Agency matches skilled worker with job

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This article was published 18/11/2017 (2891 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mariale Duque came to Canada with an education, work experience and knowing how to communicate in English.

It wasn’t enough to land the woman from Venezuela a job in her field, though.

“I was disappointed,” said Duque, who arrived in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a background in graphic design and a diploma in project management. In the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, she worked as a customer-service manager for a transportation firm. She planned to pick up her career where she left off, but employers in Winnipeg didn’t seem receptive.

“I was looking for a job, and I didn’t know where to start,” she said. “I sent a couple of resumés, and no one called me. I needed help.”

A friend told her about Opportunities for Employment, she said. The United Way agency partner helps people with barriers to employment prepare for the workforce through pre-employment guidance, skills training, and job-search assistance. The faith-based agency says its mission is to “equip individuals to achieve greater independence by pursuing and maintaining meaningful employment.”

Duque took part in its Canadian workplace culture program that helps out-of-work newcomers understand and appreciate the subtle differences in the Canadian work environment.

It coaches them on a wide range of skills — from non-verbal communication to demonstrating confidence, initiating conversations, as well as socializing with co-workers, identifying organizational structure and maintaining a positive self image, enthusiasm, and motivation.

“I had a wonderful experience,” Duque said. She learned that she needed to revise her resumé and her expectations. She tailored specific versions of her resumé to the positions for which she was applying. One employer responded within a few days of receiving her resumé.

“They called me, and I was so amazed.”

Duque said she got an interview, but not the job, and that was OK. She realized that her lack of Canadian work experience was holding her back, and the only way she could get back on her upward career trajectory was to start at the beginning.

“I needed to start my career all over again,” said Duque, who is married with one young son.

She got her break when she was called for an interview by Cantalk Canada Inc. The company provides interpretation services all over Canada and the U.S. She got hired and started part time.

“It’s giving me the opportunity to have a Canadian experience,” she said.

Duque was well prepared, and had a positive attitude when she arrived in this country, said Canadian workplace culture program facilitator Lisandra Llamos Lopez at Opportunities for Employment downtown.

“She struggled with not knowing how to manage her career, and not understanding the differences between her culture and other cultures,” Lopez said. “She had to explain to the employer what she can do. The concept of self-marketing and being perceived professionally in Canada might be different from how you’d be perceived in Venezuela.

“There are a number of subtle differences in the Canadian work environment,” Lopez continued. “Even though they’re small, if you don’t learn to understand and appreciate them, they can hinder your career.”

One of those subtle differences is in time management, she said.

“Time is appreciated differently by people of different countries and cultures,” Lopez said.

The Opportunities for Employment program offers a variety of week-long modules to out-of work newcomers from all over the world, who have been in Canada less than two years.

“Their needs vary and we try to cater to them,” Lopez said.

“They want to bridge the culture gap,” said Lopez, who is familiar with that challenge. She arrived in Canada from Cuba as an international student five years ago.

“I have walked the same journey as many of the participants,” said the woman from Havana. “That has enabled me to relate to what my participants are experiencing.

“Many newcomers are very well prepared, highly educated people,” Lopez said. “There is always some support they can receive — that’s why we’re here, to help them succeed.

“Helping them to maximize their work potential can really enhance and improve the city.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca