are opportunities there are like some other but what's the reality in Canada right now >> I would say yeah people do tend to live paycheck to paycheck especially when they are students because we come here we take loans personally I have an
10:20 Education loan I came here and then I had to like pay the loan off and I couldn't ask more money from my dad. So, what I would do, I would go get a job. my dad will be paying my tuition and if I could, I I'll be paying tution and whatever. I I wouldn't know if people would like actually believe, but I shared a room with a stranger for almost like 3 years of my stay in Canada. I mean she's a friend of course but me having my own room in India and having to go out there and share a room with a stranger is is not an expectation that you would have but those are the things that you know will make you feel like oh this is the reality and the reason why you don't get your own private room is because you tend to live paycheck to paycheck and I would also say it's because the wages are hourly.
11:18 In Canada. it's not like, oh, I'm giving you $3,000 or $4,000 a month and you spend it however you want. It's not it doesn't work like that. lot of corporates do that. Corporators are companies, but mostly when you start out and like lot of companies, they do hourly. So if there is a day that you
11:39 Skip work, there is no money for you. and a lot of people do spend paycheck to paycheck. that is also something I have observed in u my Canadian friends >> and they think it's completely fine but honestly it's not because the medical bills and everything is very expensive in Canada. >> So so yeah it's it's not a good thing to do. Got it. >> So when did you realize that and also like you like when did like you know you got an opportunity after one year and you have the career, you have the job and what what made you to move to India?
12:27 >> Okay. I had two reasons for it. first one was my visa was done. and I could rather I could apply for an extension and then stay for a while. But the second reason is I am getting married soon. so I figured I might as well come back, stay for the 6 7 months with my family, enjoy my time and then go back again. so for the 6 months that I'm here, I'm trying to like you know keep in touch with my Canadian clients and also like have my own business start in the 6 months. So when I go at least I'll still have something in India that if I ever feel like I want to come back.
13:16 >> Got it. Okay. But was there any was there ever a point where going back to India >> felt like a failure you know when thinking through this process? Hm. I would say not because I as a person grew a lot. my dad provided me everything. he joined me into a college and then I made friends >> [clears throat] >> etc etc everything. But when you actually go out there you grow as a person. so I would say like the friends that I made or like everything like I used to organize my own bed. here we have people for everything in India like we have we have a maid we have a cook but when you're when you're out there you learn to do things by yourself and that is something I would
14:11 Say it's difference from my friends who are here. so I think I wouldn't consider that as a failure because even when I came back I think I came back as a better person than I left. so I would not consider that as a failure. and also moreover I do want to like go back because I feel like Canada will keep me on my toes. >> so >> sorry just to be clear maybe I was asking about by living in Canada you know you have a choice you can apply for a visa extension and you know continue that versus going back to India take a break and all that stuff. because some people have this wrong perception moving back to India might be considered as a failure or you know it's something that you couldn't success was that something that occurred to you while living in Canada while you're making this that's that's what I was asking about >> yeah yes yes I did have that impression a little bit when it came to my immigration
15:11 >> because it felt like I was here I did study I am doing great in my job I'm I volunteer a lot so I'm like I'm doing all this stuff and then I still couldn't get the PR approval. So, it kind of felt like a little loss of time or like waste of time. there were moments like that. I definitely had because these things about immigration, they keep changing and then you know it's it's always a a little bummer and having to leave all of my friends there, friends that I made or the life that I built or having the job that I had and then having to move back is definitely a little pain. Yeah, for sure.
16:01 >> Yeah. Is there anything that you went through in terms of making that decision or like in decision framework I know it was struggle I think is there a way that you weigh this is the pros and cons or like okay this is the thing how do you come to a decision yeah going >> so I had a chat with my boyfriend and my dad my dad is the person that I always share everything with so I told him like these are the these are the things that I could do like I could like either apply for an extension and I think it might get rejected or I can learn French or I can come back and stay with you guys for 6 months and then move back again to why 6 months is because I'm planning to get married at the end of the 6 months.
