{"id":1445,"date":"2014-02-01T08:18:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-01T16:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2014-02-01T08:18:15","modified_gmt":"2014-02-01T16:18:15","slug":"7-success-secrets-for-canadian-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/02\/01\/7-success-secrets-for-canadian-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"7 success secrets for Canadian immigrants"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the Move<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Naeem \u201cNick\u201d Noorani, well known motivational speaker, social entrepreneur, \u00a0former publisher of the monthly magazine, \u201cCanadian Immigrant\u201d \u00a0recently brought his cross-Canada workshop series, \u201c7 \u00a0Success Secrets for Canadian\u00a0Immigrants\u201d to Coquitlam. The event which was\u00a0 held in co-ordination with Immigrant Services Society of BC\u00a0last July 24 drew a good number of newcomers all eager to meet Noorani and discover the road to success in Canada.<\/p>\n

Noorani, one of Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award 2011 winners\u00a0 who was born in Moombai, India and moved to Canada from Dubai\u00a015 years ago was conducting the seminar series as a way of sharing his success story as an immigrant. He also promotes this workshop series in\u00a0 his online magazine for immigrant professionals, \u201cPrepare for Canada\u201d. Noorani\u00a0was quick to point out that the 7 secrets are not actually secrets as they are mostly derived from\u00a0 common sense. At the start of the seminar, he asked himself, \u201c What is the most important thing that I can say to you so that you understand this journey to Canada?\u201d He said that the elevator to success is broken and one should take the seven steps to success.<\/p>\n

So what are Noorani\u2019s 7 secrets of success?\u00a0 Here they are.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Learn the English Language. \u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Being understood and able to communicate effectively is very important.\u00a0 Learn to speak and write the kind of English that matches your profession.\u00a0 Do not be content with just being in the ESL classes, as \u201cESL is kindergarten\u201d.\u00a0 If your language proficiency is not up to par,\u00a0 your education and skills are like an unpolished diamond.\u00a0 Noorani cited that many new immigrants go to ESL class four hours a day but does not speak English outside of their class. That is no way to learn.\u00a0 To be proficient in the language,\u00a0 one needs \u00a0to study it eight hours a day \u2013 reading, writing, listening, speaking \u2013 for 90 days.\u00a0 Make friends with English-speaking people and practice as much as you can.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Stay positive.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Moving to another country to start a new life, leaving home, jobs, friends and family is probably the hardest thing an immigrant could have ever done in his lifetime.\u00a0 Having arrived in Canada to face all sorts of challenges, it is important that one stays \u00a0positive all the time and avoid doing a \u201cBMW\u201d (bitch, moan and whine). Noorani advised to steer clear of negative people as their negativism will surely rub off on you. Antidotes to negativity would include being grateful for everyday, counting one\u2019s blessings and surrounding yourself with positive people. Staying focused on being positive and \u00a0smiling a lot helps instead of finding things to complain about.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Embrace Canada<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        As a new immigrant, Canada is your country now and it is well to embrace it \u2013 its cultural diversity, sports and news. Immigrants will find that in the workplace, it is important to know Canada\u2019s history, \u00a0perhaps more important than knowing one\u2019s country\u2019s history. \u00a0\u00a0Noorani recalled that John Alexander \u00a0MacDonald, Canada\u2019s first prime minister was an immigrant. Canada offers unbounded opportunities and encourages you to paint your life. As Noorani puts it, \u00a0\u201cthe painting you create of your life can be as big as this country or as small as a postage stamp\u201d.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Have a Plan B<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Immigrants may come from parts of the world where their profession\u00a0 is their identity. However, this is not true in North America \u00a0where the average person changes career five times in their lifetime. \u00a0Being new to Canada, you may not right away get the kind of job or be able to practice the profession you had back home, \u00a0so\u00a0\u00a0 it\u2019s worth looking at alternative career paths and other options. It\u2019s always good to be flexible and have a Plan B or maybe even C or D. As well, immigrants should take a good look of their transferable skills and see how they could present these to make their prospective employers appreciate their value.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Move out of your ethnic silo<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            To appreciate and experience Canada\u2019s diversity and to blend in the community and workplace, it benefits immigrants to make friends outside of their ethnic group. By limiting themselves to their own ethnicity, they narrow down their chance for\u00a0 expanding their network and understanding other cultures.<\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Take risks<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Immigrants took a huge risk in coming to Canada, so why would they stop doing so after having landed? Moving out of one\u2019s comfort zone and opening one\u2019s mind to new possibilities and new ideas would greatly improve their chances for success. The adage, \u201cNothing ventured, nothing gained\u201d\u00a0 definitely rings true.<\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Volunteer, Mentor, Network<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Volunteering is highly valued in Canada and for new immigrants, it\u2019s a good way to gain Canadian work experience and learn\u00a0 valuable things about the workplace culture. One could volunteer in organizations where they could get experience in the kind of work they were aiming for or are passionate about or for causes \u00a0they believe in.\u00a0\u00a0 By having a mentor from your profession or line of work,\u00a0 navigating your career path could be an easier, smoother ride. Networking on the other hand, gives you access to hidden jobs or opportunities and boost your chances of success in Canada. There are many networking events one could attend and where one could meet people from their line of work or profession.<\/p>\n

                In closing, Noorani reminded that \u201ceverything is at your finger tips and if it would happen that you did not succeed, it would be because you did not want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

                Grace and Leo are licensed immigration consultants and members of the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council. For questions or comments – \u00a0email onthemovecolumn@gmail.com<\/a> Selected questions may be answered in this column.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                On the Move Naeem \u201cNick\u201d Noorani, well known motivational speaker, social entrepreneur, \u00a0former publisher of the monthly magazine, \u201cCanadian Immigrant\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-columns","mauthors-frances-grace-quiddaoen","mauthors-leo-marco-lui","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}