Sreya, Toronto asked Zahra Khan, Columbus Technologies and Services AddedSaturday, January 24, 2015 at 7:17 PM Would a Masters significantly improve my chances to get a job? Hi, I just graduated from University of Toronto in Mechanical Engineering and I really want to get into aerospace - particularly space systems, as one of my hobbies has always been astronomy and astrophysics. But there are no jobs in that field at least in Canada and as a Canadian, I know that I can't apply for the positions in the States due to ITAR restrictions. What steps do you recommend I take, to get into the aerospace industry. Would a Masters significantly improve my chances? Related to Graduate School, Internships & Jobs, Mechanical Reset Sort By Default Zahra Khan , Columbus Technologies and Services Answered Saturday, January 24, 2015 at 7:17 PM Hi Sreya, My apologies for the late response. I just saw this question recently. First, congratulations on graduating! As for space systems jobs, Canada does have several companies working on space systems but it depends on your interests and specialization whether they're right for you. Space robotics is the big industry and some space electronics. I'm thinking companies like MDA and ComDev and Magellan (not sure if the latter two are still around). As for getting a Masters, it can go both ways. Sometimes a graduate education is less useful because companies might find you overqualified :-) I'm not entirely sure about the situation with this in Canada. I haven't applied for space systems jobs in Canada before. You're completely right about it being very difficult to get jobs in the States due to ITAR. But its been done. For working in the States, being a student here can be very useful because it entitles you to be able to work here after graduation as part of your student visa while your employer works on sponsoring a work visa. I'll be honest and say its still very difficult to get a job in space systems due to ITAR. However, I should note that ITAR restrictions for Canadians have recently (November 2014) been relaxed. And there are several Canadians around who might be able to direct you good places to apply. But an option to think about is getting a Masters here in the States. Being a student here also allows you to complete internships here before graduating and there are fewer barriers for foreign students to be hired than full-time workers. If you'd like, you can find my direct contact info on my website: www.zeikonline.com I'd be happy to learn more about your academic background and see if I can connect you to folks in the Canadian space industry and perhaps talk in more detail about working in the US as a Canadian.