Canada through the lens of a Bangladesh-born Canadian

07 Mar 2023

!blank大流行教会我们重塑自我。我们不是以前的我们了。同样的概念也适用于新移民。移民必须处理各种情绪是很自然的，尤其是在最初的几天/几个月。搬到一个新的国家并不容易；特别是如果你在国内已经在你的职业上取得了进步。 !blankThe pandemic taught us to reinvent ourselves. We are not who we used to be. The same concept could apply to new immigrants. It’s quite natural that immigrants have to deal with a range of emotions, especially during the first few days/months. Moving to a new country is not easy; especially if you have already made progress in your profession back home.

离开孟加拉国稳固的职业生涯是我一生中做出的最重要的决定之一。我在一家顶级银行的老板决定将我的辞职信至少保存三个月，只有在我从加拿大向他点头同意后才会将其发送给人力资源部。如果你现在问我，最好切断你的联系，这样你就可以完全致力于在加拿大建立你的职业生涯。 Leaving a well-established career in Bangladesh was one of the most significant decisions I have made in my life. My boss at one of the top banks there decided to keep my resignation letter with him for at least three months and to send it to HR only if I gave him the nod from Canada. If you ask me now, it’s probably better to cut your ties you so that you can fully commit yourself  to building your career in Canada.

克服语言障碍 Overcome the language barrier

我们需要解决并克服语言障碍。越快越好。我报名参加了一项继续教育计划，距我上次在家乡获得认证已有十年。 .我有四位教授有三种不同的口音！让我想起了 1980 年代的经典电影《飞机》。在电影的某个时刻，鲁马克博士问副驾驶他是否可以驾驶飞机并降落。他得到的答复是，“当然，你不可能是认真的”。 Rumack 博士回答说：“我是认真的，不要叫我 Shirley。”查看口音问题！ We need to address the language barrier and conquer it. Sooner, the better. I signed up for a continuing education program, ten years from my last certification back home. .  I had four professors with three different accents! Reminded me the 1980s’ classic movie ‘Airplane’. At one moment of the movie, Dr. Rumack asked the co-pilot if he could fly the plane and land it. He got the reply, “Surely, you can’t be serious’. Dr. Rumack replied,  “I’m serious and don’t call me Shirley.” See the issues with accents!

此外，如果可能，请尝试获得双语技能。除了英语，懂法语（如果 96 号法案得以实现，如果你在魁北克，你可能会处于有利地位）将会有所帮助。此外，在呼叫/客户支持中心工作一段时间以提高您的沟通技巧可能不是一个坏主意。还要尝试熟悉不分性别的语言。 Also, if possible, try to acquire bilingual skills. In addition to  English, knowing French (if Bill 96 comes into fruition, you may be in a good position if you’re in Quebec), will be helpful. Also, it might not be a bad idea to work at a call/customer support centre for a while to better your communication skills. Also try to familiarize yourself with gender-neutral language.

调整你的期望！ Adjust your expectations!

‘调整风帆’，为你想要的生活尽最大的努力。您可能会遇到一些出牙问题，但一切都会好起来的。有一个积极的态度。如果你是新人，花时间写你的简历和求职信，而不是因为没有收到你的申请回音而感到压力。花时间探索就业市场。技能发展、衔接计划、指导计划和职业活动总是在加拿大发生。 ‘Adjust your sail’ and put your best effort towards your desired life. You may experience few teething problems, but everything will be ok. Have a positive attitude. If you’re new, spend time to work on your resume and cover letter instead of being stressed out about not hearing back on your applications.. Take the time to explore the job market. Skills development, bridging programs, mentorship programs and career events are always happening in Canada.

看看您是否可以为自己开辟一个利基市场；寻找仍然需要大量人员并且或多或少符合您的目标和过去经验的领域；如果需要，尝试新事物，冒险。有时在我们的职业生涯中，我们一遍又一遍地尝试同样的事情，但期望不同的结果是精神错乱（交给你，爱因斯坦！）。找到工作后，尝试了解组织的使命和方向。在工作中管理人际关系可能并不全是“彩虹和独角兽”，但这是一项非常重要的技能。 See if you can carve out a niche for yourself; look for an area that still requires significant number of people and that more or less aligns with your goals and past experience; and if needed, try something new, take a risk. Sometimes in our professional career, we try the same thing over and over again but expect different outcomes which is insanity (over to you, Einstein!). After landing a job, try to understand the organization’s mission and direction. Managing relationships at work may not be all ‘rainbows and unicorns’, but it is a very important skill.

请记住，您在国外的经历（学校、工作、生活）对您来说是一种优势，尽管加拿大的一些人可能不会马上看到这一点。永远不要低估您的可转移技能；不要卖空自己。你是独一无二的，即使可能需要一段时间才能确定你作为“带连字符的加拿大人”的身份（例如，我是孟加拉国裔加拿大人）。 Remember, your experiences (school, work, life) abroad are an advantage for you, even though some people in Canada may not see that right away.  Never underestimate your transferable skills; don’t short sell yourself. You are unique, even if it may take a while to establish your identity as a ‘hyphenated Canadian’ (for example, I’m a Bangladeshi-Canadian).

致政策制定者的说明 A note to policymakers 

许多获得全球认证的经验丰富的专业人士最终不得不重新开始他们的职业生涯。加拿大如何更好地支持移民？ A number of globally credentialed experienced professionals end up having to restart their careers. How can Canada better support immigrants?

例如，在大流行期间，我们看到医生短缺来应对越来越多的患者，而这里有数百名具有国际经验的医生。在板球比赛中，如果击球手受伤，他们可以让“跑垒员”在三柱门之间跑动而不会中断比赛。这种概念在那个时候可以很好地应用（或者应用得太晚了）。我们看到医生不停地工作，他们无法承受精神压力（眼睁睁地看着病人死在眼前）却不得不继续值班；他们不能接受“跑步者”。我在多伦多听到过这样一句话：“如果你在多伦多乘坐优步时心脏病发作，你可能很幸运，因为你的优步司机可能是一名医生。”事实上，如果我们想要射中目标，有时，我们可能需要后退几步才能射出我们的箭。但这需要有一个门槛或上限。移民面临的许多挑战是普遍的。承认并谈论它们可以帮助将挑战带出阴影，从而解决这些问题。 For instance, during the pandemic, we saw a shortage of doctors to deal with the increasing number of patients while there were hundreds of internationally experienced doctors available right here.  In cricket, if a batsman on crease gets injured, they can take ‘runners’ to run between the wickets without interrupting the game. This type of concept could be well applied during that time (or it was applied when it was too late). We saw doctors working non-stop, who couldn’t take the mental stress (seeing patients dying in front of their eyes) but had to remain on duty; they couldn’t take ‘runners’. I have heard a saying floating around in Toronto,  “If you have a heart attack while in an Uber in Toronto, you might be lucky because your Uber driver might be a doctor.” The truth is that if we want to hit the target, sometimes, we may need to take a few steps back to shoot our arrows. But there needs to be a threshold or ceiling for that. Many of the challenges faced by immigrants are universal. Acknowledging and talking about them could help bring the challenges out of the shadows so they can be addressed.

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