After a decade of planning his family’s move from Brazil, Gustavo found that building a career in Canada meant continuing to prepare, adapt, and look for the right opportunity.
Gustavo Corrochano’s path to a Release Manager role in Canada did not begin with a single job application. It grew out of years of planning, a career that evolved from web design into project management, and a willingness to keep learning after moving abroad.
Originally from Brazil and now based in the Vancouver area, Gustavo found his recent role through VanHack. By then, he had already moved to Canada with the support of a previous employer. His story is about what came next: understanding a different hiring process, staying visible to employers, and finding an opportunity that matched his experience.
From web design to project management
Gustavo began his career in advertising in Brazil as a web designer. An opportunity to move into project management opened a new direction, while keeping him connected to digital work and technology inside advertising agencies.
That background matters to his story. His international career was not a straight line from one identical role to another. It developed as he took on different responsibilities and explored where his experience could fit.
His first Canadian opportunity came through a friend’s referral to a previous employer, which supported his move. He continued to keep his VanHack profile updated afterward, using it to connect with other companies and understand the market.
A family plan, years in the making
Canada had been part of Gustavo’s thinking long before his recent job search. He first visited in 2012 for an English course. After returning to Brazil, he shared his enthusiasm with his wife, and they went to Toronto together in 2014 for a longer stay.
When they returned to Brazil, they began preparing for a future move: saving money, researching the process and working toward a life they wanted for their family. Safety and a good life for their son were central motivations.
But we planned it for around 10 years.
Gustavo Corrochano
The length of that preparation is a reminder that a relocation story often starts well before an offer letter. For Gustavo, the professional move was part of a wider family decision, with financial, practical, and emotional considerations alongside the career goal.
Staying visible until the right role appeared
Keeping his profile current was one part of Gustavo’s approach. Another was adding an introduction video, which he describes as a significant change in his experience on the platform.
He recalls seeing fewer project-management and management opportunities than development roles during his own search. He continued applying when relevant positions appeared and completed other interviews before finding the Release Manager opportunity.
When that role matched, the process moved quickly. Gustavo estimates that the interviews took about a month. That was his experience with this particular opportunity, rather than a timeline every candidate should expect.
His account offers a practical lesson: preparation does not stop when a profile goes live. Presenting current experience, making an introduction and continuing to engage with suitable opportunities can all be part of a sustained job search.
Learning a different way of working
Gustavo also describes changes in how he experienced project management after moving to Canada. Compared with his earlier work in Brazil, he found more room to focus on processes and the work of the team, with a different sense of timing and urgency.
He is careful to acknowledge that urgent environments exist in Canada too. These are observations from his own experience, not fixed rules about how every company in either country operates.
For someone considering a similar move, the useful question is not simply whether their job title exists in another market. It is how that role works inside a particular team: what the expectations are, how decisions happen and where a manager is expected to focus.
Keeping skills current, including hands-on AI practice
Professional development remains part of Gustavo’s approach. He distinguishes the online courses and learning he has completed from major professional certifications he did not hold at the time of the interview.
In his experience, some larger employers place particular importance on credentials. His advice is to keep studying and understand what target companies value, rather than assume that one qualification guarantees an opportunity.
He takes a similarly practical view of AI. With tools changing quickly, he recommends using them, experimenting and building experience. Learning how to communicate with a tool is useful, but so is seeing what happens when it is applied to real tasks.
Planning for the cost and emotional reality of relocation
Even after years of preparation, moving was expensive. Gustavo describes the costs of travel and settling in, as well as the pressure of supporting the household while his wife was not yet working.
His advice is to research the cost of living in the specific area where you plan to settle. Understanding those expenses helps put a salary into context and makes it easier to think realistically about financial stability.
The challenge was not only financial. Being far from family and friends was difficult too. His story leaves room for both sides of an international move: the opportunity it creates and the adjustment it demands.
At the time of the interview, Gustavo was hopeful about what the new position would bring. He did not present that next chapter as a guarantee that every challenge had disappeared.
How VanHack supported the next step
Looking back at his interviews, Gustavo highlights the value of help understanding Canadian hiring expectations. He describes a process that felt different from Brazil and credits VanHack with training, tips, and guidance on what to focus on during interviews.
That is the role the platform played in this chapter of his journey. It was not what originally brought him to Canada, but it helped him pursue a new opportunity once he was there.
For professionals building an international career, Gustavo’s story is a reminder that arriving is not the end of the process. Keeping your experience visible, learning from interviews, and adapting to a new market can remain important long after the move.
Ready to explore your next career chapter? Visit VanHack to learn about opportunities for tech professionals and take the next step in your job search.