16:51 So I'll just go back then. though my dad was like you know what just come back it's fine. come back, stay with us for 6 months or as long as you want. so I think my dad did the bigger picture of it of me deciding and my boyfriend as well he also told me that like you know what you should take the 6 months who else will get these time to like spend time with your family and everything before you jump back into this BS. So I was like, you know what, let me just go back and then so yeah, I decided to like, okay, I'll go back. It was definitely a pain because I have a cat >> and I couldn't bring her here. >> so I had to like leave her leave everything that I've built like my my own room or my apartment and everything and then I had to like move back even if it was for like a short time.
17:49 And how long did it take from a decision to actually moving back? >> I think I was I was thinking about it for like almost 6 months. >> Even after I took a decision, it was a little it was hurting. but I had to like come back. but I thought it's
18:11 It's for the it's for the good. I I can always keep this momentum going. So yeah, >> got it. this is something that you mentioned. so while taking a break for the 6 months, you are trying to build your business, I think you can bounce back and be back in the Canada and this like Yeah. >> First before telling that I want to mention one thing. in Canada, if people want to like find a job or like grow in their career, the most important thing that you do is networking. networking 100% helps. I'm in this group called Monday Girls. It's like women all over the world. and like women help each other and stuff like that. so it's really important who you know and who you network with and stuff like >> so for me when I was in Canada, even though I had a full-time job, I always had a client on the side. but I won't take too many because it will disrupt my
19:14 Daily fun and whatnot. So I usually keep it to like one client or two client for a month or two and then once I'm like done with the project then I take another project. So when I moved back I've decided like I should still do this. that is how I keep in touch with the Canadian roots that I've built. >> and then u I can still keep networking. I can like still be in that space and obviously there is like a currency difference. so I've decided like I should do it and right now I have like three Canadian clients that I'm working part-time with each like 10 hours 15 hours each with every single client. So that kind of gives me 30 hours 35 hours a week. and apart from that I'm bootstrapping my own company.
20:08 It's it's called Fifth Plate. do check it out. so it's a healthy brand and everything. my goal in the 6 months before leaving it, I want to make it commercial. and then I want the clients the customers and everything set up and then I leave. So once I leave my plan is till I hire a business manager and then have this run with very little to minute overlook from my side. >> So right just bootstrapping everything from my savings and then I am working on it at least 20 hours a week. >> Okay, good luck with that. And yeah, >> so sounds like I think you want to go back to Canada after the 6 months after the marriage and all that stuff like so is that like you are expecting a PR is that the plan like to be back in Canada, >> right? I'm also learning my French a little bit or trying to [laughter]
21:10 So hopefully I'll take that exam as
21:13 Well. I'm just looking into like different ways that I could like head back. >> Got it. And I think based on your experience living there for 5 years like what is that Canada actually do better than in India like you know why the pull is there to be back in Canada after experiencing you know we talked about the expectations versus what's the reality and going through the reality and living here for some time you know to understand how India has developed what is that pull factor from Canada. >> Okay. first let me say the pros of both the countries and then I'll say cons of both the countries. as for the pro in Canada I would say work life balance again. 3:00 my work is done. I clock out nobody disturbs me. after 3:00 I don't know who you are.
