For those days, I have seen your blog posts and people’s responses. It is interesting to see how differently people comprehend each topic.

As an IEP in Canada, I understand who is accountable for the failure to integrate into Canadian workplace is – us, IEPs. At least part of the accountability is on us. I believe we, IEPs, have to understand our true value without compromising the career dream, without fear or doubt, and to learn and research how our expertise fits into which the right organizations.

The problem is there are some misconceptions among immigrants. IEPs tend to think that they are not good enough to get what they want, or it is simply impossible to do so because they are new to this country. I was told by other immigrants that I was supposed to start as a casher or a waitress in a restaurant. I used to believe this until I participated your mentoring program. I believe this situation has been created by — Employers, immigrants, and probably some career coaching organizations or NGOs who urge us to find a job even though it means underemployment. I understand that those organizations have good intentions for us, and I appreciate all the work they do. However the question comes to me and I guess it comes to you all the time – is this a real solution? Are IEPs or Employers happy? The answer is very clear to me…

I totally understand, admire, and support your dedication to solve those problems by not encouraging us “foot in a door” strategy ( easy solution) , but by being persistent to find out what we deserve and what makes us happy. It is never easy, but worth it big time. At least you changed and saved my life for sure.

Thank you for your comments!

I share much of your frustration and agree with much of your assesment regarding the barriers that internationally educated professionals face.

In 2005 I joined my first mentoring program. It was a womans program and all the participants had Masters or PhDs. It was clear to me from the start that most of the individuals in the room were smarter than I. By the end of the program the participants stated that it was the best program that they had ever attended yet none found a job.

When I did some follow up research to find out why, I discovered that most IEPs recieved a 3 day course without any follow up. The resume sample used in one program was a man applying for a job at an ice cream truck. Those classes were filled with individuals with post secondary educations, including Masters and PhDs.

In contrast, many programs that professioanal Canadians recieved at the time included unlimited services from 1 to 6 months with access to professioanal career consultants.

It became a vicious cycle. Human resources would tell IEP candidates that they did not have enough Canadian experience. IEPs would report those results to the service providers and the service providers will tell funders that the Canadian market did not rocognize their credentials.

It was clear to me that in most cases it was not about credentials, lack of experience or brilliance, rather it was about strategy and identifying and developing new cultural skills.

What I have come to disover is that the ‘solid wall if inflexibility’ as you call it, is not as solid as you might think. We have been working with international professionals since 2006. Most of our private clients have found jobs in their field, at a level commensurate with their expertise or have found work that lead them directly back to their chosen careers and objectives. It turns out that effective and well applied strategies are what make the difference. The wall disolves.

I was mad in 2005. I just could not understand how Canadians were so shortsighted, until I realized that they simply did not understand the problem. At the time it was either shut up or step up to the plate for me.

I would encourage you to read “Why Internationally Educated Professionals fail” on our site. Ultimately the solution lies in accountability.

I would like to address your view regarding my elistist attitudes. I suspect that if I had written a blog that talked about the importance of smiling at interviews you reaction might have been different. At the end of the day, I am a coach and part of my job is to provide information that will remove precieved barriers.

I have been surprised by the response I have recieved regarding this particular blog. There are a few responses on this website and more that I have recieved directly by email. All but one are from IEPs.

For the most part I have come to believe that IEPs are qualified and their succes is dependant on clear measurable strategies. IEPs face many of the same problems that unemployed Canadians do. Much of the difference is cultural.

Of interest is that lack smiling, presonal hygiene and other potential barriers to employment are also provided to Candians hoping to reenter the job market. Here are some cultural examples:

In much of Asia you do not look Human Resource professonals or you manager in the eyes – In Canada this comes across as a lack of transparency.

In many post Soviet States you do not smile at an interview otherwise you might appear stupid – In Canada if you do not smile a hiring manager might think you have behavioural problems.

If an IEP does not learn how to articulate their strength in a way that a Canadian hiring managers understand, they will not be selected. Simple!

Here is one links sent to me after the blog was first published regarding colgnes and perfumes in the Canadian workplace. The information is from the Safety Council.

http://safety-council.org/workplace-safety/perfume-in-the-workplace/

Finally – I am familiar with many of the hiring standards in the Middle East. Not everything is equal for IEPs there as well. Ask any Philipino that has worked in places such as Dubai.

Thank you very much for your post!

Canada seems to be schizophrenic about immigrnats with international credentials. As a foreigner an immigrant is welcomed into the country, but usually is shocked by the solid wall of inflexibility, suspicion, and believe in stereotypes that charachterize upper canadian management.

Many people who come here may have worked on projects that are much more complex than anything done in canada( for example compare building construction here to the skyscrapers of the middle east), have an excellent education, are willing to start in Canada at an entry level position if needed, try to go for the so called hidden job market and do all the so called needed adjustments to canadian work-life ( it really is not that different from any other cosmopolitan setting worldwide), but yet fail to get into the workforce simply because of a preconcieved notion about them.

Instead of talking about “smelly immigrants” in an un-intentionaly elitist manner, the article should have instead talked about what measures are being taken of late to make the canadian job market more receptive to immigrants (especially highly educated ones) else the current tide of reverse immigration (people going back home) will continue.

Thank you for your comments. Telling people that they smell bad (subjective) does take some tack. I do not think that there is an official ban in all Canadian companies however you will find that it is understood as a cultural norm in most professional environments. This shift is relatively recent. My wifes father was a lawyer who had severe allergies. Instead of informing his clients of his allergies he suffered in silence. For the most part those days are over.