Foundation Program

Business Analyst
Havas CX Canada

“Thank you, IEP Team, for the role you played in my integration journey.”

Obieze Uti recently migrated from Nigeria to Canada. When he landed in Canada, he felt lost because his surroundings were different. When asked to describe some of the barriers to employment he faced upon arrival in Canada, he noted that he had just migrated to the country and was trying to get integrated and finding the right job was difficult for the following reasons: his resume was a bit out of place and deviated from the Canadian standard/format, his language skills needed some polishing and mastery, he lacked networking skills, and he lacked enough Canadian experience and education.

Despite the work experience he had from his home country, it was difficult finding the right job, and he had to do survival jobs to get along until a friend recommended that he join the IEP Bridging Program. He joined the IEP Bridging Program in 2021, and claimed that “the experience has been expository, informative, and educative as I was made to discover those factors that hindered my breakthrough into the Canadian work environment matching my foreign work experience”. The IEP bridging program provided Obieze an opportunity to improve his language and communication skills, understand the Canadian business landscape and work ethics, it connected him to professional career management services with Randstad RiseSmart and gave him a community and support system he can depend on.

After joining the program, Obieze described the goals and positive results that he achieved from his experience, “My goal was to get a better job placement before the end of the program. To achieve this, I applied my training from the program and improved my communication skills. I also changed my job search strategy to include more networking activities, restructured my optimized resume developed with the Randstad coach, worked on my soft skills and adapted my work ethics, and revamped my LinkedIn page.” 

With the training Obieze received, he was able to move from a contract junior role to a permanent more senior role within his field of experience: “Before the end of the program, my employee (Havas CX, Canada) who had taken me on contract role, as a Junior Business Analyst, was impressed with my performance and improvements, and offered me a permanent position as Business Analyst. Overall, the program was very easy to access, there was enough information, guidance, and transparency in the whole process and stages of the IEP bridging program”.

When asked what advice he would give another newcomer and who was looking for a job, he said: “Seek professional support/guidance from organizations such as IEP bridging program, Randstad etc., and give special attention to networking. Ensure you resume meets the Canadian standard/format. Pay attention to your soft skills. Understand the industry.”