Country: Brazil
Date Hired: March 2022
Job Title: Service Technician [mechanic]
Employer: Bikes & Beyond
How did the Immigrant Centre help you to find a job in Canada?
IC was of invaluable help in all my recent job hunts [which all ended up in a job offer and later hiring]. Both my current and previous jobs I found out via IC facilitators mailing list. They do an amazing work with job searching, something all candidates should do on their own. Prior to applying for those positions, I took the Canadian Employment Readiness Program course with my facilitator, which really provided me with relevant information, confidence and made me address a few mistakes I didn't even know were mistakes during interviews.
What types of job search techniques did you use to find your job?
IC mailing list + company’s website
What differences have you noticed between working in Canada and working in your home country?
1 – Unions are far less protective of worker’s benefits and rights than in my country of origin, and the labour rights in Manitoba [at least speaking for Food and Retail workers] are far less generous [maternity leave is shorter, paid vacation is proportionally lower, health and dental coverages are rare things to come across here, etc...], but on the other hand, because of less governmental regulations and unions guarantees, businesses are able to employ far greater number of employees, which translates into more opportunities for workers. 2 – Canada has lots of part-time job, summer jobs, student jobs, in summary, lots of flexible, short-term and entry level jobs, something I never experienced before. 3 – Provincially and Federally regulated trades have slightly higher qualification standards than what I have seen in many other countries.
What advice would you give to immigrants and newcomers looking for work?
Be brave, be bold, persist but do not insist on the same old mistakes. Do not expect different results by always applying the same methods [cliche phrase from Einstein but forever true]. Make plans, have discipline but be ready to adapt and improvise. IC is there to help you and is all for free, so take it in full and be grateful to have such bunch of kind hearted, good willed people backing you up. You are not the first, you won’t be the last [immigrant] and you are not alone [unless you decide to be]. Whatever difficulties you may have or have had, somebody else here had already been through [if not worse]. Learn and develop from that by taking ACTION to change its course according to the direction YOU WANT it to take, don’t use it as a validating excuse for insuccess. Lastly, IC resources [among others available out there] are just an initial support to construct your basis and set you up for success. The responsibility, the determining factor, all that it takes to get change your life [for the better hopefully] is up to you and it doesn’t [or at least it shouldn’t] stop at an entry level, minimum wage, part time job nor a PR card.