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When I arrived in Canada, I trusted everything people said to me. You need to have some experience in Canada. You should start off with a survival job since your degree doesn't count in this situation. The economy is in a bad state, so you must be thankful for any opportunity that comes your way.

I believed everything that had been said. This led me to doubt myself, to question whether all the years I had spent working had been worthwhile, and to consider the possibility of simply accepting whatever happened to me and being thankful for it.

The first month was really difficult.

As time went on, I began to notice a change. There were people nearby who had built up careers in this place after starting again, such as immigrants holding senior positions and professionals who had found worthwhile work in their own fields.

When I was later holding workshops for new professionals, I found that many of them had similar doubts. Although these ideas are usually given as practical advice, they can begin to restrict the way people view their own possibilities. Here are a couple of recurring myths I keep hearing, along with what I think about each.

The story leads people to remain in their survival jobs longer than they should. They believe that they must gain some Canadian experience before they can switch to a better position, or they reject opportunities on the grounds that they do not qualify without such experience. 

Well, certain employers do tend to favour those who have worked in Canada. However, there are plenty of employers who don't care. And even when it is important, it is not as important as people believe. 

What the employer cares about is your ability to show that you understand how to work in the Canadian workplace; this understanding comes from being willing to learn what is required to work in Canada, not from securing a job that lets you claim to have Canadian experience.

This concern is frequently raised, and it is important not to ignore it. Bias does, in fact, exist, and at times hiring decisions cannot be understood except for reasons such as the candidate's name, appearance, accent, or background. The fact that this is the case is unfair, frustrating, and something that should be recognized.

Meanwhile, a great many people of colour are in charge of departments, overseeing teams, and establishing successful careers in existing organizations. Many immigrant professionals have also progressed to senior positions within a few years of arriving. The fact that they have achieved this does not indicate that bias has vanished; it shows that they have continued to apply, learn, adapt, and seek opportunities that were accessible to them.

Although bias may make the process more difficult than it should be, it doesn't mean that no opportunities are available. Certain opportunities might take longer to obtain, and some decisions may be unrelated to a person's abilities. That said, there are still some doors that will open. The way to achieve this is to continuously develop your skills, build connections, and keep trying until the right opportunity arises.

Even after you have moved to a different country, your education doesn't cease to have value; rather, it is the way employers perceive it that changes. Since they might not be familiar with the university you attended, the course you did, or the job titles you had before, your experience will probably have to be explained more than it was when you were at home.

In certain fields, it is necessary to have your qualifications evaluated or officially acknowledged by organizations such as World Education Services or a licensing authority, while in other cases, the main thing to do is translate your background into terms that are appropriate for the Canadian labour market.

This is not the same as beginning again. The degree does show what you have learned, how disciplined you have been, and the professional growth you have achieved. It might need some explanation in this case, but it by no means becomes valueless.

The idea that this is inevitable is wrong, since I have secured a white-collar position and know a number of other immigrants who have too. Yet I have also had conversations with people who took part in my workshops and didn't. And most of them see this as a personal failure, believing that they weren't good enough. However, accepting a job that is not in line with your qualifications is not a failure.

You're trying to get by in a new country and need the money, while at the same time you're establishing a network and proving to yourself that you can show up. Of course, certain people do move swiftly into jobs that match their background, while others take longer. In some cases, people have to take on more than one job in order to achieve this. All of these routes are acceptable.

I can see why people say this or fall back on it when they are getting used to a new situation. We tend to stick to what is familiar. That means we don't mix things up unless it is absolutely necessary. However, in doing so, you restrict yourself, fail to take advantage of opportunities, and in the end, only end up cutting yourself off from the beauty that multicultural Canada has to offer.

You can retain your culture while forming relationships with Canadians. You can enjoy both cultures. Integration does not require you to lose yourself. 

Such advice is usually based on a desire to be cautious. The job market may be sluggish, and newcomers might actually be under serious financial strain. In some cases, it is necessary to take on a temporary position, and that is by no means shameful.

The issue arises when a short-term decision turns into a long-term belief; for example, a bad economy might influence the time you spend looking, your salary expectations, or the number of applications you have to make, but it shouldn't determine the kind of work you think you are entitled to do.

To be realistic is to modify your approach rather than abandon any roles that match your skills; a bridge job can be part of this process and should not end up defining what you are capable of achieving.

The fact is that moving to a different country may affect how your education and experience are perceived, but it doesn't reduce their value.

It may take a while to get a job, and the first position you get might not be precisely the one you had in mind. However, that doesn't mean you have to treat every warning as a rule for your own life.

What is important is learning how the Canadian labour market functions, knowing how to present your experience, and remaining open to a route that might end up being different from the one you originally expected.

The change for me occurred when I stopped treating other people's doubts as facts. Although I needed to get to know the system, I also had to stop assuming that I had nothing to contribute to it.