COVER STORY

HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR MENTOR YET?

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By DANIEL KIM and ROHIT SINGH

Newcomers bring valuable professional experience to the GTA, but often struggle to find employment where their skills can be fully leveraged.

According to a report published by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), newcomers’ ability to find skills-commensurate employment has improved. However, the challenge of underemployment continues to persist and threatens the progress being made.

Fewer newcomer men are getting to the top of the pay scale compared to men born in Canada.

Women newcomers only earn on average half that of their Canadian-born counterparts. Furthermore, the gap between the respective unemployment rates of newcomers with a Bachelor’s degree and people born in Canada has narrowed, but it’s still twice that of the rate for people born in the country.

The report, The State of Immigrant Inclusion 2018, explored key issues in immigration and employment and examines what’s changed – or remained the same – in the Greater Toronto Area over the past 15 years.

Through original research, interviews, and a survey of over 200 GTA employers, employment service providers, and individuals, the report looks at labour market trends, key barriers to immigrant employment, and inclusive practices implemented by employers for immigrant success.

“Our ability to benefit from the contributions of immigrant professionals depends on their full economic integration. Yet what we find in the report is that this integration is still far from certain,” said Margaret Eaton, executive director of TRIEC. “There’s been tremendous progress over the past 15 years, but there are areas where we still need to press for change.”

The report also reveals:

• Underemployment has a long-lasting impact: Due to underemployment at the start of an immigrant’s working life, it can take up to decades for them to catch up with their Canadian-born counterparts.

• Immigrants with a Canadian degree are doing better than those without: GTA newcomers who gained a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Canada are more likely to be working in a job that requires a degree. Newcomer women in the GTA who gained their degree outside Canada in a non-STEM subject are the least likely to be working in a job that requires a degree.

• Immigrants are under-represented in senior positions. Just 35 per cent of senior managers with a university degree in the  Greater Toronto Area are immigrants even though immigrants make up 52 per cent of the university-educated workforce. Around 86 per cent of recent immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area are visible minorities, yet visible minorities make up only 3.3 per cent of Boards of Directors and 9.2 per cent of senior management in the corporate sector in the GTA. One in seven of the employers TRIEC surveyed have programs in place to support immigrants to advance within the organization.

• Newcomers who gained a Bachelor’s degree or higher in Canada in a STEM  (science, technology, engineering and mathematics/IT) subject, are doing nearly  as well as their Canadian-born counterparts. Newcomers with a Bachelor’s degree from outside Canada in a non-STEM subject are much worse off than their Canadian-born counterparts – especially women. 

• In 2006, eight per cent of newcomers to the GTA had gained a degree in Canada. By 2011, this figure had more than doubled, to 18 per cent, and in 2016 this remained similar, with 17 per cent of newcomers acquiring a Canadian degree.  Why has this number increased? In part, this may be due to an increase in international students transitioning to permanent residency. It may be too, that immigrants who have degrees from their country of origin are re-qualifying once they arrive, or they are taking additional qualifications in order to pursue an alternative career path. 

Moutushi Esha

There are very few mentoring or bridging programs to address the needs of immigrants who may be employed or who are no longer “newcomers”. Business Edge at the Rotman School of Business was mentioned as one program that addresses the needs of immigrants and assists them in their career progression but it is only available to 60-65 people a year. Ascend Canada supports pan-Asian newcomers to become leaders in their organizations through building leadership skills and networking. Similarly, immigrant-led professional associations also support in-career advancement for their members through networking. Nevertheless, there has not been a concerted effort to address these challenges at scale.

TRIEC was founded in 2003 to ensure that immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area could enter the labour market and find work in their field. When it was being formed, a clear consensus started to emerge amongst key players in the immigrant employment ecosystem, including people in the settlement sector, policy analysts, and employers, about the main barriers to immigrant employment: Credential recognition, the need for Canadian experience; perceptions about language and communication skills, particularly those specific to the workplace (occupation-specific language); bias and discrimination (whether intentional or not).

