September 2005 ISSUE
Job Skills and Networking Model
Used to Help Grads from Abroad
BY GEORGE LEE
The PEGG
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Job Search Frontlines |
Many of them have the job skills, the language skills and the education to build successful careers in Alberta. What internationally educated graduates often lack, however, is the proverbial foot in the door — the chance and the tools to sell themselves, one on one, to prospective employers.
Four APEGGA Job Find events held over the summer have given some of Alberta’s best prospects exactly that kind of opportunity. More than 400 internationally educated graduates, or IEGs, took part in the four events, with engineering and geoscience employers totalling nearly 40.
Each event in Calgary and Edmonton featured seminars on employment-related skills, including job interviewing, APEGGA registration requirements and networking. The payoff came at the end of each day, when the IEGs circulated through a room of potential employers and put their newly learned search skills into practice.
“I’m finding it very useful,” said Edith Matieas-Bordi, trained in computer and electrical engineering in her native Romania. At the time of the first Edmonton Job Find in June, she’d been in Canada just six weeks.
Even though her English is excellent, Ms. Matieas-Bordi said the seminars were invaluable. “It’s really helping me in how I approach and deal with people.”
In fact, Ms. Matieas-Bordi received a job offer as a result of Job Find.
For Bamidele Olutusin of Nigeria, his first impression of APEGGA will always be the Job Find he attended. A geologist back home, he had been in Canada a mere two weeks.
“I must confess, I’m impressed,” said Mr. Olutusin. “This gives me a very optimistic feeling that I’ll be doing very well in Canada.”
The ground-breaking events place APEGGA at the forefront of a national effort to help new Canadians find work that matches their professional education. The unique model, said APEGGA Professional Development Manager Nancy Toth, was popular with everyone involved.
Ms. Toth envisions APEGGA using it for other groups in the three professions, and hopes other associations in Canada follow Alberta’s lead.
The idea for Job Find started from modest roots. Ms. Toth wanted to hold mixers for IEGs and professional members, based on a model that’s worked well in introducing students to the professional world.
Past-President Linda Van Gastel, P.Eng., thought it would be a great idea to offer employment skills seminars as well.
Then Internal Affairs Director Len Shrimpton, P.Eng., came up with the final add-on to give the events even more real-world value — a selection of Alberta’s top employers, on site and looking for job candidates.
It’s that combination of functions – mixer, seminars and employer booths – that makes the model so dynamic.
“We are not in the job placement business,” Ms. Toth emphasized. “This is a professional development event. It’s eight hours of intense, job-related learning, which participants had to commit to before they even met the employers. Then this just-in-time skills training was put to immediate use at the end of the day.”
APEGGA professional members volunteered to circulate through the crowd as the IEGs nibbled pizza and met employers. Many of the volunteers immigrated earlier in their careers, so they were well equipped to provide some on-the-spot mentoring and advice.
“Not only did IEGs have the opportunity to apply their skills right away, they also had the chance to network with professional members,” says Ms. Toth.
The Association worked hand-in-hand with placement agencies, which connected
APEGGA with IEGs. APEGGA also went to its exam candidates for registrants for
the final two Job Finds.
Everyone wins at Job Find — the employers, the IEGs and the agencies. “This
is a new and powerful model for the future,” said Ms. Toth.
Krista Sanderson needs no convincing. “I think the fairs were just wonderful,” said the human resource coordinator for UMA’s Alberta region.
“I was really pleasantly surprised at the quality and competence of the candidates in both Edmonton and Calgary. And it was really nice to be able to meet them one-on-one.”
Ms. Sanderson said the service is an excellent one for APEGGA to provide — one that’s needed by employers as well as job seekers. “I can see this getting bigger and bigger. More employers should be getting involved.”
Said Ms. Toth: “Other groups already exist for improving English skills. And other groups help people adapt to our culture. Although we’re there for moral support and to direct people to these groups, we shouldn’t be duplicating their roles. What we did instead was facilitate contact between employers and IEGs, and we trained them to meet employers’ needs.”
Ellie Khaksar, supervisor of Directions for Immigrants at Bow Valley College in Calgary, found the Calgary fairs most useful. “The set up was very professional, and involving professional members was a brilliant idea,” he said. “The selection of companies was very diverse and suitable.”
APEGGA has a strong interest in helping IEGs become professionals, without lowering the standards of licensure. The Canadian Coun-cil of Professional Engineers has spent the last several years studying the difficult issue, which resulted in the much-touted report From Considera-tion to Integration.
Within the FC2I report’s 17 recommendations are calls for career seminars
on working in Canada and mentoring programs for internationally educated graduates.
APEGGA has acted on both fronts.
The Association recently added a second stream to its mentoring program, dedicated
to the unemployed. Much of this so-called Pool B is made of IEGs.
It all adds up to another leadership role for APEGGA. “We have a national and international reputation for being one of the more innovative professional associations,” said Executive Director & Registrar Neil Windsor, P.Eng. “The work we’re doing for internationally educated graduates demonstrates, once again, that it’s a reputation we deserve.”
Added President Larry Staples, P.Eng.: “At the Job Find I attended, I talked to some experienced and enthusiastic IEGs, and I was very impressed. However, immigrants arriving in Alberta lack the basic networks which most of us take for granted. Just as we encourage students to enter our professions, we are working to be accessible and welcoming to well-qualified IEGs.”