Why Employment Services job search support lacks quality in Canada

free career services for highly qualified newcomers/ Immigrants in Canada lacks quality.

I was interviewed by CBC News on how Canada is planning to get 1.24 million immigrants to fill the labour shortage. My client was featured alongside me to talk about her journey as an immigrant and bridging program. Canada is running immigration pilots one after another, which brings many qualified immigrants to this country. This presents a major opportunity for Canada to address skills and labour gaps – but only if newcomers are adequately supported. A plan to welcome a record number of immigrants to Canada includes bringing in needed workers, but experts and employers say more could be done to help newcomers arrive and thrive in their new home as per CBC News.

Opinion piece outlining shortcomings of non-profit employment services for newcomers, with suggestions for improvement.

It was 2001 when we landed in Canada after my husband was laid off from an IT role at a Fortune 500 company in the United States. He had a degree from the US and experience with a top company and we were hopeful.

My husband ended up working in a factory for a couple of months, alongside many other internationally trained professionals. Trying to find work that was more aligned with his skills, he visited employment agencies, including non-profit agencies that only had bridge jobs. He later found a contract IT role through a recruitment agency.

His experience is not uncommon. In Canada, we met many internationally trained professionals who were well-qualified under the immigration system but couldn’t secure work that aligned with their backgrounds. Often, they blamed the “No Canadian experience” barrier. This continues to be a massive problem for many newcomers to Canada. Read more on our journey as an immigrant and No Canadian Experience rejections.

To this day, the struggle to find the right support for newcomers in Canada is real. While employer perceptions of internationally trained professionals present a significant barrier to employment, in my experience, we also need to consider where employment services and free-funded newcomer's programs may be falling short. The one-size-fits-all approach is destroying the confidence of newcomers to Canada. Settlement services need to step up their career services with a customized approach based on the targeted jobs. Some immigrants might leave Canada due to a lack of the right support system. Here is my interview with CTV news about why many immigrants might be leaving as per Stat Canada. Many immigrants do not understand workplace culture due to corporate jargon and slang. Employment agencies should have training programs on how to integrate into the workforce to give new immigrants a sense of belonging.

Recently my client' story was featured on the news who moved to Canada and regretted it until he found the targeted role within 5 sessions after working with me. Read his story as a newcomer in Canada.

Free career services for newcomer bridging programs may be falling short.

In 2017, I was laid off, therefore, I took services with outplacement services offered in my severance. After the service got expired, I wanted to take advantage of our funded free employment services as a taxpayer. I also wanted to give back and lead webinars to transfer my knowledge as a hiring manager from award-winning companies. I reached out to a couple of reputed non-profit employment agencies and signed up for a few free webinars to understand their job search strategy training. I was disappointed by what I found. When newcomers take these services it is not about learning English, the program offers basic training on culture, not real workforce insights. Highly qualified skilled workers need customized career support not one size fits all templates.

I had leadership and coaching experience from the award-winning company for over a decade. From my perspective, there were major gaps in training and support for Canadians. Employment consultants who had never been on the hiring side or had not been certified in coaching were delivering training to job seekers. People who have never recruited by using the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) were invited to these webinars to talk about ATS-friendly resumes. I often saw people drawing on fear-mongering stats, such as the myth that 80% of jobs are never posted. While networking can be a powerful tool, I saw agencies telling immigrant career professionals that online applications do not work, which is not true. The hidden jobs market might not apply to all the roles. I am speaking from my lived experience as a hiring manager. Are we somehow painting the wrong picture of Canada to new immigrants by unverified old stats from newspaper days ? Here are my insights into why the hidden job market is a myth. Agencies need to select speakers who have lived knowledge to pass on knowledge to attendees for relatability purposes at times.

