To most immigrants, arriving in Canada is a dream. While some are lucky to have a prior job waiting or have relatives or friends to stay with, others are not so fortunate. They may have to start on their own and find their own path.
Living in Canada can pose many challenges especially if you are alone. If only life came with a user manual! Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and it doesn’t have an “undo” button either. But life gives you lessons, and experience makes us wiser. Below are some dos and don’ts based on lessons learned from my own personal journey in Canada to help you prevent the Canadian dream from turning into a nightmare!
1. Stop the comparisons
Do not compare your experience or journey in Canada to others. Each person’s journey is unique. While your neighbour may also hold the same qualifications as you do, his journey in Canada is his to take and yours is yours to make. Things work out differently for everyone.
While you may be the “king” or “queen” in one discipline, you may not have realized that a certain skillset that wasn’t considered necessary in your former place of employment is of prime importance in the companies here. For instance: if you have always had your assistant or secretary draft business correspondence for you back in your former place of residence, you may now need to improvise on transcribing business correspondence independently.
