The BC government has invested more than $3 million in five research projects to find new and innovative ways to help unemployed British Columbians find a meaningful job. As part of the investment, MOSAIC received $184,000 for an 18-month project to help well-educated immigrants better connect with work that suits their education and work experience.MOSAIC paired 40 immigrants with six local employers and gave them real-world business problems to solve to see if this approach has success in getting them connected to the workforce. The immigrants worked to solve business problems through “design thinking,” which is based on having a goal, exploring all options and picking the best solution to solve the problem.
Joan Andersen (third from right), MOSAIC’S Director of Employment and Language Services, shared her thoughts: “We wanted to test a new approach to giving internationally-trained professionals (ITPs) a better start in the B.C. labour market, one that is better aligned with their pre-arrival education, skills and experience. This program gives ITPs a new skill — design thinking. It exposes them to working in teams, which is new to many. It connects them to employers and gives them experience working on a real-world problem in Canada. All those elements allow ITPs to demonstrate the talent and experience they’ve brought to Canada.”Sridevi Bandi is one person who has found the program useful. She came from India in August, attended IES in September and is now working as a Supervisor of Administrative Services at Community Living BC. Congratulations, Sridevi! The full results of the program will be published in May.To learn more about the other projects that were funded, please visit https://news.gov.bc.ca/10166.
