My first job when I immigrated to Canada was a commission-only role in a recruitment agency. It was the only position I could get, even with a good degree and a strong employment history as a software developer. The problem? I had “No Canadian Experience.”
That phrase will strike a chord with anyone who has moved here. It’s the polite, Canadian, way of saying “You’re foreign, so — no thanks.” Though tremendously irritating at the time, my predicament did make for an instant bond with my fellow immigrants, who came to the agency looking for work, and that bond resulted in successful relationships - and commission for me.
That agency was a microcosm of Canadian society. The failed hockey player coke addict. The aging stripper looking for an alternative career. The ex-corporate guys with loads of contacts. An aspiring but unsuccessful journalist.
The good old days
The journalist liked to talk. Once, we went for coffee and Timbits – that’s donut holes to non-Canadians - at the Tim Hortons coffee shop nearby (the company where, coincidentally, many new immigrants get their first work experience).
