WIL Employment Connections

Dan

Dan came to Canada in 2006, confident that his Bachelors degree in Economics would help him land a job quickly.  He began job hunting as soon as he arrived.  His resume was good enough to land him 2 job interviews, but no job offers.  Frustrated with his progress, he attended ESL classes to upgrade his English skills in hopes of securing employment.

While attending ESL, Dan heard about WIL's Employment Preparation program for newcomers and enrolled. Dan was able to improve his resume and cover letter, learn new job interview techniques and secure a volunteer work experience placement as a systems administrator.  The placement provided him with valuable Canadian work experience and also turned into a paid 9-month contract position.  "It made things less stressful because I had a great work placement.  I was free to create a network and find some leads as to where to apply for employment after my contract ended."  Dan is also continuing to pursue his goal of one day opening his own business in our community.

Carol

After being laid off from a manufacturing plant, Carol realized she needed to upgrade her education if she wanted to secure stable employment.  Carol didn't have a high school diploma, and having been out of school for more than 25 years she felt intimidated by the amount of catching up she needed to do.  Carol sought WIL's assistance for a General Education Development (GED) assessment in hopes of obtaining her high school equivalency.

Carol's GED assessment indicated that she required some extra schooling before she could take advantage of WIL's GED Preparation program.  After attending Fanshawe's Blueprints program for one year, she returned to WIL and started the program.  Despite her fears and hesitation to write the Ministry test, she passed with flying colours.  "I learned the material and when it was time to leave and write the test I was scared.  I grew so comfortable with my studying and the social support at WIL that I did not want to write the exam.  WIL's staff encouraged me and provided me with the extra support I needed to write the exam and pass."

Carol is now using her GED credentials to provide her with a stable income.  "WIL is so great with their follow-up.  They have done so much to increase my confidence", she added.

Paula

When Paula arrived in Canada, she knew she would have to upgrade her English skills in order to find suitable work.  She quickly enrolled in ESL classes and also signed up for WIL's Employment Preparation program. 

The Employment Preparation program was exactly what she was looking for.  Paula was able to improve her resume and cover letter to improve her chances of receiving job offers.  She was also able to compliment her English lesson with a mock job interview.  The interview allowed her to practice responding to difficult questions that are commonly asked by employers.

Shortly after completing her program at WIL, Paula found a job as a credit analyst.  "I know for sure that the job I got was because of WIL", she says.  "They showed me the right steps to take and after just 8 months living in Canada I was able to find a job that I wanted.  Thank you WIL."

Tim 

When Tim decided to move to Canada, he did not imagine the amount of trouble he would have finding employment.  With over 18 years of work experience in IT software development in England, he was becoming increasingly frustrated with his job hunt.  "I did not think it would be as bad as it was.  Software is the same everywhere", he said.

It was not until Tim attended WIL's Employment Preparation program that things started looking up.  He was able to pick up several job hunting techniques and re-design his resume to make it more marketable to potential employers.  For Tim, our mock job interview process was invaluable.  "In England, they use your resume as a guideline to the interview, but here...I was not expecting the types of questions employers might ask me."

After the workshop, Tim was able to experience first-hand the advantage of networking, which resulted in a lead for a position as an IT software developer.  Tim followed-up and was offered the job.  He is now happily working again in a field that he loves.

Sally

In 2006, Sally suddenly became unemployed when the store she had managed for 5 years went bankrupt.  Being out of the job market for many years, she was concerned that things had changed since she last looked for work.  To add more stress, she also needed assistance in determining what she wanted to do based on her educational background, experience and qualifications.

Recognizing she needed help to deal with her situation, Sally registered for the Career Possibiities workshop at WIL.  The workshop was able to confirm and clarify her career goals, but more importantly, Sally learned about her transferable skills.  Sally learned how to utilize important skill sets she had learned in the past and include them in her resume to market herself more effectively to prospective employers.

Sally's new resume paid off when she quickly received 4 job offers.  In the end, she chose a new career path as a speech pathologist and is very glad to have done so.  Although satisfied in her current career, Sally considers WIL her support net should she ever lose her job again.  "I know that WIL will be here to support me", she says.