Engineers
from Iran get help finding work here, as engineers!
JOE
FIORITO
Saeed
Ziaee is a mechanical engineer. He came here from
Iran a dozen years ago. You might say he felt the
need for change. He opposed the Shah; he adds, with
a rueful laugh, that he was also the first man
thrown in jail after the revolution. He now runs a
successful business in Toronto, making medical
breathing devices to deliver oxygen or other gases,
and also a mask to aid the breathing of those with
sleep apnea. He uses 3D imaging to custom-fit the
masks to the face of the wearer.
You know how, when people with professional degrees
move here from other countries, they can't find work
because they don't have Canadian experience? The
thing about engineers is that they know how to solve
problems.
Saeed decided to get involved in a mentoring program
as a way of helping newly arrived Iranian engineers
to find work, not as cabbies or cleaners but as get
this engineers.
The program helps newcomers learn the Canadian job
marketplace, teaches them how to adapt their resumىs,
gets them involved in networking and so on.
He met with three of his proteges on a recent
evening in his office, near Don Mills Rd. and the
401. On the table in the boardroom was a plate of
cookies, a box of doughnuts, a pot of coffee; two
boxes of pizza on the credenza; engineering food.
This was to be the last meeting of the first group
of proteges, and they talked deep into the night.
Alex Afkhani: "I have experience in designing
extruders, saws, vacuum sizers, all kinds of
machines. How long did it take me to find a job?
Since the very beginning? Nine months and nine days.
Since the start of the mentoring program? Less than
two months.
"What are the challenges to finding work? I am
30 years old. I have 12 years of experience. I
started working as an engineer when I was 18. In
Iranian culture, we give opportunity to young people
to prove themselves, we give them time. Here, they
don't believe your experience."
Saeed agreed and he explained, "The business
model here is different. In Iran, salary is not such
a big expense for an employer. Here, salary is a
very big expense. That's why companies hire
carefully." I think he is being generous in his
assessment of why some companies are careful about
hiring foreign-trained professionals, but let it
pass; generosity is a good thing.
Alex: "I had 14 or 15 interviews. In one
interview I still can't believe this a man told me
he didn't know Iran had enough electricity to make
aluminum." It seems some of us here are not
aware, or perhaps we don't want to believe, that
Iran is a modern, well-educated, highly
sophisticated society; Alex was patient with his
interviewer; patience, like generosity, is a good
thing.
Alex likes his new job.
Mehrnaz Tabibi is 40. She has been in Canada for two
years. She said, "I haven't worked yet. I'm a
mechanical engineer. In Iran, I was a supervisor of
quality assurance in the auto industry. The last
company I worked for, I was designing robots. I'm
wondering some people say it's better here to study
first, but others say there should not be such a big
gap between jobs. I'm not sure.
"In my work, I like to change every few years.
I want to learn new things. In Iran, you can
manoeuvre between fields. Here, it's more of a
straight line. In Iran, I was working in three
positions simultaneously."
Saeed put a positive spin on her work history.
"You now have three different resumىs
from three different experiences." The ability
to adapt; another good thing, yes?
Behzad Sichani came to Canada four years ago. He is
tall and slim, with a thin moustache and an
observant manner. "Why did I come here? The
reality? My wife would like to give our child a
better life. She pushed me." He smiled at the
thought of his wife, pushing.
"I have a contract job for two months. I just
started. I'm a mechanical designer in the automotive
industry. We design grippers for robot arms. It's
very similar to the last job I had in Turkey, very
similar. But it is a two-month contract. I don't
know if it will continue."
Saeed offered some useful advice. "If you show
you are helping, your supervisor will keep you. You
have to figure out what his problems are and how you
can provide a solution, so that he feels he can rely
on you." That's good advice, not just for
engineers.
Behzad said he found work as a computer technician
when he first arrived in Canada. It was a survival
job and not the best use of his skills, but it kept
him afloat.
"Then, when we had our first child, I found I
couldn't leave my job. But they made the decision
for me. They laid me off." He found his current
job with the help of an agency. He feels like an
engineer again.
Because Saeed and all the proteges are Iranian, they
share a built-in understanding of the problems they
face. They trust each other, and they support each
other, and it seems to be working; five of the
original six proteges have found jobs here as
engineers.
Saeed will take on a new set of proteges in January.
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