Business - Public Administration Stream

Resource Analyst
Ontario Ministry of Health

Arriving in Canada in the fall of 2021 from China, Yuanyuan found herself optimistic about her career future in Canada, “I had been working for the big name multi-national companies for over 15 years as a senior manager”.  However, after applying for many jobs matching her skill set and having been turned down for not having local work experience, she reached out to York University’s Internationally Educated Professional’s Bridging Program, explaining, “At the start of the program, I set small goals for myself: improving language proficiency, networking with people, and figuring out the direction of my career”. 

Yuanyuan accomplished these goals and more, finding employment in the Ontario Ministry for Health as a Resource Analyst.

From the start of the program, she explained, she felt connected, finding people who had been through the same journey of job searching, realising that as IEPs, they understand each other and, in turn, encourage each other.  “We are a group where I feel I belong”, she said speaking about her fellow students in the IEP Program.

Yuanyuan describes how the program design supported her learning, “I think the certificate program for IEPs in York is very well designed and implemented. It works systematically; the foundation classes provide us with sufficient legal, cultural, and language provisions of the Canadian workplace,” and then “students can take a variety of specialized courses to sharpen knowledge and skills in the direction they are pursuing”.  In addition, she noted the IEP Program team’s efforts to “host all kinds of wonderful events for IEPs, help build professionals networks”.

Han’s area of study was Public Administration, and she was able to gain support both from the classes she took and from meeting with other success IEP Program Alumni

While attending the program course in Canadian Business Management Han’s professor, Eytan Lasry, invited program alumni to speak and connect with new students. Yuanuayn praised two IEP alumni she met, Reka Tokes, who came as a speaker in the Canadian Business Management course and Kayode Olaniyan, who she met at an IEP networking event; both gave her valuable support and guidance, including recommending key courses to complete in Public Administration and offering her time for an information interview.  Following this advice, she chose to take the Practicum in Public Administration as part of her studies, gaining hands-on experience working in the public sector.  After the Practicum, Han succeeded in finding a job in the Ontario government.

When asked what advice she would give another Newcomer, she outlines some personal best practices, explaining, “Be aware of your strengths and your unique qualities”.  For Yuanyuan her strength was curiosity, "for me, it is the curiosity towards new things." Her other advice reflects her eagerness to network; she suggests, “to make good use of the resources that the school provides to you, show up at events and activities, and communicate with people. Those activities might not offer you a job, but they will give you a ‘dot’, when you collect enough dots, somehow, someday, those dots will be connected and form a path to an opportunity”.

“It’s a new page in the book of our lives; focus on learning and personal growth, devoting yourself to what you are doing, then good things will happen”, she said.