Immigrant program helps sharpen soft skills of immigrants in Calgary

The immigrant initiative in Calgary named ‘Environmental Immigrant Bridging(EIB) program’, the scheme was launched by the catholic immigration society of Calgary in February.

It was provided support from ECO Canada.

Immigrant program helps sharpen soft skills of newcomers in Canada—The EIB program is of great help for the new immigrants in Canada since it prepares them for the job market in Canada, admits Ruth Ibemesim, who immigrated from the UK to Canada in October 2010 after getting her PhD in biology along with a couple of years’ experience in the public sector as well as academia.

Ibemesim, who had worked in the environment sector in the UK before coming to Canada, had a good proficiency in spoken English.

However, after her immigration to Canada, she found a sea of difference in the work cultures of the two nations, namely the UK and Canada. Moreover, lack of work experience in Canada also proved a hurdle in the way of getting job in Canada, admits Ibemesim.

Program teaches about workplace culture of Canada, helps in getting jobs in Canada—The EIB program through its training of six weeks helps newcomers in Canada give knowledge about the workplace culture of the nation. After successful completion of the EIB program, Ibemesim got her first job in Canada in her chosen field, that is, environmental sector. She was appointed as a senior project co-coordinator for environmental works for a firm.

First group gets jobs in Canada---Out of the first batch of immigrant professionals forming part of the group of 15, 12 got full-time permanent jobs within a short span of just two weeks after completion of the EIB program, informed a program coordinator with CCIS, Erin Donais.

She is hopeful that the remaining three will also get jobs soon.

EIB provides access to job fair, assists in polishing interview skills of immigrants---The immigrant initiative also helped newcomers in Canada attend a small job fair for knowing the latest happenings in the job market of Canada. In addition, it also taught them various ins and outs of j ob interview, resume writing and effective networking.