Inspire kindness and pay it forward!

September 18, 2017. Today I met with a couple, who immigrated to Canada 7 years ago and recently relocated to Ottawa from GTA. Fabián approached to me on LinkedIn to request an informational meeting regarding job search in Ottawa.

Since they are already Canadian citizens, there is no program supporting them in my organization. I arranged an informational meeting at my lunch hour today with both him and his wife. I learned their immigration story and how hard they tried their best to stay in their profession. Although they are in their 40s they never give up their career dreams, and in the meantime they adjust themselves to the reality and work for their kid's future.

I shared the resources and information I know regarding their professions, as well as the applicable experiences and suggestions to make their integration smoother. This reminds me of my own experience. I moved to Ottawa from Regina in early 2014. After my son was admitted to the daycare in September, I finally started taking care of my professional career life in Ottawa. Although I obtained the Master degree of Human Resources Management within Canada, it was still challenging for me to find a job aligned with my career dream. Two main obstacles were lacking of Canadian experience in specific industries and French language skills. I tried, then failed;failed, then keep trying. Finally I landed my first job in Ottawa with OCISO in July 2015.

I never feel alone in my journey, since I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people support me with their big hearts. With the Thanksgiving approaching, I really would like to take this opportunity to thank all of them for helping me in my career.

Jen, thank you for your sincere support all this time, from our first meeting till now. Thank you for thinking of me and sharing with me.

Richard, thank you for working with me word by word on polishing my resume, referring me to your network, and making me so closed to my dream.

Kristine, thank you for being my OCISO career mentor, taking me to different workshops and encouraging me when I encountered failure.

Awad, Yann, Albert, and Tony, thank you for listening to my confusion,sharing your experience and resources, especially when I stood on the crossing of my career.

Karyn, I would also like to thank you for your trust and offering the invaluable opportunity for me to prove myself in Ottawa.

I really don't know how to pay back to all of you, what I could and I am willing to do is to pay it forward to people especially newcomers with their struggles to build their careers in Ottawa.

I would like to make my commitment to share my knowledge of job search in Ottawa by using my spare time to meet a newcomer job seeker every two weeks. Please feel free to connect me on LinkedIn or refer someone you know who needs support.

I truly believe "Even the smallest act of caring has the potential to turn a life around".