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Are you a Trini living abroad, perhaps somewhere cold?
Have you dreamed of coming home one day for the warmth (people as well as
climate), the food, the fun and the good life? Maybe you are married to a
Trini and want to experience these things.
Despite some of the alarmist reports that are circulated
abroad, there's something about Trinidad that makes people want to be here.
I know many ex-pats who became desperate to find a way to stay here, even
proposing marriage to anyone who would listen, so that they could continue to
work in Trinidad when their contract expired.
So what do you have to consider before taking that big
step of leaving your well-paid, career-enhancing job in a first-world country?
1) Are you really ready to give up the big bucks and your
material wealth in exchange for a quality of life that has little to do with how
much money you have? What about your family? What are their needs
and expectations?
It's tempting to always convert TT$ to your current
currency and then be outraged at how small the salaries are here. It's
better to work out what level of lifestyle your Trini salary will buy you here.
I made that move from England over 10 years ago and I was horrified when I could
only land an I.T. contract at half my English permanent salary. I later
found out that my contract salary was nearly 3 times that of the equivalent
permanent staff that I worked with. Although my income is a fraction of
what I could be earning in England, I have never regretted my move for a single
second!
However, if you have financial commitments that have to
be paid in a foreign currency, then you have to make sure that these are covered.
2) Don't want to give up your current job until you're
offered a good job in Trinidad? You expect to be relocated at your
employer's expense?
In my experience, you will never be offered a job unless
the employer can interview you in person and be confident that you can start
work within a month or so of the offer being made. There are good enough
skills available in Trinidad so that the employer will take the easy route of
hiring someone from right here. They never want the expense of hiring
someone with high expectations or requirements.
My advice is to take the plunge and relocate before you
start looking for a job. Be prepared to manage for up to a year without
getting employment as employers here tend to move slowly with their recruitment
processes.
3) Want to use your excellent skills and experience
gained in a foreign land to help out our wonderful country?
The truth is that your mind-blowing résumé could scare
the pants off the I.T. Manager. He may feel intimidated that you are more
skilled than he is! In any case, there is no need for these "fancy" skills
here just to work on fairly ordinary projects. I know of some highly
skilled Oracle people who took a year to find jobs here. They were not
stretched by the work and when they returned to Canada, they found that their
time here hardly counted as useful experience. I hope that this
situation will change by Research & Development companies setting up operations
here, perhaps encouraged by the creation of the Wallerfield Industrial & Technology Park.
My suggestion is to tone down your résumé to suit the
companies that you are applying to.
I you are considering a move here then drop me a line and
I'll be happy to advise and assist you. If you are not a Caribbean
national and not entitled to citizenship, then I warn you that it's very
difficult to get a job here because companies do not want to deal with work
permit issues.
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Here
are a couple of CRS staff "freeing up" over Carnival.