Making Connections
Mentoring helps newcomersBrunilda Hyka met her match when she was introduced to Lidia Kostkiewicz -- her mentoring match, that is. NOREEN FAROOQUI |
|
 [ 2006-05-24 ] |
The 30-year-old Albanian came to Canada in October 2002 and had been searching for a job as a translator to no avail. She then decided to switch gears and study public administration at Humber College, where she learned about Jobstart's mentoring program at an information booth.
The program matches professionals working in Canada with newcomers who have been in the country for up to three years and have not been able to procure employment in the line of work for which they had studied and trained in their home countries.
Mentor Kostkiewicz, an immigrant herself, arrived in Canada in December 1981. She was able to find employment in her field fairly quickly, working for Alliance Francais in Vancouver. Since then, Kostkoewicz has garnered much success in the English language services industry and has established herself as an entrepreneur, opening up Lingua Service Corporate Language Training in 1989, a business language education facility that specializes in translation and inter- pretation in up to 30 languages.
Kostkiewicz came across an advertisement for the Jobstart's Mentoring Program in a Toronto Board of Trade magazine. She is not new to the mentoring game though. Over the years, she has helped friends and colleagues with their careers by offering advice and guidance. She says Jobstart's mentoring program provides a structured system with a supportive staff who offers assistance with any challenges that may arise in the mentoring process.
"We establish long-term goals within the frame suggested by the agency," Kostkoewicz says. "You don't know how far you would go on your own; working with an agency you become very efficient."
So, it was a natural match when Hyka, armed with an English degree, contacted the Jobstart program.
"I went to study at Humber College for Public Administration because of my previous experience [with the EU]. They've done a lot of project work," Hyka says. "I was hoping to do the same thing here and that's why I went to study public administration at Humber College. But that hasn't worked out."
Hyka and Kostkoewicz are part of Jobstart's four-month Mentoring Program. "We meet every week for about an hour and a half and when we talk, she gives me homework to do," Hyka says. "She's helping me a lot"
Kostkoewicz says when a newcomer searches for a position in Canada she may not know what documents from her country are important for marketing herself, and that's why she encouraged Hyka to get her degree assessed.
"We have already had tangible results," Kostkoewicz says. "We have accomplished a lot in terms of recognition of her credentials."
CERTIFIED TRANSLATOR
Hyka agrees, "I'm now member of the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario, and I'm going for my exam soon. I'm going to be a certified translator from Albanian to English. I'm going to do my English as a Second Language Certificate."
Having a mentor has been invaluable in terms of understanding the Canadian labour market and giving her direction in her job search, Hyka says.
"My mentor gives me research to do, she pushes me to look for ideas and when I come up with them, she asks me to follow-up," Hyka says.
"She's focusing me on where to look, where to go, what to look for. And she's also given me direction on how to take one step at a time. The information available is overwhelming and there are so many directions somebody could go. But she helps me to focus on the specific task," Hyka says.
Hyka recommends this program to other immigrants, saying that she was lost when she arrived here, and would have chosen a different path to the one she had taken. "I wouldn't have gone for public administration if I knew how difficult it would have been to find a job in government."
For more information on JobStart's mentoring partnership, call 416-231-2295 ext. 5724 or visit www.jobstart-cawl.org
How many years experience do you have in your current position or industry?