22:08 It's it's always been like that. And I had a good way of like using my benefits or like everything like that. And I had a very nice work life balance and obviously people are way friendlier and everything. and there are things like if I complain people actually care about something. I think that is one of the Canadian thing that I really like. Like people do respect, people do a lot of serviceoriented things. Like if I go to a restaurant, if I eat, if I don't like it, they're they're nice to me. You know what I mean? They're like I think that is I don't know if it's their job or if it's them as a person. I think that is the nice thing. 2 years ago when I visited India I was meeting my friend. she made me wait in the restaurant for like almost an hour and a half. we were supposed to meet at 7:00 p.m. and then she met me at
23:08 Around 8:20 8:30 something like that. honestly I wasn't angry. I think I changed as a person. So I wasn't that angry anymore or aggressive anymore. So she came at 8:30 and then she started apologizing. I'm so sorry. I don't blame her because she was caught up in work. so she was supposed to leave work at 6:00 but then she dragged along until 8:00 because her boss being boss and then even after she comes she has the laptop with her and then she opens it and then she's like somia sia 1 minute 1 minute and then she keeps like typing it and I'm like I felt really bad for her like >> I know you're she it's don't get me wrong she's working in a really good company it's not like any company. It's really good company, but it's still like the boundaries. There are like absolutely no boundaries when it comes to work. You're supposed to clock out at 6:00 and then you are sitting in front
24:09 Of me at 8:30 at dinner time and then you're you know, you're doing it and then a boss keeps calling it. So I think it's a very bad boundary when it comes to like work life balance and even when I first moved back to India I applied for like couple of jobs I thought like let me just see what the India is offering right now and I tried to like poke around with my resume and everything. So people do expect you to work 6 days a week. I think I don't know how to interpret this because for me it feels like there are a lot of people out there with no job. So I think you should just hire more people and make it convenient for the people to like actually work for your company rather than making someone work 6 days a week with lesser pay. M >> so I it just after interviewing
25:11 For like two three jobs I got the
25:14 Offers but I just didn't feel like it because I was like you're not offering me all that great and then you're asking me to work 6 days a week and the work timings are horrible. You're asking me to stay in the office from 11 to 8 or 11 to 7. That means 6 days of my life gone. >> There is nothing I could do. I'll wake up. will have the breakfast and then I'll come to you and then I'll have dinner at my house. There's like no life. So I was like you know what I'm not going to do this. so I would say that is like the con. And the second one is I would say people don't take responsibility in some way in in India especially sometimes the customer service and whatnot. So my mom has a sar's business and then we booked an Uber or something and then it was going to another place >> and the guy stole the thing. we tried reaching out to the oop guys and then
26:16 They didn't get back to us for like 5 days. so it was annoying because it was a 12,000 worth parcel and we didn't have to go through all that. It has to be fixed. so I would say like that was something lagging. Now when I say pros about India having the family and advantage of homec court is completely different. because my time I've been in India for the last 2 months now. and then me building a business and everything my family and my cousins have been really really supportive and my sister. it's like even though they have their own lives going on on the side they always came to me when I asked them for help I think that is the kind of advantage or that's the kind of affection love or caring or whatever you will not get in another country >> so it's like few days ago we had like
27:17 A menu tasting and then we we invited like 25 fitness influencers and then like people like that and then all of My cousins were with us in the farm houses and they were helping us. So they didn't have to do it. They could just be like di I have work I have to go but everyone was there. So I would say those are like couple of pros being with the family again. and another pro is India is so advanced right now in a way that I needed a bank account and and the guy came to my house to like get it done. So I'm like that is amazing. because in Canada I had to like sometimes I don't get appointments so I get pushed for 3 days. So do I need to really wait for 3 days to open a bank account to meet an advisor? But here it's like a different thing. I I want get I want to get something done. There are things like it will done in 24 hours as well. So I
28:18 Think that is like a real advantage. and also for the businesses
28:24 Especially food businesses India has a blooming growth. people are hungry all the time. They it's like even like a minimal cloud kitchen selling from house they're they're earning like what 60 70 or up to one lakh like a proper full-time employee. So people are making money if they just want to like make money. So I think India could be a very good investment if people want to like invest in something. so yeah I would say that is the pros of India and if I remember anything I'll pluck it again. >> and as for the cons in Canada I would say the job market is very bad.
