The Career Mentorship Program (CMP) matches newcomer immigrant professionals (mentees) in the Edmonton region with established professionals and local business leaders/employers (mentors) who share a similar occupational background and creates networks through real-life connections and experience.
Hari Gopalakrishnan has over 15 years of experience outside of Canada as a business development leader in the consulting and information technology sector.
“It has been a roller coaster ride for me from the time I landed in Canada. I arrived here in early 2019 and moved to Edmonton that September. Within the first one month, I had registered for the ERIEC mentorship program.”
While waiting to be matched with a mentor, Hari had remained disciplined and consistent in attending the Norquest Intercultural workshops. He really enjoyed networking with the other mentees and utilized this opportunity to meet up with mentors attending the same workshop. “Those workshops proved to be very beneficial to me. I learned so much from these sessions and they allowed me the opportunity to share my knowledge about the Canadian work culture and what one would expect once you have the chance to enter the Canadian workforce.”, Hari recalls.
Those workshops proved to be very beneficial to me. I learned so much from these sessions and they allowed me the opportunity to share my knowledge about the Canadian work culture and what one would expect once you have the chance to enter the Canadian workforce.
Hari Gopalakrishnan
“At my mentorship interview, I had shared my interest in applying for consulting firms such as Deloitte. By coincidence, ERIEC and Deloitte were in the process of planning their national Impact Day event during that time. Shortly after the interview, I would receive an invitation to attend the Deloitte Impact day. Believe me, I had no idea that I would later be joining Deloitte following that event!”, he says with a smile.
“Back in November 2019, I had been matched with Bruce Lynkowski, a Logistics Manager at TELUS Communications. Bruce is a wonderful person and simply a brilliant human being! Every week we met for an hour and I would seek his guidance and thoughts on all aspects from a professional career perspective. We began by reviewing my resume and my cover letter. Bruce asked me to apply for a hypothetical position in his organization and said that he would later review the cover letter that I would prepare. His knowledge and guidance were extremely insightful! He was so keen to coach me even further that he had my resume and cover letter reviewed by his own boss! A mock interview was later scheduled with his boss where I would receive some very genuine and honest feedback.”
Hari would like to pass on his gratitude to the ERIEC team. “I really appreciate the genuine effort the team has been putting forth for all the newcomers. I believe that the mentorship program has many strengths but overall it was key collaborations with the business community and the monthly inter-cultural workshops at NorQuest College, all worked together along with my deep-seated motivation and perseverance, to help me land my current job as a Manager – Technology Strategy and Transformation at Deloitte.”
If you are an immigrant professional, Permanent Resident, currently in Edmonton, and interested in ERIEC’s Mentorship and / or Connector Program, please contact the Program Assistant Gustave Gatabazi at [email protected].
If you are an established professional or business leader looking to volunteer as a mentor or establish corporate partnerships, please contact the Program Director Azumme Degun at [email protected].