Its underemployment pilot project with a leading financial services sector institution in 2016 found a source of hidden talent in their call centre. Immigrant professionals had taken key skills and qualifications off their resumés so that they could apply for a survival job – leading to a lack of awareness about talent that existed within the organization. With resumés that reflected their qualifications, and access to coaching and feedback, three out of eight employees who participated in the program got new jobs, with one jumping up two ranks in their employment.

Its Mentoring Partnership has found mentors for thousands of new immigrants since 2004. Mentors help newcomers build professional networks and provide guidance on how the local job market works.

Mentoring brings many benefits – 75 per cent of newcomers find employment after taking part in the program.

This enables them to contribute to the labour market, which boosts the economy. Mentoring also helps the mentor learn leadership and cross-cultural communication skills.

As recent census data has shown, Toronto is becoming ever more diverse, so these are important competencies that today’s professionals need to be able to demonstrate.

There are great success stories from people who have given back to their professional communities including former newcomer mentees in the program who have gone on to become mentors. 

Moutushi Esha immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh in March 2015.

She joined TRIEC Mentoring Partnership as a mentee that year and decided to become a mentor herself in 2018.

Moutushi is associate project manager in operations & capital markets at BMO. With an MBA, PMP, and over eight years of experience in various roles in the financial services industry, she is an invaluable mentor for newcomers.

Saunjay Duggal

“I learnt about TRIEC Monitoring Partnership through ACCES Employment,” says Esha. “I completed a bridging program there in June 2015 called Financial Services Connections. I was matched with a mentor in the TRIEC program through ACCES Employment. It was great in giving an overview of the Financial Services industry in Canada, which was very helpful for me as a newcomer. They were very resourceful and covered a wide range of topics such as resumé and cover letter tailoring, interview techniques, as well as personal banking product and services knowledge. They created various networking opportunities for us through events such as speed mentoring, hiring events, networking sessions, etc. I got my first job as a CSR at BMO through a hiring event at ACCES.

“Being a TRIEC mentee allowed me to enhance my professional network and learn from my mentor about the kinds of roles that I was interested in within my chosen industry. I enjoyed the personalized attention that I received from my mentor and found it to be immensely valuable. After being in Canada for a few years and reaching a certain position in my professional career, I felt that I wanted to give back by becoming a mentor to a newcomer so that I could perhaps help them in their own professional journey in Canada.

“Mentoring helped me in gaining perspective about different opportunities and challenges within my chosen industry. It helped me in enhancing my professional network.

“Being a mentee with the program made me feel comfortable in asking others to be my mentor (outside of the program). I realized through the program that professionals here in Canada want to give back and help newcomers transitioning into the workplace. Although I got hired by BMO before the mentoring program ended, I still continued to seek out leaders who would act as mentors for me. As a mentor myself, I can put myself in the mentee’s shoes and can empathize with them and guide them by drawing reference from my own personal experience as a newcomer to Canada.

“The mentoring partnership is a great opportunity for the mentee to meet someone within the industry they are interested in and get their personalized attention. The mentee should always approach every interaction with the mentor with utmost professionalism and a positive attitude. They should be open to asking questions and receiving feedback. It’s important to keep in mind that the mentor is volunteering their time, so the mentee should make the most of the valuable time of the mentor by being inquisitive and proactively following up with the mentor. A mentor can be part of the mentee’s professional network even after the mentoring partnership has ended, helping them with personal and professional development opportunities; however, it is really up to the mentee to nurture that relationship. If the mentee manages to make a good impression on the mentor, this has the potential to open a lot of doors for them.

“To me, being a mentor means being a support system for a newcomer to Canada as they venture into this incredible journey of establishing their careers in the Canadian workplace. It means being a friend and a guide to the mentee, to help them achieve their professional goals.

“I believe the future of mentoring is limitless!”

Muhammad Sarwer immigrated to Canada from Pakistan with his family in 2008.

