Building Professional and Occupational Networks: The Mentoring Partnership
TRIEC (Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council)
Connecting skilled immigrants with their employed counterparts for greater occupational and social capital
Oluseun Odunlami was a lawyer in her native Nigeria, who had worked in both the municipal government and the banking industry. However, when she emigrated with her husband and three kids to Canada, she struggled to find work. Her professional credentials were not recognized and potential employers did not relate to or appreciate her resume. The only jobs available to her were low paying and did not take into account her education or career ambitions
Annette Geldbert and her mentee, Kerry Mulchansingh
Oluseun’s story is a common one. Without professional networks or contacts and often unfamiliar with the nuances of the work culture, many new immigrants struggle to find work that reflects their past experiences and education. In the eyes of corporate Canada, immigrant job applicants can look unfamiliar or untested and pose a potential hiring risk.
Olusuen’s story changed with the help of The Mentoring Partnership.
The Mentoring Partnership (TMP) is a collaboration of community organisations and corporate partners that brings together skilled immigrants and established professionals in occupation specific mentoring relationships.
As of July 31, 2008 the Mentoring Partnership has registered over 2,214 mentors, created 3,389 matches, formed 52 corporate partners and 12 organisational partners.
These relationships achieve impressive results. For instance, based on an evaluation survey completed at the end of 2007, nearly 85 per cent of participants who completed the program were now employed in their field of choice. Their average annual income was 67 per cent higher than before entering the program and unemployment within this group had decreased by 78 percent.
Olusuen was matched with Karen Rubin, a veteran lawyer at Amex Canada. For the next three months the two women would meet for several hours a week. During that time Karen introduced Olusuen to a network of influential lawyers at large firms across the city, who offered invaluable professional advice and helped her to polish and adapt her resume to make it more enticing to Canadian employers. “Ms. Odunlami oversaw a $4 million budget in her municipal government job in Nigeria. We looked at what she had and how to sell it. I helped her build her self confidence with the skills that she already had.” adds her mentor Karen. An appreciative Ms. Odunlami continues, “She went on to introduce me to several attorneys. This helped me a lot and increased my network.”
Together they worked on various job strategies and tailored Olusuen’s resume so to the Canadian context. They then worked on various interview techniques and conducted a number of mock interviews.
Today Ms. Odunlami is working in Toronto’s financial district and has applied to the University of Ottawa’s specially designed program for lawyers with foreign credentials.
About TRIEC…
The Mentoring Partnership is a project of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), an organization that is working to remove the barriers that immigrants face when entering the labour market while also helping organizations benefit from the talents and skills that immigrants bring with them. The mentoring approach to labour force integration recognizes that who you know can be as important as what you know when it comes to getting a job. The mentor-mentee relationship is the first link in the development of a professional network that opens doors and changes perceptions about the value of skilled immigrant job applicants.
Relationships in The Mentoring Partnership are based on the idea of committing “one day of your life” to the program, a commitment of at least 24 hours spread out over a four month period. During this time mentors help new immigrants navigate through the job search process by sharing their knowledge and experience. The mentor helps to write a Canadian resume, to prepare their mentee for an interview and offers advice on how to network. They also provide insight into the Canadian workplace and work culture.
To maximize the impact of the relationship, both parties follow an established program that works in the following ways: TRIEC recruits mentors usually through corporate partners while community organizations screen and recruit job ready skilled immigrants for mentee candidates. Coaches at community partner organizations contact mentors with profiles of proposed mentees based on work and career compatibility, including shared educational backgrounds, similar work experience and common career goals.
Coaches continue to monitor mentee progress for up to three months after the mentoring relationship has officially ended. Mentors and mentees work together for a total of 24 hours over a period of four months. Coaches provide communication and relationship support as necessary.
However, the most important aspect of The Mentoring Partnership is really sharing professional networks.
Mentors are welcome from any profession, provided they are employed or self employed for at least three years. They must demonstrate links to professional associations and other business networks and have a knowledge of current labor market demands, context, trends as well as an appreciation of employment issues related to internationally trained professionals.
Success Means Adoption…
The success of the Mentoring Partnership led to it being recognized beyond the city of Toronto and into the outlying regions of the city such as Halton, Peel and York. By 2007, TRIEC’s success with The Mentoring Partnership and related programs resulted in cities across Canada taking action in their own communities around immigrant employment solutions. In 2007, over 130 representatives from 18 city regions met to share the lessons and experiences that have come out of TRIEC. Today ALLIES is a new national multi-stakeholder initiative established to assist local leaders with immigrant employment strategies based on the TRIEC model for cities across Canada.
