Working in Canada

“The only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it.”

I am 27 with a MA and unemployment.
I have a two-year work permit without work.
I should be used to it by now
Canada is a country of irony, especially for immigrants.
They take the most educated people from abroad
And ask them to clean hotel rooms and drive cabs.
I have been looking for a decent job for the past six months with no luck.
I have been in and out of many interviews.
The closest I got to landing a job was last week. I was selected for the first and second round of interviews and got my references checked for a settlement worker position which means I would be working with immigrants, helping them integrate into the society.
I can speak three languages (English, Turkish and a bit of German)
I studied ethnic minorities in my Master’s and
Even dedicated my research to “those who feel like outsiders at home.”
That’s me! I am an outsider!
The hiring committee kept asking about my immigration status.
Are you still an international student??
NO, I have a valid work permit granted to me by Citizenship and Immigration Canada! Isn’t that enough to get a job in Canada?
Oh well, have you applied for permanent residency?
Yes, I have but still waiting to hear from them. I can’t call them or email.
The only correspondence is through mail which takes 10 days to get to me from Buffalo.
So I didn’t get hired.
With an MA, three languages and work experience, I am unemployed.
I have a work permit without a job.
I can’t escape this feeling. I am stuck. I am an outsider.
I am a Turk in North America and I am a North American in Turkey.
I came to Canada eight years ago to start my undergraduate degree at York.
Then came the graduate school.
People keep telling me to volunteer.
That’s the best way to find employment.
Since 2000, if you add up the times I volunteered for different organizations
It would make two full-time jobs.
The best I could do was to find a part-time job at the University of Windsor as a researcher.
But even then, I couldn’t escape the treatment as an immigrant.
While I was seeking the help and support of my supervisors about connecting me with their contacts, a few weird things happened.
One of them asked me if I would feel comfortable cleaning her house once a week.
Apparently, her cleaning lady was sick.
Another employer, who is also a professor at the school, told me that he cannot forward my resume to his colleagues because it is not appropriate.
I wonder why it would be so hard to pick up the phone and call a colleague?
He is old and must have contacts all across Canada.
I went to the employment services at Windsor Women Working With Immigrant Women – an NGO in Windsor.
I was seeking employment support.
The career advisor asked to wait a few hours because there were managers coming from Hilton looking for housekeepers.
Excuse me Miss, if you look at my resume, which I presented to you two minutes ago, you’ll see that I am not freash from the boat! I am educated in Canada! I have a Masters degree! I am not looking for a room cleaning job at Hilton.
Another career advisor told me that it is very difficult to find a job in Windsor. Almost impossible.
Thank you, Miss! I thought your job was to encourage and inspire me. Thanks for all your help.
I get so anxious in phone interviews.
I have an accent. It is not thick or annoying.
In fact, many people told me that I sound French.
Still I feel very self-conscious when having a phone interview.
I studder and totally forget speaking English. My grammer fails miserably.
Who will anyone hire?
A Canadian or a girl with an accent.
I know what they want.
They want me to work in Tim Horton’s.
That’s what they expect from immigrants.
If I were a man, I would end up driving a taxi.
Because I resist working at a crappy job, I am umeployment.
I don’t even know which one is worse?
Being humiliated every day because I got a job so below your education
Or becoming homeless because you have zero income?
Which one is worse?
I think know that I will never belong.
I think that is the worst.
I was at this employment session where they brought this Indian businessman to talk to the newcomers.
He was telling us that people do not normally get jobs which they are educated for in Canada
Canada has the largest number of under-employed people.
He was advising people to do any kind of job in gratitute.
Work in Tim Horton’s with an engineering degree and be grateful because
You are priviledged to live in Canada
You are special.
You work for minimum wage, get shit everyday and work your ass off your your children’s future
Be grateful oh you immigrant
Be grateful!
This is what they had told the poor crowd at the session.
And what choice do they have really?
I have always separated myself from the newcomers
But the truth of the matter is
I am still an outsider in the eyes of employers
Discrimination here is so hush- hush that
It is a taboo to talk about it anywhere.
It is hidden.
I wonder if it would be different if I wore a mini-skirt to the interviews
I have no luck!
Women got majority of the positions in NGOs.
Sometimes I feel like I'm gonna lose my mind.
I have no support system here. My family is far far away
Even though I always feel their love
I need to detox my soul from all this anger, heatbreak and dissapointment
I accomplished so much since I was 19 in this country.
I have been living on my own since them
My soul is tired. It needs a rest.
I know
No matter how many Canadians I made friends with
No matter how many degrees I have from Canada
No matter how much I volunteered
How well I educated myself about this country
I am an outsider and probably will remain as one.