I also found that non-profit employment agencies were not well-equipped to speak to current hiring trends. The resume world had changed, and employment agencies were still teaching outdated resume tips. Jobseekers were not being advised on how to boost their chances of being seen by recruiters on LinkedIn. Many of the trainers didn’t even have a profile on LinkedIn themselves. They had never used the LinkedIn Recruiters tools. Trainers also did not seem to be incorporating the latest information about AI recruiting tools, including personality-based assessments which were being used by employers for a specific type of roles. There are one-way-AI video interviews in the market and trainers had no clue about how it works. Newcomers need to know about AI bias to avoid no Canadian experience rejection. I shared my concern with Global News about the biases that exist on resumes and AI. Even though Ontario plans to audit no Canadian experience rejection and AI hiring disclosure, newcomers need to understand how the hiring tool works. I firmly believe that if you want to teach anyone, you need to learn about the tools or invite experts to the webinars who know about the current recruiting trends.

Recruiting has moved to the virtual world and not knowing the current trends hurt jobseekers. Additionally, I was also concerned that the jobs being advertised through non-profit agencies were mostly bridge/entry-level jobs. The employers during career fairs didn’t have jobs for mid-level professionals. These career fairs require commitment from jobseekers for hours to attend and entry-level jobs are not an option to attract traffic to these fairs. Bridge/survival jobs for newcomers are not tickets to get Canadian experience. After a while, I stopped attending job fairs led by these agencies which didn't have leadership roles.

Are employment services using funding properly?

After identifying the gap in employment service centers, I wanted to pivot to non-profit employment services as my skills were transferable to employment services.

While there are many factors influencing immigrant professionals’ job search, I questioned whether employment services – which may be an individual’s first line of job search support in a new country – were doing everything they could to set job seekers up for success. I targeted the roles at employment services to understand the internal system. I did lots of information interviews and signed up for their webinars to understand the gaps.

I was offered a job in employment services and was excited to bring my background as a hiring manager to support job seekers. I didn’t blame the individuals, but rather the system they work within, which was not equipping them with appropriate training. The job descriptions for many of the employment consultants were focused on counselling and social degrees, rather than having experience in the hiring world. There were no requirements for having a license. You can't have employment consultant counselling without a license. There needs to be a separation of services in counselling and consulting/coaching. This is a disservice to immigrants.

I witnessed that outdated templates were being used in the resources center. I didn’t find that the agency was equipped to support career professionals, especially newcomers and mid-level career professionals who have to work through trauma. The city has an active newcomer immigration pilot program running and I don’t think they are well equipped to handle it in my opinion. There was no action plan including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for handling the newcomer pilot program in the remote. There were limited people of colour working in the agencies in the remote. Most people knew each other due to the small town. Career fairs were targeted for bridge jobs/ entry-level most often. This well-known agency gets funding but doesn't seem like it is used in the best way possible for newcomer pilots.

It seemed like if agencies have amazing grant writers the funding will be in their favour. There is no audit on how many people actually landed similar jobs from the past role. Someone who is leading the team back home would take free services and land survival jobs, it could be counted as a success. Taxpayer funding could be misused with this approach when the tracking/reporting for newcomer-free programs is not done properly. Who is auditing career path for service delivery? NOBODY!

I offered to teach/train consultants for free on service delivery but was told that it was not part of my job description. I spoke out about the gaps in service during a team meeting, such as templates and training for Resumes being outdated, and staff are not well-equipped with training for career services. Ultimately, I decided to resign from employment services and start my own business. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I didn’t feel my voice was heard when I brought my concern to the management. Looked like career strategy for highly qualified immigrants wasn’t their priority at that time. Demographics for the agency were from the local community. The funding for the newcomer program might not have been utilized in the best way. There were no initiatives for new immigrants. This is when I resigned on the spot, said goodbye and started full-time career consulting at Teachndo.

I get many clients who go through funding programs for newcomers and group bridging programs. They all have a similar concern about the quality of training delivery. My concern is who is auditing the service delivery on the ground. I would like to offer an option/partner for those who can’t hire me for 1:1 mentoring as I only work with a few selected career professionals.

Why Employment Services job search support lacks quality in Canada, listen to those who have taken the program. not all the bridging programs or free services are worth your valuable time. Ask questions, who is teaching these programs? Time is money even if it is free.

Before you think, my experience is based on past years, I have been attending free training for job seekers on a regular basis and the gaps are getting bigger. This could be because consultants are not well-equipped with tools and resources. They have too many caseloads which compromises the service delivery.