29:15 People don't get back to you. I think I've applied for almost like 400 500 applications. only couple of them got back to me. even though they are rejections. I do appreciate rejections but I I want to hear something back or else I'll just keep expecting right. so I think that is one of the con like people don't like get back to you and you won't get an opportunity to talk with the HR and let them know what you are >> unless you actually connect with people. but Canada do have those few networking events, clubs and everything that you can join. you just need to find a way to like go in. >> Yeah, >> I would say that is the little con about Canada. the job market is really tough and having to live paycheck to paycheck and healthcare. Oh my god, healthcare is really bad. It's like a friend of mine, he he had a problem with
30:16 His foot or something and then we had to go and then we had to like wait for like a full day in the emergency care just to be looked at and for him to write soft massin on the on the prescription paper. So it was really bad. it shouldn't have been gone to that. So it's I think that is something I would say like a con from Canada. Canada's infrastructure, Canada's weather, everything is amazing. But it would be much much better if they had a better health care system as well. >> immediate attention and all that. >> Ko, thanks for sharing that. So, sounds like I think it's the work culture, the lifestyle that's the critical factor I think you know for you to move back.
31:05 So if someone is considering moving to Canada right now as a student what would be your advice from your experience? >> Okay. from my experience, I would say definitely join the college that you that that is doing really well or people coming out from that college are good in like career-wise and also I would say like pick a proper course that you actually want to do. This is the problem that I had with my course as well. the course that I took global business management it is something that I actually want to do I wanted to like know about learn about how businesses grow globally and stuff like that but a lot of people who took it just because it's a easy course to get in so I would say don't do that pick a course that you actually want
32:05 To do >> don't pick it if you feel like oh it's just an easy course to get in no and network a network a lot as as much as you can. Network with your professors, network with your fellow students, network with your seniors. join all the clubs. Don't don't feel like oh if I don't go to a club I might as well go work another hour at the parttime. Don't do that. go to a club and make friends. It's it's when you're away from your home, it's always important to build your own family. friends that will become your family. And the other thing I would say at least start looking for a job or dipping your feet into the thing at least when you are in your third semester before a semester finish. dip into everything look look for what kind of career roles you want to do in so I
33:05 Would say these are like the main important things. and I also have a tip for part- timerrs. This is the way that I look for a part-time job whenever I look I was looking. I was never jobless throughout my five and a half years in Canada. Even though I was look, I was working wherever. don't go randomly and give a resume. it doesn't work. it will end up in a pile of because I was I worked in a manager as in a in a restaurant as well and then that's how it's usually treated because we will never use it. so instead pull out a Google map and look for target an area and look for the the restaurants or like the places that you want to look go for. Give them a call. sit in the home, give them a call and then be like, "Hey, like I'm Sia. I just wanted to check in. Is
34:07 There a manager in?" And then you ask them if the manager is in or not. If the manager is in, you ask to speak with him and then you just ask him like, "Hey, like I'm like so and so. I'm going to so and so university." I was just wondering if you guys are hiring. If they say yes, we are hiring, then you can just set up an appointment right then. Be like, "Okay, can I come see you tomorrow? can I come see you today around like 3:00?" If they say yes, write it down. If they say no, then it's a no. But rather than you going around walking, which is which is very tiring and everything, call people. People are nicer. They will answer your phone. They will actually tell you if they're hiring or not. in that way, I think I always found employment no matter what the situation was for me. it always works. and you giving them a call is smart enough and you showing them your communication skills and you talking to the manager beforehand is is just going to be like when you go there you can just be like hey I'm Sam I gave you a
35:07 Call remember and then he goes like yeah yeah yeah I spoke to you sit down so you can just like go on with it so I would say that is something I tell a lot of other immigrants that come after me when they're finding a part-time that's how it helped me for almost 3 years during my college and everything as >> Got it. So, wish you all the best you know with the marriage, with the business and then the move back to Canada. And thank you very much for taking the time to share your story, share your advice, insights to our audience. So, really appreciate it.
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