In 2007, the Mentoring Partnership was also honoured with the Canadian Urban Institute “Urban Leadership Award for City Initiatives.”
International Recognition
In 2007, a delegation from New Zealand known at the Committee for Auckland came to Toronto to meet with TRIEC and learn more about the Mentoring Partnership. The result was that in March 2008, the group launched OMEGA (Opportunities for Migrant Employment in Greater Auckland) based on the TRIEC model in the hopes of replicating Toronto’s experience with equal success in New Zealand.
For a selection of library resources related to this Good Idea, see sidebar at right.
Making it Work for You:
- Hiring immigrants is not a social justice issue - make the business case for employing immigrants. Immigrants bring international skills, experience and the knowledge needed for economic growth and prosperity.
- Is there a way that you or your organization can help bring skilled immigrants or other marginalised groups together with established professionals? For instance with a networking day or a community partnership?
- Mentoring others provides employees with professional development opportunities. Find out whether mentoring programs exist in your organization and, if not, what you could do to start one.
12 Responses to “Building Professional and Occupational Networks: The Mentoring Partnership”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Print
E-Newsletter Sign Up!
Email to a friendFor this Good Idea contact:
Joan Atlin, Director of OperationsToronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC)
170 Bloor Street West, Suite 901
Toronto, Canada
416 944 1946 ext 249
jatlin(at)triec.ca
www.triec.ca
31 July 2009 at 2:48 PM
[...] TRIEC’s multi-stakeholder approach means recruiting employers, universities, colleges, unions, community and immigrant organizations, occupational regulatory bodies and all three levels of government (local, state, national) to work collaboratively through programs like TRIEC’s Mentoring Partnership. [...]
16 September 2009 at 3:10 AM
[...] so much success? The KVINFO model was well researched, based on a successful mentoring model for skilled immigrants from Toronto, tweaked by mentoring approach of US private sector business culture, but anchored in the feminist [...]
16 September 2009 at 10:20 AM
International Conference on Mentoring and Networking in Denmark!
Centre for Information on Women and Gender (KVINFO) has created a unique Mentor Network that pairs up refugee and immigrant women with women who are firmly established members of the Danish society. KVINFO will be presenting a two day conference, November 20-21, 2009, for anyone interested in mentoring and networking…. more
18 September 2009 at 2:19 PM
[...] Montreal>> Toronto>> [...]
9 October 2009 at 2:57 PM
[...] design. KVINFO modelled their mentoring program on an existing one for skilled immigrants in Toronto and then adapted it in consultation with HR experts from the corporate [...]
11 February 2010 at 4:22 PM
[...] Canada, organizations like the Toronto Regional Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) are trying to overcome this barrier by connecting skilled immigrants with their employed [...]
11 February 2010 at 4:40 PM
[...] Toronto Region Immigrant Council (TRIEC) was created by Maytree to break the cycle of immigrants being overlooked for jobs because [...]
16 March 2010 at 2:04 PM
The Conference Board of Canada publishes:
Making the Most of Immigration and Internationally Trained Workers (ITWs): A Road Map For Employers
30 March 2010 at 6:43 PM
I have been looking for similar organisation in United Kingdom that organise mentoring for migrants but I could not find one until we formed one in 2008. I am excited about the testimonies of your progress. This has given me the confident that we can do the same in United Kingdom sucessfully.
31 March 2010 at 3:13 PM
TRIEC and Toronto Star partner on special newspaper section
The Toronto Star is a media partner of the IS Awards and published a special section, New Workers, New Skills that provides key insight into skilled immigrants and employment issues.
For more details: http://www.thestar.com/newworkers
31 March 2010 at 3:16 PM
TRIEC and CBC Toronto partner on IS Awards coverage
CBC Toronto is proud to be a partner of the TRIEC Immigrant Success Awards as a both a media partner and for the contribution of the CBC Toronto Vision Award for Immigrant Inclusion. CBC Toronto is committed to sharing and telling stories that are important and relevant to Toronto and GTA communities. Being a part of the Immigrant Success Awards exemplifies that commitment.
For more details: http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/features/immigrantsuccess/
31 March 2010 at 3:20 PM
TRIEC announces winners of fourth annual Immigrant Success Awards
The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and RBC are pleased to announce winners of the 4th annual Immigrant Success (IS) Awards, recognizing innovation and leadership in integrating skilled immigrants into the Toronto Region labour market.
For complete details about the IS Awards and to view profiles of the winners visit http://www.isawards.ca.