Here is an example of my recent client who took free funded services and as per her it was a “waste of her time” . She was bold enough to speak out because she was frustrated. Her story was also picked by CBC News. in Canada.

How can we better support newcomers in Canada?

Adjust qualifications and training

Non-profit employment agencies need to hire the right type of consultant to train internationally trained professionals with up-to-date tools. Either require a hiring background or provide employees with adequate training delivered by experts. Employment service professionals need to be able to offer customized job search training based on each client’s experience. Where possible, agencies should be able to connect newcomers with industry-specific mentors. Lead the right career fairs based on the industry and roles.

Collaborate with experts and pay them

Employment services are running free webinars by inviting experts. I dedicate volunteer hours yearly to give back to the newcomers' community. Once, I asked why they hadn't partnered with a career expert to teach job strategy to newcomers. The answer from the director was it was a conflict of interest. I am still rethinking about conflict of interest, why is it that when it comes to free webinars these agencies don't hesitate to reach out to experts but when it comes to paid partnerships/ sessions there is a conflict of interest? There is funding available for the newcomer's pilot program, so why not allocate the budget for guest speakers/ training?

It would be ideal to collaborate with experts in their field, but these experts need to be compensated. Outsource/collaborate the job search strategy for newcomers to a reputed business/career consultant who specializes in working with internationally trained professionals. Agencies could also bring in a consultant to provide training to staff or to offer workshops for newcomer clients. What is stopping employment agencies from inviting experts to run cohort programs for internationally trained professionals and utilize the funding the best way? it is definitely not a conflict of interest but poor execution.

Challenge employer biases

Lastly, immigrants face many biases from employers when job searching in Canada. Agencies could partner with the top employers and refer the right candidates after identifying the fit. Employment agencies need to prepare newcomers for this reality while also advocating for change with employers. Non-profit career services can support employers to create inclusive job descriptions – for instance, by advocating for the removal of “local experience” requirements, unless absolutely necessary. They can encourage businesses looking to connect with newcomers to access equity, diversity and inclusion training, to mitigate bias in their hiring practices. They can also advocate for hiring newcomers, highlighting the many strengths their international experience can bring to the Canadian workforce.

To sum up, I have noticed gaps in funded services which are costing taxpayers overall. If we want immigrants to succeed, we need to fix the gaps. Immigrants are qualified but need the right direction and tools. Telling newcomers to gain Canadian experience by doing a bridge job or starting from ground zero is not the right career strategy. Immigrants left home not their skills and brain behind. Train the employment services agents with the right tool and resources before running any cohorts/ bridging programs. Invite the right experts based on the niche roles/ industry to deliver training. One Size Doesn't Fit All.

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Sweta Regmi is a hiring manager from award-winning companies turned into Founder and CEO at Teachndo, a Certified Career & Résumé Strategist. Sweta Regmi is a globally recognized top career expert, speaker, and LinkedIn Top Community Voice for Career Development, Job Search Strategies, Personal Branding, and Interviewing with over a decade of experience empowering career professionals. Sweta's insights are featured in CBC National News Prime Time & Local, Global National News Top Story & Global Local News, CNBC, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, CTV News, City News, FOX 26 News, Daily Mail, BNN Bloomberg, 5 times in Globe and Mail, Yahoo News, National Post, MSN, theaustralian.com.au, FORBES, Toronto Sun, 80+ times in LinkedIn News, LinkedIn Hello Monday award-winning podcast, LinkedIn Creators, Indeed, Employment services, Top Colleges and Universities, Career Conferences, Leadership Conferences, and 100+Top media outlets have widely recognized Regmi's expertise, see here. Regmi has also partnered with leading brands and organizations to elevate and spearhead career strategies, career sites, and outplacement and establish non-profit employment services partnerships. Her RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards nomination by Women of Influence in 2022 and 2023 further demonstrates her success as a recognized career expert in Canada. Regmi is also the Amazon Best Seller of 21 Resilient Women: Stories of Courage, Growth, and Transformation. The book has been recognized by libraries, ministers and MPs in Canada. Contact for B2B collaboration/workshop.