When you are a newcomer to Canada, no matter what your previous professional status, or your country of origin, there is always the sobering task of attaining an equal status [to the previous one ] and ideally, attaining a rising status within Canada - within a new economy, within a new cultural environment, and perhaps, even within a new language.
Daunting as this may seem, there is always a pathway forward, and the tricky part is in that process not falling victim to depression nor despair along that journey, but rather to have faith that your new fellow compatriots will help you to find your footing [some of them] and you will regain in time crucial momentum in your career.
What are the steps you must take as a newcomer? First, you should take realistic stock of your strengths and weaknesses in each of the skills pertinent to your career – both hard and soft skills. And if the uppermost weakness is the prevailing language, then obviously work on language comes first, to strengthen your language skills [all four: reading writing, listening, speaking] in whatever ways possible – listening to excellent English utilizing film, TV, radio, YouTube, anything that will help you to attain stronger vocabulary, pronunciation, and comprehension skills – both of language and North American culture.
For the North American employment market, skills in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic are highly valued. If you have strong English [the global business language] as well as any one the others or more, your employability is that much higher. And the higher your skill in English, no matter where you came from, and particularly if you aspire to managerial or executive roles, you would need to demonstrate not only high abilities in English, but strong North American cultural understandings as well.
How does one surmount the problem of understanding the cultural differences? Perhaps by volunteering, within a professional organization tied to one’s field, if at all possible, and/or working at whatever one can in a team environment. Or by studying in English to attain equalization of one’s former credentials, by use of an excellent city library [utilizing all of these resources], and by having as many conversations as possible with Canadians who have lived in Canada either their entire lives, or for a few years.
All of the media that one can consume can also help to attain some understanding of the undercurrents of the cultural frameworks of North America – and of Canada specifically. All of these activities will help a newcomer to adapt more swiftly to their “melting pot” cultural surroundings, and to better understand cultural nuances, which can be quite complex in North America. There are many vibrant cultures coexisting here. Understanding the culture[s] of Canada is critical to one’s success.
What else should one do? One should seek career counselling – as doing so will help to build a strong Canadian-oriented resume and excellent documents for your applications, as well as thereby attaining sound advice on what steps you can take for success, given your particular educational and professional background. Every individual possesses differing ambitions, strengths, attributes, abilities, talents. Every individual has differing access to resources that might help them.
Brainstorming with a talented career counsellor, collaborating with your counsellor on a targeted job search strategy, will give you a definitive edge in building momentum in your search, and identifying and overcoming any looming obstacles – including attitudinal ones.
One such obstacle quite common to newcomers is suffering a veritable identity crisis. And when one thinks about it, this is quite normal, especially in more recent times, with a pandemic raging all around us, and you new to the country. Even normally calm individuals can become paranoid and a little panicked in such a situation when not even able to socialize normally. Perhaps not able to work.
These were not normal times, and one can surmise times may not be quite “normal” yet, or perhaps may never return to what was once our idea of “normal.” We are in post-Covid times, or some kind of weird Covid purgatory, still feeling guarded about what comes next. Not quite out of the Danger Zone.
Strong strategies are always best determined after discerning where in your career journey you are now, despite the uncertainties of our times, and what steps can be taken to arrive at your desired employment within a reasonable timeline. If you don’t yet have a well-thought-out strategy, perhaps it is time to develop one? Deeper conversations with a professional can make all the difference to your results.
We at CareerHD can help you with a full assessment of where you are now, an evaluation of what you could or should do, and in what order, while helping you to attain the superior professionalism in your documentation that you will need to reach your optimal career goals.
