The Empowered Job Seeker Series, v.3 - Yasmine's Journey to Her Ultimate Career Goal; The Importance of Personal Goal Setting.

When Yasmine was enrolled in our outplacement program, she was working as a customer support specialist for an office equipment supply group. She had worked for her previous employer for approximately two years. It was her first job in Canada following her immigration. Losing her job was difficult to process as it provided a true sense of security to her and her young family.

As we got to know Yasmine, we learned that she was highly educated and had previously practiced medicine in her home country.  As is often the case for new Canadians, Yasmine was disappointed to learn that her credentials would not be recognized in Canada on her arrival.  However, as Yasmine’s family was growing, she and her partner made the decision to emigrate for the opportunities Canada is known to provide.

Yasmine talked extensively with her CMS Program Coach about her past career, the challenges and highlights that immigration brought to her family and she pondered what her future would hold.  To help Yasmine zero in on a focus for her next job search objective, her Program Coach encouraged her to work through our Personal Goal Setting exercises which are part of our proprietary program materials that all CMS job seekers have access to.

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 Yasmine’s case, she decided that her ultimate career goal in Canada was to resume her practice in medicine.  And, with the help of her CMS Program Coach she was able to determine what additional training she required (and where to get it), in order to be considered to take the qualifying examinations and apply for the required medical licenses.  With that knowledge, we were able to help Yasmine develop a long-range plan to help her reach her ultimate goal.

However, even though Yasmine had monetary savings that she was prepared to use for her continuing education, she still needed to support her 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 Yasmine with the goal in mind of finding a role for her that would, 1. provide her with the income needed to support her family, 2. Help her make valuable contacts to aid in achieving her ultimate career goal and 3.  Work within the healthcare environment, where she was comfortable and could bring value.

On Yasmine’s journey to becoming a registered Canadian medical doctor, she ultimately found a position as an advocate for an organ donation program where she supported and counselled families in the value of the program at her local hospital.  Yasmine was able to utilize her knowledge of medicine, her innate compassion and customer service skills to help family members make critical choices.

Setting clear personal and career goals as Yasmine 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!