Are you suggesting that if one has a choice, one should go for an MS rather than an MBA, since it would be more of technical nature rather than general.

I don't think there's any one guaranteed thing you can do to make a salary like 80k. I know IT people who have come from India and landed these kind of jobs within a few months without going for any additional qualifications. Also know people who've done all kinds of courses but are stuck in low-end jobs.

There are two/three important things here.

One is your existing technical skill-set. I have met SEVERAL desis here in Canada who claim to be IT guys however when you ask them questions past the basic obvious stuff found in a "XYZ in 21 days' book, they're lost. And they blame Canada because they don't have 80k jobs. I have yet to meet an extremely competent IT guy from India who has tried and tried and not even landed a bare-bones IT job.

This is NOT to say that every IT guy who is struggling here is a dud, however I think the good candidates do get picked up eventually

The second thing is your ability to "figure out" the job market. This is one intanginble that's even more important than your technical skills and this is where many desis lose out. It is the ability to recognize hiring patterns, analyze the sometimes bizarre behavior of recruiting agencies and bring yourself up-to-date on the current trends. For instance, if you know that ASP.NET or C# are in big demand right now and you're a powerbuilder guy, its your own fault if you're not upgrading your skills. Also don't upgrade your skills simply based on what others tell you, otherwise you'll just find yourself running in circles. Do you own analysis to figure out the market before you decide to upgrade. And once you do upgrade yourself, you have to sell yourself. This requires a lot of practice, skill and patience too, its something you have to teach yourself gradually.

Can't speak for other fields, however if you're able to do this in IT, you should at least be able to land a basic (50k or 25 per hour) kind of job. Once you do land this, moving up is not all that difficult if you have the drive.

One more thing, learn to sort out constructive advice from plain discouragement. There are a lot of jokers here in Canada who have made it their job 1 to bull doze your expecatations as soon as you land (or in some cases, even before you land ). They will laugh and make fun of you when you tell them your dreams. And then there are others who will point out the positives and negatives of the Canadian job market to help you avoid the pitfalls. Finally there are those who will sell you fantastic dreams of untold riches in Canada.

No points for guessing who you should befriend.

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