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Minority Report Business Series

Cross-cultural Training: Helping Newcomers Find Employment

Newcomers to Canada face many challenges, including how and where to find employment. Companies like Multicultural Business Solutions help newcomers overcome some of those obstacles.

Sabir Mohamed worked in the field of engineering before immigrating to Canada. Once here he found it difficult to find employment in his chosen field. To improve his chances he took cross-cultural training.

Lionel Laroche is a cross cultural trainer. He helps hundred of newcomers who don't know the cultural rules when trying to find work in Canada.

"The reason in most cases they are failing in getting that job is that they are looking for a job the same way they would in their home country and every country has different ways of doing their job search. So what I do is teach them how to search for a job the Canadian way."

Laroche says one of the mistakes that many new immigrants make is on their resumes. New Canadians often try to give the impression they can do everything, and that is not what employers want to hear.

"So they're perceived in that situation as jacks of all trade, masters of none and that's not what Canadians are looking for when they recruit. They want somebody who's a specialist. The ideal candidate for a Canadian organization is somebody who has done the same job for the last five years."

Another common mistake is not listing accomplishments on a resume. According to Laroche some immigrant cultures discourage selling oneself, so during an interview, they appear to be just average, when in fact their accomplishments are quite amazing. He also points out that newcomers are can be unsuccessful in finding a job because of differing cultural expectations in the interview.

"The candidate who looks at the ceiling during the whole interview; for the average Canadian interviewer, this behaviour means that the candidate cannot be trusted…it will result in this candidate being rejected and not getting the job."

As for Mohamed, he says Laroche's counselling is the reason he now has a job he's proud of. "It's very challenging, very hectic but it's good, professionally I'm satisfied."

"Lionel's advice of not doing cultural mistakes definitely went a long way... the company likes my job and I like what I'm doing.

For more information, pick up the March 29th issue of Canadian Business or visit the Minority Report section on OMNITV.ca.