New Canadians can face career setbacks
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by Gobinder Gill |
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In Canada many foreign professionals fail to make the transition in their chosen careers. Few of them succeed, but it is not without a struggle.
Sayna Nowak is delighted to work with mentally handicapped people. Before she was employed as a security guard for three years, after emigrating from Poland.
"At least now, I get the satisfaction from my work," she says.
In Poland, the 29-year-old was aspiring to become a scientist or a researcher. She had completed her doctorate in biology prior to leaving the monotonous life in Warsaw.
By emigrating to Canada to better her life, her career has been set back by at least five years. And it will be that much more difficult for her to achieve other goals in life, including starting a family, Nowak says.
Since Canadian universities do not accept her Polish doctorate, she has to go back to school for more courses, as well as pass the General Education examination.
"I can pass the exam and everything else but it will just take me a lot longer because English is not my first language."
At this time, Nowak is unable to afford to go to school because her pay is just enough to make ends meet. And she is reluctant to borrow money to further her education.
"I am very cautious because I cannot afford to risk it, but I will go back to school when I am financially stable," adds the health worker.
Being lonely and isolated is nothing new for the future scientist since almost all of her family and relatives are still back in Poland. She acknowledges that it is a hefty price to pay for a future in Canada but it is worth it.
"I know it is very hard, but I tell myself tomorrow will be much better because at least I have the opportunities here," she says.
Richmond resident Nina Muttu, who taught physical education for 18 years in Bangladesh, is far from continuing her profession. In Dhaka, she was not only a dedicated athlete in her time, but also adamant about continuing her teaching career wherever she resided.
That all changed when Muttu came to Canada three years ago. She now spends eight hours a day making athletic clothes on a sewing machine.
Whenever she visits her native country, she is embarrassed to tell her former colleagues what she does for a living. Only two of her close friends know her occupation.
"I find it so humiliating and many people do not know how I feel" she says.
Despite the uphill battle, she is determined that one day soon she will be back in school to teach. This time round it will not be physical education, but rather computers which she is a whiz at.
