SfC In The News
 
STATEMENTS Newsletter
February/March 1999
Mentoring Program Scores
Hat Trick of Satisfaction
The Arena
 
Established in the early 1980s, the original purpose of Skills for Change, a Toronto-based not-for-profit agency, was to help female Asian immigrants obtain office skills. Through the eighties its mandate expanded to include more groups and, in particular, to assist engineers and accountants who recently immigrated to Canada.
 
Skills for Change provides training, job search techniques workshops and English as a second language instruction. These services are free to those who qualify. Presently Skills for Changes assists more than 4,000 immigrants and refugees.
 
Teresa Szajkowski, a mentoring project counsellor at Skills for Change, provided some background on the mentoring program. She indicated that the initial project began in 1993, matching 20 Skills for Change clients (engineers) with an equal number of established engineers serving as mentors; 70 per cent of their clients found work. A second project in 1995 serviced 24 clients, and of those 75 per cent found work in the engineering field.
 
Skills for Change asks clients and mentors to commit to six hours per month, for up to six months. The agency deliberately matches people from varied backgrounds. Mentors attend an orientation session, learning how to avoid uncomfortable situations (e.g., the relationship become too personal, how to deal with unfair demands and sensitivity areas). Likewise, clients go to a session focusing on effective interaction with their mentors.
 
The Players:
 
The main players in this article belong to the third Skills for Change mentoring project. This time there were 65 clients—SO per cent of whom had accounting backgrounds—and 56 mentors. Approximately 80 per cent of this group found work in their field. (Most matches lasted three months.) One success story was the mentoring partnership between Gabriella Motoc (client, left in photo) and Wayne Haymer, CGA (mentor, right in photo).
 
Gabriella Motoc had been living in Canada for a year when she first sought out Skills for Change’s resources. In her native Romania, Gabriella had worked as an accountant; she hoped to find similar work in Canada. Although Gabriella was enjoying life and the opportunities offered in her new home, she did find cultural differences, particularly in relation to job hunting.
 
Wayne Hayiner responded to a notice that ran in Toronto Chapter’s newsletter, Communigram, inviting certified general accountants to help a ‘newcomer’ accountant learn more about the labour market and enter the Canadian workforce. The prior year Wayne volunteered his services to the Jewish Immigrant Aid Service and helped a newcomer obtain a job. Since that experience was quite positive, Wayne contacted Skills for Change and offered to become a mentor.
 
First Period:
 
From the beginning Teresa Szajkowski noted that Wayne spent a lot of time talking to Gabriella and finding out what she wanted to do. Assessing Gabriella’s strengths and weaknesses, he zeroed in on job search tools and techniques needing work.
 
Wayne knew that Gabriella faced some difficulties in her new country, particularly with its tougher job market. Gabriella had explained how in Romania most positions are gained through word of mouth and/or by knowing someone in the company.
Their partnership meant weekly meetings and ongoing telephone contact. Wayne also used the time to give Gabriella pep talks, correct her telephone approach and practise interviews. Wayne believes a mentor is someone to be the "cheering squad," to provide encouragement and to be a good listener when the individual needs a sounding board. Wayne admits to having felt some frustration at Gabriella’s initial shyness and lack of aggression in the job hunt. Consequently, he adopted a firm manner with Gabriella, feeling this would best prepare her for the competitiveness of the job market.
 
Gabriella experienced her own ire at this stage in the relationship and recalls, "Wayne couldn’t understand my nature. I tried to explain it to him, but he blamed my passivity on my cultural background. Still, I did take note when he said that people think differently in Canada, and remembered his words, ‘If you don’t speak well of yourself, how will people get to know you and hire you?’ This forced me to be bolder."
 
Wayne had Gabriella rewrite her résumé in a more marketable presentation, feeling her experience and skills were not highlighted enough in the previous format.
 
The job hunt was documented in the style of an audit file, using work sheet formats as a method of organization. Wayne taught Gabriella to track each job prospect, indicating contacts, dates and remarks on each interview, as well as a correspondence filing system to provide accurate and timely follow-up to every lead.
 
Wayne emphasized that a job search is a true test of one’s organizational and communication skills, which he acquired through managerial courses in his final year of the CGA program of professional studies, together with his practical experience in management and public accounting.
 
