Outplacement Outtakes v.3 – Rafi’s Journey to his Ultimate Career Goal and the importance of setting goals.
Jan 19, 2023When Rafi was enrolled in our outplacement program, he was working as an office equipment technician where he would support customers in the use and maintenance of their photocopiers, printers etc. He had worked for his previous employer for approximately two years, and this was his first job in Canada following his immigration. Losing his job was difficult for Rafi to process as it provided a sense of security to him and his family and, his feelings of pride were greatly impacted, even though his termination was simply due to a company decision to close his branch location.
As we got to know Rafi, we learned that he was highly educated and had practiced medicine in his homeland for the previous 7 years. As is often the case for new Canadians, Rafi was disappointed to learn that his credentials would not be recognized in Canada on his arrival. However, as Rafi’s family was growing, he and his wife made the decision to emigrate for the opportunities Canada is known to provide.
Rafi talked extensively with his CMS Program Coach about his past career, the challenges and highlights that immigration brought to his family and he pondered what his future would hold. To help Rafi zero in on a focus for his next job search objective, his Program Coach encouraged him to work through our Personal Goal Setting exercises which are part of our proprietary program materials that all CMS job seekers have access to, The Canadian Career Management System.® Our Personal Goal Setting module consists of a series of reflective exercises that were originally developed by an Industrial Psychologist.
They are very specific in nature and are designed to help our candidates contemplate on their past life and work experiences, their skills, strengths and weaknesses, their current situation as it relates to their personal desires and the needs of their family. They encourage our candidates to be optimistic but also realistic in setting their next job search objective in relation to their ultimate career goal. In Rafi’s case, he decided that his ultimate career goal in Canada was to resume his practice in medicine. And, with the help of his CMS Program Coach he was able to determine what additional training he required (and where to get it), in order to be considered to take the qualifying examinations and apply for the required medical licenses.
With this knowledge, we were able to help Rafi develop a long-range plan to help him reach his goal. However, even though Rafi had monetary savings that he was prepared to use for his continuing education, he still needed to support his family on a day-to-day basis and had to find a new interim job to do just that! And so, we developed a résumé for Rafi with the goal in mind of finding a role for him that would, 1. provide him with the income needed to support his family, 2. Help him make valuable contacts to aid in achieving his ultimate career goal and 3. Work within the healthcare environment, where he was comfortable and could bring value.
On Rafi’s journey to becoming a registered Canadian medical doctor, he ultimately found a position as an advocate for an organ donation program where he supported and counselled families in the value of the program at his local hospital. Rafi was able to utilize his knowledge of medicine, his innate compassion and customer relations skills to help family members make critical choices.
Setting clear personal and career goals as Rafi had done through our program, is imperative when one begins a career transition, because if one doesn’t know where they are going, its often very difficult to get there!
