[We ASKED] Milton Von Seehausen

[WE ASKED] CELEBRATES THE STORIES OF NEWCOMERS WHO HAVE MOVED TO THE GREATER SAINT JOHN REGION FOR WORK.  

Before moving to Saint John, Milton did a quick comparison of his soon-to-be new home and current home of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Milton was amazed to see that he would be leaving his hometown with a population of close to 7 million to move to a region with a similar geographical size but with a population of under 200,000 people.

Milton and his wife Amanda had always wanted to move to North America and leave behind the political, and economical troubles of Brazil.

After attending a New Brunswick government session in Rio Amanda and Milton were attracted by the educational and career opportunities the province offered. Leaving behind a career in advertising spanning over 10 years Milton has since graduated from the UNBSJ MBA program and is now working as a Marketing Specialist at Brunswick News. Amanda, a lawyer by trade, is part way through her degree in Computer Science at UNB. 

“We left everything behind - our careers, our friends, our family, our home - so our mindset was that we had to commit; we had to make it work,” said Milton.

Their first year went quickly, immersed in their studies. Upon graduation, Milton started to notice more differences between Saint John and Brazil.  He learned quickly that hiring process are slower and networking is key. Milton took advantage of every opportunity to meet new people, attending ONB Connects, participating in the MBA mentorship program, attending networking events and using these opportunities to make new connections. “People in Saint John are very welcoming and friendly and if you reach out to them, they will more than likely respond to you,” he noted.

Upon arriving in Saint John, it was a huge shock to discover there was a stigma attached to Saint John and many locals looked down on the city and took for granted many aspects of where they live.

“Everything here is 15 minutes away. It’s a smaller city, but it has all the amenities you need.  The change in quality of life was huge,” says Milton who was accustomed to spending up to two hours each way commuting to and from work. “Now I leave work at 5, pick up my daughter and my wife and by 5:30 we are back at home.”

Milton’s daughter Gabriela, now 5, attends Centre scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain providing her with the opportunity to learn French in addition to English and Portuguese.

Moving to a new city also creates an opportunity to develop new hobbies. Back in Brazil Milton used to play drums in a band and looked forward to playing during carnival. Always seeking to learn, Milton signed up for some classes at the Saint John Tool Library and now enjoys woodworking as a hobby. He is setting up a little shop in his basement, and his wife Amanda has a list of projects for him to work on.

“It takes time to build trust in the community. The more you can connect the sooner this will happen. Just keep moving forward and everything will come together,” he said.

Saint John is a diverse and growing community where companies are attracting newcomers from within Canada and around the globe. Are you interested in Living and working in Greater Saint John, send us your resume! Or if you know of someone who has just moved to Saint John from work, connect with us at [email protected].