FAST Helps Immigrants Make Meaningful Connections

Barely a year since its expansion, the Facilitating Access to Skilled Talent (FAST) Program is seeing positive results. This IEC-BC initiative helps skilled immigrants prepare for their Canadian career – even before they arrive here.

Initially designed to support newcomers in skilled trades, the program expanded in June 2017 to respond to the talent crisis in the key innovation sectors of biotechnology, life sciences, IT and Data Services.  To date, FAST has served more than 400 clients, and now the program graduates are beginning to arrive in Canada. One of them is Yasaswi Vedula, an IT professional from India. He has worked in the IT teams of established manufacturing, telecommunications, and retail companies, and is an adept Data Analyst.

Yasaswi shares that his main challenge was in figuring out how to showcase his specialization and niche skill set to Canadian employers.   He completed FAST in January 2018 and participated in our first E-Mentoring session with Stefan Trifu, Talent Acquisition Specialist at PayByPhone, where he gave feedback on participants’ resumes and shared job search advice.

“Through FAST, I got to understand Canadian workplace culture better,” he says. “One of the most significant things was being part of the group e-mentoring session. It was really helpful, and I was able to make a professional connection with our e-mentor.  I recently arrived in Canada and my goal is to continue working in IT; more precisely in the field of Data Analytics. FAST has made the first connections to my career possible for me.”

Yasaswi landed in late January 2018 to start a Canadian career, applying his learnings from the program: revising his resume to match Canadian standards and being active in the community by attending job fairs and networking events. Just two weeks later, he was interviewed for a position with a major player in BC’s IT industry.

Yasaswi is also a participant in IEC-BC’s MentorConnect program, and he is looking forward to successfully achieving his goals and contributing to BC’s IT workforce.

Connect with job-ready skilled professionals like Yasaswi through FAST.  Get involved as an E-Mentor or Webinar speaker. Email us at fastbc@iecbc.ca  to learn more.