Having earned his MBA and worked as a web developer in his home country, he signed up as a mentee with TRIEC Mentoring Partnership a few years after landing. In 2018, he decided to become a mentor to a newcomer. He is now a Canadian citizen and works as a senior developer for Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada.

“I enrolled in a bridging program at Humber College in 2011 and signed up as a mentee with TRIEC in 2012. It was a turning point in my career. I was matched with a mentor from an IT department of a reputable organization who helped me greatly in familiarizing myself with the corporate culture, arrange mock interviews, etc. Humber College supported me all the way and made sure that I got a mentor from my field and interest.

“My mentor arranged mock interviews and corrected my resumés, and helped me grow my professional network. They gave me an insight of the corporate world. Mentoring helped me improve my interview skills, and usage of professional language and terms. One of great learnings from program was to improve soft skills such as a confident personality and enhanced communication skills.

“I am more stable in life and career now. I felt I wanted to give back and help new immigrants the same way I was helped. It is a great professional journey for me and gives me a clear path to help others.

“It has also taught me a great deal about how to bring new and fresh graduates on board. I feel I have a clear direction of what newcomers expect from me and what I can deliver to them.

Sivaletchimy Perumal

“My advice for a new mentee would be to ask questions that they have in their mind regarding the corporate world. Do mock interviews. Build a friendly relationship with their mentor which should last even after the end of the contract as that will help to keep getting professional advice even after they have landed a job.

“Being a mentor means a lot; it is a great satisfaction. Time has passed but I have memories of when I was a mentee. As a mentor I feel that I can think from a mentee’s point of view and know questions they may ask, and what doubts and dreams they have for their future. The future of mentoring is bright!”

A civil engineer by trade, Saunjay Duggal is a senior structural engineer at Tetra Tech, a leading provider of consulting, engineering, and technical services worldwide.

With more the 20 years’ experience in the US, India and Canada, Duggal has completed more than 10 mentoring partnerships as a mentor, bringing a wealth of invaluable international and local business practices and perspectives to newcomers in the Greater Toronto Area.

He signed up as a mentor at a TRIEC Mentoring Partnership information session at his workplace where they asked for mentor volunteers.

“I decided to try it out. I had been in a similar position the newcomers that I mentored were in, and it is very satisfying to help them. Mentoring is also easy to do and it is an opportunity to socialize with people from all walks of life. It is a win-win model for everyone involved.

“Mentoring has taught me to be open-minded about different cultures and work environments, and that every experience of life can be valuable. I learned how to understand the Canadian job market better. I learned from the candidates and from their experiences, even technical knowledge that I didn’t know existed. Mentoring helped me with my career, and continues to help me to stay on top of things that are happening in the rest of the world. It offers me a different perspective.

“I am inspired to continue as a mentor because of the joy of making a difference in the lives of people by sharing my work experience in Canada and abroad. My experience can be valuable to those who are now facing situations similar to the ones I faced and overcame as a newcomer.

“The sincere thanks of mentees has been my top mentoring moment. New mentors should be patient, optimistic and encouraging to the mentee.”

Coming from Malaysia, Sivaletchimy Perumal (Siva)  discerned that the culture in Canada was very different in many ways.

She knew that in order to succeed in Canada, she had to make an effort to learn about Canadian workplace culture and so she sought out a mentor.

When she arrived in August 2009, she was determined to join the financial industry. “Because I knew I would be able to transfer my skills from back home,” she says. “My mentor helped me achieve my objective. I  met my current employer through The Mentoring Partnership.”

Perumal works with TD Bank as the real estate secured lending team manager, managing a group of credit analysts and credit assistants. She is working towards Certified Credit Professional (CCP) qualification with the Credit Institute of Canada. Once established in her career, she decided to give back to the community by mentoring newcomers through The Mentoring Partnership and says here are multiple skills she has gained by mentoring.

