I am a branch manager with HDFC bank in Bangalore, India. I completed my MBA from Fore School of Business, Delhi 5 years back. I am moving London, Ontario this fall to join my husband who is attending business school at Richard Ivey.

Please guide me about the courses that I may have to complete to land up a respectable job in a bank here in Canada.

Many Thanks in advance for your help.

1.Glad to know that a person is immigrating from a beautiful city like Bangalore to Canada. Your husband at Ivey School would be able to guide more than any of us, as he is in London, Ontario and he knows your life and career aspirations better than any of us.

2.Welcome to Canada!

3.As a branch manager, how many people report to you, how many peons bring you coffee/tea/water at your bell, how much cash or financial transactions are you personally responsible, how much decision making are you involved day to day, and where do you see yourself in the next five years in HDFC bank, Regional Manager or Deputy General Manager?

4.With more and more private banking coming up(Eg: GE proposed banking, Yes Bank(is the name right?) and many more) where do you see your potential in terms of personal growth and also monetary gain in the next five to ten years?

5.What do you mean by \\\"Respectable Job\\\" in Canada? Please define respectable as you understand it in Bangalore first, and your expectation in Canada for the same word. It is very important you define the word \\\"Respectable\\\" for Yourself, so that you know what you are getting into, and you would be able to define your success or failure based on it, and can make quick career decisions when you are in Canada.

6.You need to do a course in \\\"Securities\\\" and pass a simple test to obtain the certification. It is a very easy course/exam and typically many desi's pass it in the first attempt. I'm not from Finance background, but I have many friends in this field and I learnt this jargon from them. I think some other CD would be able to give you internet address for this securities exam/booklet/information later.

7.The good news is that Canada, in particular Ontario is becoming more and more multicultural and it is projected that more than 50% of the population would be of immigrants in coming times. I know a particular RBC - Royal Bank branch was opened in Mississauga (Mississauga Market Place - intersection of Hurantario/Eglinton)to cater to immigrants and in particular to Desi's. The staff from Teller to Manager is predominantly Desis and \\\"Women\\\" and even the manager is a lady( a desi educated in Canada). Hence you stand a good chance of entering the banking field upon arrival.

8.The bad news is that the typical job, I find desi's doing in bank is of being a teller with hourly rates between $11 to $15 per hour. They are tellers who handle transactions like India, but they also have to sell various products to the customers. If this \\\"Sales\\\" mentality fits your scheme of things it would suit you better. I have many friends from
Southern India, who have been branch managers, regional managers, DGMs for various nationalized banks who have migrated to Canada and are in either tellers or Financial consultants who sell products like credit cards, Line of Credit and various products and who have daily targets and are monitored on an hourly basis on their sales performance. They are not used to this change in orientation from being a manager to a salesman and are frustrated. I also have a very close friend from Mumbai, India who is an IIM-MBA, CA, ICWA, Computer related Chartered Certification and many more degrees, who was a Vice-President in Citibank, Mumbai and works in a bank here as a teller. Many banks typically hire tellers in a contract position (6 months to start off) and later does not renew the contract.

So the situation is mixed and partly it is luck, many times the person compromises to the situation. Hence the key operative word in your question is \\\"Respectable\\\" and you need to define it. If it is high than you will be miserable in Canada, while you lower the expectation you'll be fine.

I might be wrong is some of the jargons I've used as I'm not from the financial sector. But the overall assessment is based on my friends in this field.

Once again welcome to Canada!

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

hi

you had a list of the fields in high demand in Canada. Can you list them please ?

Quote:

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Orginally posted by dan

hi

you had a list of the fields in high demand in Canada. Can you list them please ?

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Diogenes
====================
The Cynic

If I am right, health related fields such as Pharmacists are in demand. I think Engineers (chemical, civil, etc) have a decent run in the job market.

DIO

Hi paramhams03

Shankaracharya had given an exhaustive reply in this thread.

An update is given below :

When we landed in mid 2004, we found a major bank holding job fairs in Toronto. At these job fairs, we immigrants had a chance to meet the hirer in person and had a fair chance at getting jobs. My wife was one of them.

However in 2005, they have stopped this process. On enquiry, they infd me to apply through the net.

My info being bank teller jobs are becoming scarce and even if you have the experience and education from India, it is back to the same old chant of "canadian experience" and "canadian education".

I have met a former SBI officer with 15 yrs bank experience working as a security guard and his wife also from SBI with similar experience working in a retail store. Good fortune smiled on them and wife has got an entry into a bank as a bank teller due to networking after 3 years.

Keep your mind open when you come to canada. Fight as long as it takes as you are the person who controls your destiny. Almighty help is always there.

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Best regards

Lali

It is 27 months and 3 days and Almighty's grace is yet to be bestowed upon me.May be Almighty who handles my file is on a long vacation. Hope he will bestow it before the next 9 months, if not I'll be out of Canada by then.

May be I should move my case to another \"grace\" processing centre from the current Kanchi Kamakshi to Vatican or even to somewhere in Middle East.

May be those processing centres will have a faster turn around time, and I will be able to move out of my labor job to something decent.Many times when I read queries from prospective immigrants who say please give us your case study, and we will be able to learn from it and not repeat your mistakes.

Hmmmmmmmm.........What are the mistake(s) I have committed?

May be God has given me this opportunity to suffer and wash all my sins so that I can attain mukti in this birth itself!(+ve thinking); may be when I return to India later in life I'll value my Indian life with more respect than what I gave it before ?

Mmmm I need to ponder about these questions in the midst of a Jungle to obtain salvation!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"