Primary feature -- PeopleTalk fall 2006
Find out how employers can do more to hire and train immigrant employees.
BY LORI COLLERMAN, CHRP
Despite government initiatives, many B.C. employers and the foreign-trained still can’t seem to find one another. Employers complain that they can’t find qualified, skilled professionals from other countries yet many such people already in Canada can’t get jobs. Why do we face such a disconnect between supply and demand?
The demand part of the equation is easy to explain. “We will have one million job vacancies by 2012, and only 650,000 grade 12 graduates,” says B.C.’s Minister of Economic Development Colin Hansen. You do the math. British Columbia has the lowest unemployment rate in history right now (4.7 per cent) with a population of about four million. Nearly 10 per cent of that population, including babies, totals only 350,000. Therefore, we cannot possibly fill all those vacancies with a local supply of human resources talent, skill, and labour.
Yet what about the supply end? Premier Gordon Campbell has said: “When we hear about skilled immigrants working in jobs that are unrelated to what they were trained to do, that's a waste of human potential, and it’s a waste for British Columbia because we can use their talents.” B.C. receives more than 35,000 immigrants each year; about 64 per cent are between the ages of 20 and 59, many with skills required in the B.C. economy, according to a 2005 press release from the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women’s Services. The numbers tell us that even with absolute full use of foreign talent, less than one-third of new vacancies can be filled in B.C. alone.
Communication skills pose job barriers
Still, a one-third supply is better than less or none. Yet, what do employers find when searching for educated and skilled immigrants to fill their vacancies or client requests? Most employers mention communication skills as a barrier for some immigrant candidates. A resource manager for the last six years, Olga Didenko of Ajilon Consulting seeks out foreign and immigrant job candidates for her employer clients. She offers this advice for foreign-trained, skilled workers seeking employment in Canada:
1. Show more confidence (some candidates get lost in the process of adaptation);
2. Spend more time looking for a professional job and don’t accept simple first jobs too quickly);
3. Avoid using references from the simple first jobs for a professional job;
4. Avoid including work experience from the simple first jobs; and
5. Develop language skills first. Focus on reducing any significant accent.
The last point could sound discriminatory, but employers’ sense of clear communication includes easy comprehension. “A client I have right now has refused a candidate due to the accent in spite of excellent written and verbal English skills,” says Didenko. Since communication skills or language development appears essential for the professional success of skilled immigrants, perhaps we could consider the suggestion of Sinisa Vujovic, an economics Instructor at Kwantlen University College: “Employers could consider courses aimed at developing English skills as part of the general cost of professional development for their professional employees.”
Let immigrants show their abilities
Firouz Nematyfar, who worked as an engineer in Iran for 20 years before coming to Canada, makes this recommendation: “Employers could at least offer a chance to experienced new immigrants to show their abilities and skills in related fields. They could let immigrants work as volunteers and then judge their performance. However, from my experience in Canada, employers do not recognize immigrants’ experience from their home country, and do no even agree to let them work temporarily or as volunteers. If they would, I think it would help a lot.”
Before coming to Canada, Nematyfar says he was expecting to choose a suitable position from plenty of jobs and to support his family. But once here, he discovered otherwise. “I found out that there were not that many jobs available for newcomers who could not speak perfect English. I did not expect to be hired as an engineer, but I was hoping to be hired in the same field, in a lower rank, and then little by little, work my way up in the field.” Instead, Nematyfar found out that the only type of job he could get would be minimum-wage labour. Unaccustomed to physical labour, he decided to go back to school to help him find a job that would require more mental labour.
What experiences have other skilled immigrants faced when seeking work in Canada? Daysi Suncin, whose previous jobs back home in El Salvador included supervising professionals, worked as a receiver for her first job in B.C. She felt thankful to have the position, but disappointed with its lack of use for her skills. She admits: “I learned how to deal with manufacturers and vendors, Canadian style, but there was no option for me to improve my career. Maybe my degree was not valued. I decided I needed to start over and obtain education that would be recognized. I was so sad; I remember crying over leaving my job because I was so thankful for being hired. But to achieve my dream, I had to leave. ”
Suncin thought that her bachelor’s degree in business administration would help serve as a ticket to her dream job in Canada. With a positive attitude and persistence, she was determined to find one suitable to her skill level. However, she adds: “When I first arrived, I didn’t expect it would take nearly as long as it did to land my first job.” Today,
Suncin has started over. Switching from business administration to accounting, she is currently enrolled in a financial management diploma program in Vancouver.
Chinese immigrant Jenny Yang faced similar results in her job search in Canada. After working as an export department manager in a footwear company in China, she thought it would be easy to find employment that would use her experience. “I am an organized, detail-oriented and responsible person who works hard and learns quickly,” says Wang. “I even thought my multi-language ability would help me with my goal. But my first job here was as a salesperson in a footwear franchise store.”
After sending out many resumes and receiving only a few replies, Yang says that she lowered her expectations. “After having worked for a year in sales, I realized that I needed to go back to school for more education in order to obtain a better job.”
B.C. Skills Connect program to fast-track immigrant candidates
To help the job plights of people such as Nematyfar, Suncin, and Yang, the B.C. government has launched a $14.5-million-dollar B.C. Skills Connect program, which offers career evaluation, language development, skills improvement, and mentorship. It strives to help highly skilled immigrants move more quickly into jobs that match their qualifications. It also seeks to help many B.C. immigrants in general climb easily through and over the barriers to success: difficulties with entering an extensive labour market system, lack of sufficient language skills, inability to gain recognition of foreign credentials, and inadequate knowledge of employment resources. Therefore, with more immigrants employer-ready, B.C. employers with job vacancies will find more of what they need, when they need it.
However, only time will tell if this initiative will pay off in maximizing the hiring of foreign-trained candidates. In the meantime, many determined, loyal, courageous, and hard-working professionals will continue to leave home to come to Canada. How much do employers truly want and value these qualities? Human resources professionals can answer that better than anyone. Remember: Communication skills development poses a relatively small obstacle on the path to business success. Therefore, can we cut through the barriers? Let’s aim high to do so for two reasons: 1) to help fill the astronomical projected job vacancies and 2) to gain employees with the positive qualities and skills of newcomers adopting Canada as their home.
Lori Collerman, CHRP is a college instructor and professional speaker. Contact: ceejaye@shaw.ca