In his motivational efforts, Wayne emphasized that a positive attitude throughout the job hunt process is essential for success. One day when Gabriella was visibly discouraged he wrote out the adage, "Smile and the world smiles with you, weep and you weep alone" and placed it before her. This was to remind her to be expressive, smile at people and make eye contact during visits and interviews and, above all, to keep her chin up. He told her that such people skills ultimately could prove to be more important than a list of accomplishments.
 
Winning Strategies:
 
"Every day I kept detailed notes on my job hunt," Gabriella explained. "Wayne helped me to become organized... but he made me do the work myself. Over two months I called almost 30 companies and made notes on each one. Wayne monitored her progress at their scheduled meetings and with frequent telephone calls.
 
As part of her job hunt Gabriella placed a cold call to INK Dezyne International and asked if they "needed a good accountant." Transferred to the controller, they spoke for a few minutes; the controller then asked Gabriella to call back in two weeks. After three conversations Gabriella was invited to an interview. Heeding Wayne’s advice, Gabriella found herself "talking about myself in good terms. When I got home I still couldn’t believe I was able to pull it off."
 
Gabriella was hired by INK as an accounting clerk. Since the position had not yet been advertised, the timing of Gabriella’s cold call was perfect!
 
As Teresa Szajkowski described it, the evening Gabriella announced her new job to Skills for Change staff she was "…so excited, she couldn’t concentrate on anything. She was just bursting with joy." Wayne wasn’t surprised Gabriella found a position… but he was a little amazed that the whole process only took two months.
 
Gabriella finds INK a wonderful place to work and considers herself fortunate. She has received positive feedback from her employer as well, with some discussion on expanding her role.
 
During the job hunt, with Wayne’s encouragement, Gabriella registered in the CGA program of professional studies. Gabriella admits it is somewhat difficult, particularly since she is learning some accounting concepts and practices that weren’t used in Romania. Still, she plans to complete the program and has passed all of her courses to date.
 
Post-game Wrap-up:
 
Gabriella’s respect and liking for Wayne is extremely evident, "Wayne helped me so much.. .he taught me to be more aggressive in pursuing a job. Even though I’m passive by nature, I learned to be tough. He talked to me for hours. He treated me like a friend when I was actually a stranger. He had so much patience, and seemed to understand my challenges as an immigrant. Most of all, he believed in me." She feels lucky to have met him, "I firmly believe that meeting Wayne and receiving his mentoring led to my job. I needed someone to push me."
 
Recently Gabriella confessed to another new job—that of mentor! "I passed on Wayne’s knowledge to a friend from Romania who is also an accountant. The friend landed a job in six months (and might register in the CGA program), so Wayne actually did something wonderful for two people."
 
When asked about his motivation for volunteering as a mentor, Wayne waxed eloquent. Wayne encourages more CGAs to give their time to the community in order to raise the public awareness of the CGA designation. He feels that direct contact with people outside the accounting profession is the best form of advertising that members of the association can supply to the public. Wayne believes that by volunteering a few hours of time a CGA can make a difference in the community and to people such as Gabriella."
 
Wayne says that his mentoring has been extremely satisfying, as he applied skills acquired in his career to contribute to the success of community projects, such as the Skills for Change mentoring program. He elaborates, "There may be no financial gain in volunteer work, but the personal rewards include a sense of accomplishment and a sound sense of humanity.
 
Wayne does not believe he has special credentials or above average abilities. His volunteer work just proves that an average person can achieve a lot. "I’ve learned how much knowledge I have, and increased my own sense of usefulness and self-worth. When working too long in a job we can lose awareness of the value of the many skills that we possess, because those skills are not always used or shared." The mentoring experience provided reciprocal motivation to Wayne, as he re-evaluated his own career situation. Within a couple of months, he improved his position through a job change, using the same job search techniques he shared with Gabriella.
 
Wayne Haymer may consider himself average, but Gabriella Motoc describes him as a "great person." Teresa Szajkowski concurs, stating that Wayne is a perfect mentor with his advice, role playing, encouragement and constant contact. "Wayne gave 110 per cent. I would partner him with a client again, anytime."
 
This team of players definitely scored a hat trick of happy association, satisfaction and success.
[home/bottom.htm]