Are you a negative person?

Li este post no blog da Rossana e achei muito interessante, como ela postou lá, o texto saiu na lista de discussão Canada Immigration (Cirillo, não tens mais desculpa para não acessar a lista).
Boa leitura a todos.

"Are you a negative person? One more among the thousands of frustratedinternationally trained professionals in Canada?Well... I am here to help! ~ How?! - Let me tell you a bit about me:My name is Mike Lee. I am 32. I am a Newcomer (26 months in Canada)and I am Gemini :) (j/k)!I would like to start this discussion topic by saying that there is noreason to be negative about having moved to Canada. Let's review:
1. Several years ago, this Country appealed to you as a "Dream Land".

2. As many other immigrants, your excitement conducted you to make theblinded/not- very-informed decision of moving here with your family.

3. You took English classes, spent thousands of dollars on immigrationfees, plane tickets, medical tests and relocation costs.

4. You could not sleep thinking about your kids learning a newlanguage (or two) and attending world-class schools.

5. You wanted to come to Canada so badly, that when the airplane waspicking up speed at your home country's international airport youpromised yourself not to ever come back with your head down.

6. YOU made this decision and probably risked all your savings indoing so.

7. As a head of a family you are a very responsible individual whomhave always taken the lead in making the right decisions on behalf ofyour dependants.

8. Your partner used to talked about the new house you would buy oncesettled in Canada and also about skiing, going to the Lakes, andimproving your standard of life.

9. So YOU chose your Canadian dream instead of one of the manyluxuries you could have afforded back home with all that money savedthrough many years of hard work.~ So tell me... Who is responsible for that?Well... The following is MY OWN personal opinion:YES! The Canadian embassies delegates are a bunch of well-paidbureaucrats who are just following orders.They must ensure that immigration targets are met [that is 260K peoplejust for 2007].So they have no other choice than to play "God": They have to assesswho are the best professionals in different fields and send theminvitations and brochures about Canada.They tell us how much money we are going to make and how the immenseCanadian shortage of skilled workers is going to play a positive rolein our new lives.We all knew that it is just too good to be truth but still, misguidedor not IT WAS OUR OWN DECISION.So what do we do now, eh?!
~ You are in Canada and you do not want to fail your family.
~ Things are not as expected and jobs are not so easy to find.
~ Money goes away pretty fast and frustration starts to build up. Weknow we need a way to discharge some anger. So we do what all humansdo: We complain, demand stuff and try to find someone to blame.Well... Guys... I have not seen the first Newcomer that has gotten ajob by sitting and producing negatives thoughts.
~The ironic thing about being negative is that it actually comes easilyand for free!It does not require a lot of effort (ever wondered why there are notsuch things as "Develop Negative Thinking" workshops?).Maintaining a positive attitude in despite of difficult circumstancesrelates to being a strong individual.We need to find that inner-strengh by setting up realistic goals andgetting out there with the idea that no matter what, no one...Nothing! Will take our dreams away.First advice:

1. Do not listen to negative people! As soon as you hear a negativecomment from another immigrant, run as fast as you can.

2. Try to associate with people that have suceeded in what you nowwant to accomplish. ~ It is true that as soon as a Newcomer gets agood job, you would hardly hear back from him/her again. For somereason, most success stories just go under the radar. You could rarelysee some high achievers in magazines. Well! Actually you can see somewhen a non-profit organization needs an advertisement toy to recreatea fake portrait of the "great job" they are doing to help us. And youknow what? It is our fault. We need to help each other. We need toNetwork among us. We need to give each other a hand. We need tosupport each other. WE= You and Me and all other New Canadians.There are many newcomers getting jobs out there! Why are they keepingquiet??!!??

3. Volunteer. Shakira style: Wherever~Whenever! . Stop procrastinatingand whinning about it and just do it, would ya'!!?I do not care if you are an engineer, a doctor, an IT geek or a PhD inArchitectural Design... You need to realize that we all needreferences in order to get a job.Keep in mind that you can volunteer for as little as two hours PERWEEK!! ~And remember... What goes around comes around. Do good and you willreceive good. You can find tons of volunteer opportunities by visitingwww.charityvillage. comUPDATE!! ~ Target well-known organizations as the Red Cross, AmnestyInternational, Canadian Cancer Society, The Heart and StrokeFoundation, etc. They would make a better impact in your resume.Volunteering can potentially save you negative consequences aftertalking about "Canadian Workplace Culture" exposure during an interview.TIP! Talking about interviews.. . Always, ALWAYS, keep both feet on theground at all times. Do not lift one foot as it would be easier tounconsciously start moving your legs as if you are riding a bicycle.We all do that as a way of coping with anxiety.

4. Your English Skills are never going to get worse. There is one onlything that can happen: Your communications abilities WILL improve.That is a fact!. Period.

