IWAS Interactive

Labor market indicators in Canada reveal a growing tendency in the past couple of decades: an important part of that workforce is (or will be) composed of Internationally Educated Professionals (IEPs). A number of programs, sometimes with provincial funding and support, have been created to ease the transition of those IEPs into the Canadian workplace environment. One such program, the Integrated Work Experience Strategy (IWES), helps participant improve communicacion skills, acquire workplace cultural intelligence, develop networking habits, and implement good job searching strategies. The program is geared towards ICT professionals, and it was originally developed by the Information and Communication Technology Council of Canada (ICTC). 

As I was relaxing in High Park, sitting at my favorite bench overlooking Granadier Pond and the maple leaf-shaped flower bed, I started going over the IWES program goals and objectives, and how it benefits both IEPs and Canadian employers. I also started thinking about how being new to the country and not being able to make a significant contribution to this society impacts those highly qualified IEPs. While I was pondering these ideas, I realized that the name of the program, IWES (pronounced "ai-wes") sounds very similar to "I was". In an interesting play on words, it may be the case that someone participating in the IWES program is in an "I was" state of mind, in the sense that they had a position, a network, a reputation in their countries of origin before immigrating to Canada. Now those IEPs may feel they "are not" at this point, and they may have to make some adjustments to join the Canadian workforce and "be" again.

As my mind worked through these things, and starting at the IWES-I Was pun, I eventually came up with a pseudo-Haiku way for an IEP to think of their previous situation (I Was), their current situation or where they are now, and where they would like to be:

                  |
                  |          I Was
                  |
IWAS         |     But Now I'm Not
                  |
                  |     Yet, I'd Like to Be
                  |

To make this an interactive dialogue, here is one way I would complete the sentences for myself:

I was: able to combine my different backgrounds in training and development, ICT, and linguistics, in a position that allowed me to make a difference in my organization, and that provided me with personal and professional development opportunities.

But now I'm not: able to use all my skills, although I'm developing new ones.

Yet, I'd like to be: able to grow within a company to roles of increasing responsibility, where I can develop new skills and take on new challenges.

If you are an IEP, what would you say are the things that you were, or had the opportunity to do, before immigrating to Canada? What is it that you cannot do currently, and what would you like to do?

To continue with this interactive exchange, you can post your ideas in the comments section. This will hopefully create a very rich thread all readers can benefit from. Anonymous posts are perfectly fine.