Thread by @TundeTASH

When I visited Canada to study I thought things would go smoothly, but the first project I did served as an eye opener for me.

@DrJoeAbah @OgbeniDipo @officialdaddymo @SamAkinlotan @LadiSpeaks @tosinolaseinde @TemilolaTASH @who_is_ede

THREAD!

There are opportunities in foreign lands for students / immigrants, but you must make yourself available for many of those opportunities.

As a Naija guy and someone with almost 2 years experience in Human Resources, the first project in College seemed like a piece of cake. I was like, easy-peasy. What we needed to do was simple.

Interview someone with at least 5 yrs HR experience in Canada. Preferably, in Ontario.

Sharp guy! First thing I did was go on LinkedIn to look for HR professionals in the city I was schooling in.

My agenda was tactical. I’d message these folks, introduce myself in a professional way and request at least 30 minutes of their time to interview them.

Good thing about the project was that you could do it over the phone, so you wouldn’t need to see them in person.

The interview was to review their experiences in the HR field, & we were to make a report based on the info received. Since it was 2wks before deadline, I figured I had time.

Plus, I was sure the people I had messaged would respond once they see my own LinkedIn profile.

Alas! The first week had passed and so were 12 different messages gone without a single response 🙄.

I was beginning to sweat in my soul as it seemed my grammar did not work.

Then I thought of another idea.

Why not do another search of HR professionals in the city. See if I could get their phone contacts and put calls through to them.

With my hand stroking my beards, I thought to myself again, ‘Sharp Guy!’

By the 4th call, I got the signal that the new route wasn’t going to work. Now the dilemma was beginning to set in. What do I do?

There are several factors that affected the two approaches I utilized above. I’d get into that shortly.

By the 2nd week, I was confused. Colleagues were already submitting their projects. They grew up and lived most of their lives in Ontario, so they were well connected.

On the other hand, the success of my own project continued to cower in darkness.

The thought of calling someone back in Nigeria, get them interviewed, replace the name with one of the folks I had emailed on LinkedIn came to mind. But my church mind wouldn’t let me. I shrugged.

I was in class three days to submission when a light bulb went ‘gbosa’ in my head. Since I tried two different ways, and they did not work.

I was reluctant at first about this new idea. But you know, the Yorubas always say, ‘It is one day that a man dies’.

The following morning, since I had only one suit to my name, I dusted it. Ironed my finest shirt, cleaned my shoe, printed my interview questionnaire and set up like a fresh graduate looking for job.

First project, it can’t be heard that the guy with experience in class couldn’t even get someone to interview for his project.

A total shame to by clan and kinsmen. Kamagbo!

In any given city in N.America, the downtown is the city's central business district. So, I boarded a bus from school and headed downtown.
I had mapped the track in my head. I know a few offices there since the African store was also located at downtown. Yes, I love food too.

First stop was the only Newspaper company in the area. Walked in and politely greeted the lady at the reception. She had this strange mixture of Russian and German accent. I couldn’t place it.

‘Good Morning. Do you have an appointment?’, she asked.

‘No’, I responded.

Without given me an opportunity to go on, she told me people are attended to by appointments. She handed a card to me and smiled saying, ‘have a nice day’.

To think this woman, who was obviously an immigrant, would find that we were common and help me get a HR person.

I have two more days to submit a project and you are telling me to book an appointment. Plus, it’s a Friday for crying out loud.

I politely collected the card and left the building disappointed.

The 2nd place wasn’t as bad as the 1st. The dude I met told me he liked my suit. Immediately, my morale went boom!

Regrettably, it was a finance firm. He told me the head office was in Downtown Toronto and that he was sure, I would get a HR person to interview if I went there.

Toronto is like 3 hours away by bus. I did not have a car to cut the travel time to an hour and half.

Again, I forced a smile and thanked the dude for his time.

At this point, I was beginning to doubt this idea. I would have returned to school, because I no fit come kill myself.

I stepped out, looked ahead and there were two buildings staring back me.

One was the office of the Region of Waterloo that oversees the cities of Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo. The other was one small recruitment firm.

The recruiting firm could serve as an SME for my project. Anyone working there can be interviewed and I am good to go.

But trust me. I like challenges. That Region of Waterloo was where I decided I’d head to.

Once I got to the lobby, I told the security at the front desk I was looking for the HR department.

‘Do you have an appointment’, he asked.

I did not respond to his question. However, I introduced myself and told him why I was there. Surprisingly, he told me what floor to go to.

Excited!!! I headed to the elevator sharply before he changed his mind.

On getting to the said floor, I met another lady at the entrance. She told me it would be difficult to get anyone to talk to if I had not previously booked an appointment.

In my mind, I was already ‘scabashing’. Hold ghost, oya, do your thing.

'Wait a minute', she said. 'There’s someone I can ask to direct you.'

Few minutes later, she came with another woman behind her.

As a respectful child that I am, I stood up to introduce myself and what had brought me to that floor that faithful morning.

She was impressed.

‘Oh, come to my office, I’d be glad to help with your project’, she said.

I could hear the voice of my entire village people in my head.

See ehn, I was happy to finally get someone for my project.

My joy doubled, however, when I found out I wasn’t just interviewing anyone but the Director of Employee and Organizational Effectiveness of the whole Region of Waterloo.

The whole Region of Waterloo! Ha!

She told me she decided to assist with the project because it was rare for someone to leave their comfort zone and walk to the office of the Region of Waterloo.

'You could have gone to a smaller place and walked out with your project done. But you courageously came here'.

To cut the long story short, on Monday morning, my colleagues in Class were wondering how I got to interview someone of such caliber.

Plus, I got an A+ for that project. Not surprised as the lecturer must have been shocked to see the name and position of who I interviewed.

But it boiled down two things

1. I left the comfort zone of trying to reach out to people via email / phone and went to look for them in person.

2. I made myself available as it is more trustworthy to deal with people in person than over emails/phones. Especially for immigrants

As an alien in a foreign land, I learnt later why my first two approaches did not work:

1. People get paid by the hour here. So, their time is very precious to them. You must not call someone and tell them you need them to do this for you. Plan ahead.

2. If I had joined the HRPA (Human Resources Professional Association) body earlier, I could have easily found someone. Hence, networking is quite important, and you should do so through every means necessary.

3. My accent was thick that time, so those people I called might have thought I was some African Prince. You know what I mean.

I am not saying change the way you talk, but it will be more beneficial if the person you are trying to communicate with understand what you are saying.

After that experience, I have tried to make myself available for opportunities everywhere and anywhere as I can’t be caught chilling and thinking they’d come easily.

Be presentable, leave that comfort zone and network.

Hope someone somewhere reads this and learns one or two from it.

Sellah! 🙏