5.A. Get a voice mail and record your own professional message:e.g. "Hi, You have reach "Mike's" voice mail. Please leave me yourname and telephone number and I will return your call as soon aspossible. Thanks for calling and have a great day!"

5.B. Do not pick up your phone! Many people would disagree, but thosepeople would be the ones that have never experienced how hard it is toget a call from an employer at an unexpected moment PLUS being an ESLspeaker:Our accent gets really harsh; we get nervous; it becomes verydifficult to even understand the caller's name or the reason of theircall.So do not pick up the phone...!!!! !It could be an employer and if you are not prepared, you just will notperform well on the pre-screening (and boy do they employers lovepre-screening nowdays!!).Good news is that 99% of professional Canadian employers WILL LEAVEYOU A MESSAGE.BUT BE CAREFULL!! ~ Check your voice messages as often as possible. Inthe event you receive one, replay it until you clearly understand thecompany's and caller's name.Go to a quiet room, bring your resume, paper, a pen, a calendar, twohard facts about the employer and something you can grab hard in caseyou need to relieve some tension during the call. Then, and only thenYOU call BACK the potential employer.TIP!! ~ Making that call while standing could make you feel moreempowered/confident .

6. Get an email address for job search purposes ONLY. And whenrecording your name on the registration process, USE THE SAME NAME YOUARE GOING TO USE ON YOUR RESUME'S HEADER.TIP!! gmail is ideal. For example, when using Yahoo your emails wouldarrived with advertisements at the bottom. That is not very professional.TIP!! Beware!!! Check for spelling/grammar mistakes not only on thebody of the email but also in the subject line!!TIP!! Make sure the electronic copy of your resume is attached beforeyou click the send button.

7. Do not take crap from non-profit agencies or assessment centres! Aslong as you show professional courtesy and business sense, you canrequest politely to be served in a respectful and efficient manner.You have the right to choose where to go for help!!! ~ So takeadvantage of these services!!!

8.A. Do not spend an entire month attending pre-employment workshopsunless you honestly see the need for it (And please be honest withyourself). There are many programs that offer one week workshops andare more reasonable in the terms they provide services.

8.B Go to an Employment Resource Centre (ERC) and work/get help withyour resume. Contact a Mentoring Program[http://www.themento ringpartnership. com/index. asp]and borrow a couple of interview preparation books from the Library.

9.A. Go to the Reference Library (Bloor/Yonge) and kindly ask one ofthe staff members to coach you on how to use some of their multiple(AND AMAZING!!) companies databases. Get ahead of the bunch bycreating a list of targeted companies (target small companies). Alsovisit www.eluta.ca ~ A great Jobs Search engine.Look at the newspapers for job leads as well. If all you get is a faxnumber, google the number and/or conduct a reverse search at[http://www.yellowpa ges.ca/] ~ [http://www.411. ca/]Once you enter a fax/phone number, the website would potentiallyreturn more info about the phone line subscriber, in this case, theemployer.

9.B. !!!***!!! HIGHLY IMPORTANT ~ Please! READ - R_E_A_D the jobdescriptions! !! And focus on positions that require YOUR skills(Again, do not lie to yourself ~ e.g. If you are not good withcomputers, then stop being on denial and do something about it!!).There are many non-profit organizations offering all sorts of computercourses.

10. DO NOT submit cover letters unless they are customized, impeccableand highly, highly professional/ tailored. Otherwise, they could turnagainst you. (Do no copy-paste those "poetry templates"). Do not belazy and start developing your writing skills. You can also findreally good books on Cover Letters at Public Libraries and ERCs.

11. Get the help of a good employment consultant. They can coach youon topics from how to negotiate a job offer/salary to how to follow up(professionaly) on interviews.

12. Try to find a Program that offers Co-ops (Unpaid Work Placements).Do not committ to a Co-op for more than 8 weeks and keep in mind thatyour goal is to obtain a letter of reference. Some organizations wouldprovide TTC Tokens for the full EIGHT WEEKS!!!

13. THIRTEEN!! ~ The lucky number! ~ BE PROFESSIONAL! !! You are aprofessional so behave like one! Dress appropiately (e.g. White Socksand Dark Pants/Shoes = That is a NO, NO ok?!)Comb your hair. Wash your teeth. Iron your clothes. Update yourwardrobe (your case worker/employment consultant can refer you to anspecialized program that can offer free-new-clothes for you ~ Theseprograms are highly sensitive and emphatetic to different cultures).Do not smoke before going for a job interview. Cut/Clean your nails.Trim your eyebrows and mustache.(I really mean that unless is against your religious beliefs)!! Oh!And trim your ear hair if necessary. Also ~ Do not use too muchperfume/cologne.I am so sorry but I truly do not mean to offend anybody. I am talkinghere about becoming more employable in Canada and even though youwould not necessarily agreed with this, you MUST PLAY THE GAME if youwant to win.If I get responses, I will continue with this...Good night!"