#2 tip on job searching and networking in Toronto: mentoring

Whenever you move to a brand new city or country, one of the most paramount tasks is to meet new people and build up your professional network.

Networking, however, can become more challenging if you don't know anyone yet and need to find a job quickly, which I find to be the case for most people who immigrate to Canada. 

According to a LinkedIn global survey in 2017, 80% of professionals deem networking to be a key factor to their career success. On top of that, 70% of people in 2016 were hired at a company where they had a connection. Hence, it is a no-brainer how crucial it is to create meaningful connections and foster them over time for your own personal and professional growth.

As a recent Permanent Resident and newcomer to Toronto, my earliest strategy to start networking consisted of three different tactics: firstly, joining relevant events and workshops to meet new people; secondly, inviting local professionals with an interesting background for a coffee chat and lastly, finding a mentor to share ideas and learn more about the local job market.

TRIEC Mentoring Partnership

If you, too, would like to connect with someone who could mentor you in Toronto, there is a great initiative called TRIEC Mentoring Partnership, managed by the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC).

This program aims to introduce qualified newcomers (mentees) to local professionals (mentors), thus enabling a first-hand and genuine exchange of experiences and insights. From the mentee's perspective, it is a fabulous opportunity to find effective ways to better market yourself, build a valuable connection and sharpen your job seeking strategy.

For the mentors, they get to hone their leadership and communications skills, and they can even learn other cultures and international practices. But above all, it's a way to help other professionals and pay it forward. As a former mentor myself, there's no better reward than the feeling of contributing to someone else's career!

The mentee application process

According to TRIEC's website, you need to meet a few requirements to apply as mentee:

• You have 2+ years' experience in your professional field;
• You have lived in Canada for less than five years;
• You are unemployed or underemployed and looking to reconnect with your career.

There are currently 12 partners which manage the application, matching and monitoring of the program. JobStart, the Employment Ontario-affiliated agency that I have chosen, is one of them, so I expressed my interest to participate and they invited me to an info session.

There, a representative explained in details what was the program about and gave tips on how to make the most out of the mentoring. She also advised that it could take some time to be matched with a mentor, from weeks to even a few months. This was due to the limited pool of mentors, which was accessed not only by the agency but all the other partners. Also, depending on the industry of the mentees' interest, it could take longer to be paired as some are more competitive.

After the info session, I filled an on-line application form and talked with the representative to outline my preferred mentor profile. She would be the one matching the mentees with mentors and further monitoring the partnership after it started. A few days later, I received a link via e-mail to answer a survey as the second and last step of the application.

Since marketing is a highly demanded field, I expected to wait longer to be matched with someone. For my surprise, I received the message from the JobStart's representative fairly quickly saying there was a professional who could potentially be my mentor. Looking at his profile, I was very impressed by his overall background and experience, so I didn't waste time and accepted right away! (Tip: it's important to answer the agency as soon as possible because you might lose the opportunity if another mentee accepts before you do!).

My mentoring experience so far

My mentor is a senior manager at one of the top banks in Canada leading customer engagement and loyalty strategies.

Overall, I have been very fortunate to have him as my mentor. Ever since our first meeting, he has always been incredibly kind, supportive and honest in sharing his opinions and advice.

Not only has he helped me in reviewing my resume and providing information about the labour market, he also shared some valuable insights about workplace culture in Canada and customer experience from a marketing and business perspective, which interest me a lot!

So here, a couple of things I learned from him which I would like to share:

• Leave your resume concise and short. Too many words can be rather distracting and may hamper the key messages and words you want to convey. You might also consider to save some of the details and experiences for the interview. As my mentor told me, "less is more"!
• Work on your soft skills. It is undeniable that interpersonal skills and behavioral traits are crucial for one's career success anywhere in the world. In Canada, it wouldn't be any different. From connecting with recruiters during interviews to meeting the team after landing a job, be respectful, coachable and always strive to build empathy with those around you.

For anyone new to Toronto who is eager to network and find a mentor, I urge you to learn more about this program.

If you get to be a mentee, don't lose touch with your mentor after the end of your sessions or if you land a job in the meantime!

In my case, my mentoring officially finishes next month, but I am more than keen to stay in touch with my mentor. After all, isn't that one of the greatest things about networking? :)