Parisa was an established Telecommunications Engineer in her home country of Iran. Like many immigrating to a new country, Parisa was nervous and plagued with questions. How will I settle in a new country? I don’t know anyone, will I make friends? I have a good job now, will I be able to find something equally good? She took to the internet to look for answers. She started conducting research on her specific job sector almost five months before her arrival date. This is when she came across JVS Toronto and discovered CanPrep pre-arrival employment services.
CanPrep is a specialized program designed to connect you to your career in Canada. It offers clients, like Parisa, insight into specific industries, job search support, help with resume and cover letter, gain understanding of Canadian workplace culture, all through personalized one to one support. Parisa also gained access to valuable advice through her online Canadian mentor who worked specifically in her field.
Before Parisa enrolled with CanPrep, she was applying to all the jobs she came across on the internet but never got a response from any of the employers. CanPrep e-learning modules gave her specific information about the Canadian job market. Her Employment Specialist highlighted the importance of networking and targeted resume and cover letter. Parisa now decided to change her job search strategy. She:
- Conducted targeted research on companies in the field and made a list of all telecom carriers and subcontractors
- Followed these employers on social media and signed up for job notifications from them
- Carefully scrutinized the job postings she received as notifications to understand the job requirements
- Implemented the methodologies talked about in the CanPrep e-learning module to address these requirements in the resume and cover letter
- Talked to her Employment Specialist and online mentor over Skype and Email. Modified her targeted resume and cover letter based on suggestions from them
- Used social media platforms like LinkedIn to build her industry specific network
Parisa’s hard work and determination paid off. She received a job offer from a leading telecommunication company in Canada after a few rounds of online interviews. She has successfully overcome her main challenge of finding a job which matched her skillset in her new country! Starting a new life in a new country has its challenges, but she knew this job would make her transition much more easier.
Parisa has advice for other immigrating professionals, “CanPrep is a great start before you arrive in Canada. The program will help you speed up the process of finding a new job. Search, Search, Search! Before you arrive, you should know which companies you should target based on your expertise. Don’t give up – if you fail, push harder and you will be successful.”
CanPrep can help you prepare for employment before arriving in Canada. Register for more info.
Written by Sharvari Jois, Employment Counsellor/Mentoring Coach at JVS Toronto. Sharvari is passionate about making a difference in the lives of new comers to Canada. She comes to CanPrep with extensive international experience in human resources, recruitment, training and mentoring.
Yevgen says
Thanks for sharing this successful story. Of course, a lot of immigrants worry about their future in a new country. Lack of the relatives’ and friends support can be a real challenge to anyone. I’ve heard some stories which were not as successful as Parisa had.
Communicating with people from other countries, on some web-forums, chats, even in youtube comments section I usually forget that we’re all from different countries and have some differences. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. It can be an issue not just communicating with people but on an interview as well.
I think that it’s right to be very positive about all changes like Parisa and many others. It’s important to be ready to changes and to prepare for a new life before coming to Canada. People immigrated to different continents hundred years ago and it was much harder to survive than now. I’m trying to assure myself that I’m ready to changes professionally and in the life.
Thanks for this article. Stories with happy end and the most important, situations when people didn’t get everything from the beginning (what is in my opinion, more the exceptions than rules) are very important. I know that it won’t be easy but I want to believe that if a person tries really hard, everything finally will be fine.