Filipinos are the highest edu­cated immigrants entering Can­ada but paradoxically earn the least. I hear many stories of new im­migrants in BC having difficulty finding jobs in their profession. I have met practising den­tists in the Philippines having to work here as dental hygienists, doctors working as custodians, lawyers working in hotel custom­er service and many other similar stories.

Difficulty navigating the many requirements for professional accreditation, the challenge on needing Canadian experience in order to land a job and being familiar with occupation specific language are skills that new im­migrants must acquire to be suc­cessful in the Canadian job mar­ket. I would like to highlight one specific program which has a very good success rate helping skilled professionals gain employment in their occupations.

The “Skills Connect Program for Immigrants” offered by the Immigrant Services Society of BC helps to evaluate your skills and credentials, develop an action plan and learn other “soft skills” important for finding a job with Canadian employers. “Soft Skills” refer to person­ality traits, social graces, com­munication style, language and interpersonal skills. Soft skills in Canada are also culturally specific and different from the Philippines.

“Hard Skills” are the occu­pational requirement of the job (education, training and experi­ence). Both types of skills are impor­tant and the Skills Connect Pro­gram helps to develop Canadian specific “soft skills” and evaluate “hard skills”.