Julius Zombori never had to go out and look for jobs in Hungary.

Back then, employers knocked on the door of the elite economist and chartered accountant, begging him to work for them.

But life took a 180-degree turn when the 44-year-old man moved to Toronto in the winter of 2000, after finishing a year-long research fellowship at Yale University. For the first time in his life, Zombori was unemployed.

For 16 months, the former senior professor of the Eotvos Lorand University and board member of Hungary's National Savings Bank, the country's largest commercial bank, waited in vain after sending thousands of his five-page resumés to Canadian companies and head-hunters.

"My huge mistake was I was brutally honest in my resumé," Zombori admitted. Now a manager at the prestigious Ernst & Young accounting firm in Toronto, he added, "You have to tell the truth, but not the whole truth."

Discovering that he was considered overqualified for entry-level positions in Canada, Zombori rewrote his resumé, leaving out most of his achievements, including a doctoral degree in sociology and memberships on the boards of various Hungarian financial institutions and government departments.

Zombori said 80 per cent of Canadian jobs are hidden in the market and are often available through a friend of a friend. He said immigrants can't get access to those jobs because they know nobody here.

Eventually, Zombori learned the value of networking at Skills For Change, a non-profit organization that provides newcomers in Greater Toronto with job training.

Zombori has been named a New Pioneer Award winner for his achievements as a graduate of the Skills For Change program.

His path to Ernst & Young began with Zombori starting a "tree" of job opportunities by calling the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce for help finding leads and sending his edited resumés to a friend of a friend.

During "the darkest days" of his life, Zombori, divorced with two adult daughters, said he often wondered why he had given up a luxury lifestyle in Budapest to become a nobody in Canada.

"When I look back, I really appreciate those tough days," said Zombori, who volunteers as a mentor to newcomers at Skills For Change.

"You learn so much during tough times. It is really rewarding because it shows you how fragile life could be, and you learn not to take things in your life for granted."