“Firstly, it has helped me become confident in coaching, guiding and developing others – especially my direct reports in my workplace. Second, the mentoring experience is helping me have the right conversation in various situations, whether it is work-related or personal, and to handle issues in a very professional manner.”

She says she has also learned to better understand people’s emotions, avoid being judgmental and how to better to deal with a diversity of employees. Perumal has put her learning from the program into practice.

“As a new people manager, I try to empower my team members to speak up and share ideas and opinions during my coaching sessions with them at work,” she says. “I give them the assurance that I am there to support and guide them – I learned from my mentoring experience. It also helps me to prepare my people for promotion interviews, resumé writing and any kind of moral support. I have developed strong listening skills. Mentoring experience is actually making my job as a people manager easier!”

The shining mentoring moment for her came when she was able to listen to and understand the predicaments and challenges new immigrants are going through and give them comfort and assurance.

“To tell them of the times when I was in the same situation and how I overcame the challenges,” she says. “When I share my success story, that inspires my mentees and they believe in this great program. This helps make the connection easier with the mentees and makes the mentoring journey more comfortable.”

As a mentee, she absorbed the knowledge that she acquired through The Mentoring Partnership and put it into practice. Simple things, such as appreciating someone for doing a good job or thanking someone for providing any sort of help are things she has learned to apply in her daily life.

Her advice to newcomers is to pick up the etiquette. “It makes a huge difference to succeeding in Canada. I have experienced it myself.”

When Amjad Rana first arrived in Canada 22 years ago, he trekked to a public library every day to scour suitable job postings in publications.

He would then respond with handwritten resumés that were invariably six to seven pages long. “I never got a response. I didn’t have anyone telling me how to write a resumé and how short it should be. In fact I didn’t have any kind of support from anyone,” says Rana.

Today Rana, a chemical engineer by profession, works as a quality manager with Thornhill Research Inc., a medical devices manufacturing company.

Years later he realized how much a mentor could have helped him in his job search. “I knew there were many newcomers who needed support.  I thought no one helped me; but perhaps, I could help someone.”

That led Rana to sign up to be a mentor with Humber College at the first opportunity. Since then he has never turned back, mentoring one mentee after another.

“I want to help more and more people,” is Rana’s simple philosophy that aids his passion to assist newcomers. “I don’t want anyone to struggle like I did years ago. I get personal satisfaction from knowing that I have been able to help a newcomer understand the system here and get a job.”

Every mentee has a different story and it is a different experience with each of them, he says. While there are many instances to recall, one stands out and makes him proud. It had to with a mentee who was a chemical engineer with experience in the petroleum industry and who wanted to continue in that sector. Being a chemical engineer himself, Rana knew where jobs were available in this industry and soon after meeting his mentee the mentee called to say he found a perfect job with a company in Alberta

Being a mentor has taught him to be humble, says Rana. “It has taught me to put myself in others’ shoes to understand their problems.”

It has also helped him understand different kinds of people. “I am trying to help people, the value of my help to a mentee comes when he finds a job. At the end of the day, he has to put food on the table. If my mentee is not successful in his job hunt, my support to him will not have value.”

His advice to newcomers is to have a job search plan and devote three to four hours every day to execute it. “Of course mentors should help them prepare a plan and mentees should follow it diligently.”

He is now a pro at mentoring. He has learnt to understand the needs of his mentees and tries to provide necessary support. Over the years there have been changes in the way one searches for a job and the numerous resources available to newcomers, says Rana who sees them reflected in his relationship with mentees.

“In the beginning, my mentees were willing to listen to me, do everything I suggested to them. Today they have several more opportunities, are much more aware of the situation here and the job market, and are social media savvy.”

Yet Rana believes that there are some people who still need support from mentors. And that is the reason that keeps him going.

His top three tips to new mentors:

Listen to your mentee.

Provide them with all the information they need.

And anything else they can learn from you.

As times have changed and distances have increased, meeting over Skype or connecting via email is more practical.

Be patient with mentees.

For more information, visit  http://www.triec.ca.