North Shore News
December 28, 2008

Caroline Skelton

When Armin Kashefi arrived in Vancouver, his top priority was finding a mentor to help get his Canadian career off the ground.

Lucky for him, the North Shore Multicultural Society was in the midst of launching their Working Connections program, which matches skilled immigrants with people already working in their field. He was lucky again to find Mansour Belkheir, a field services representative with Stantec Consulting in Vancouver — and a perfect mentor for Kashefi, a structural engineer.

“We started the program because we found that a lot of new immigrants faced a very long process to find meaningful employment,” explains Rosy Janze, community bridging co-ordinator with North Shore Multicultural Society, who put together the program.

Many have trouble finding placements or attaining the qualifications they’d once enjoyed, and are forced to either take work outside their field or split up their family and return to their country of origin.

Through the mentoring program, Janze hopes recent immigrants can learn what it’s like to work in their field in Canada, and determine what volunteer opportunities or certifications will best prepare them for a successful career. “Just having a friend through that, having someone who can understand and empathize and encourage,” says Janze, makes a difference.

The program begins with an orientation, then runs for three months, during which pairs meet nine times, at times and locations of their choosing then wraps up with a graduation party and exit interviews.

Ten pairs of participants were involved in the program in its first run, and Janze says all have taken steps forward. For some, that has meant finding volunteer placements or training programs; for others, it’s simply meant having encouragement and support during the difficult process. “I think people are making a lot of progress with it,” says Janze.

Through the program, Belkheir has helped Kashefi with the paperwork required to get certified in his field in Canada, and invited him to visit his Vancouver office for job shadowing. This in turn has meant the opportunity to meet other people in his field, and even offer his resumé to the company’s human resources manager. Kashefi says it has been helpful to simply have a guide to the Canadian work environment, which he says is very different from that of his country of origin, Iran.

“It’s totally different,” he says. “The work that we’re doing is the same, but the culture is different.”

He arrived in Canada ten months ago, living first in Toronto, where he was also involved in a mentorship program, before moving to Vancouver in September. When he arrived, he enrolled in the Working Connections program immediately, and is glad he did. “I sometimes decided to forget about my background and to enter in another field — but finding a mentor gave me the right way,” he says. “It will help you to find the right direction and not waste your time.”

The program is looking for participants and mentors for its next three-month session. Contact Janze at 604-988-2931, or attend the first meeting of the next session on Thursday, Jan. 8, 7-9 p.m., at the North Shore Multicultural Society’s offices, Suite 207, 123 East 15th St., in North Vancouver.

Reference: North Shore News