Dedication
To my beautiful, loving, and ever supporting wife, Muni—I appreciate and love you. Beau, Pierre, and Edgar, my three amazing sons—you bring us immense joy. To my mum and dad, merci beaucoup and I am eternally grateful for your wonderful counsel, prayers, and support—to both of you, I owe a debt I cannot repay.
I dedicate this book to all my family and friends.
Nero: Miss you and always in our thoughts.
Acknowledgments
I would like to say thank you to the following people:
Sue Abraham and Cindy Laurin, for the teaching opportunity
Hazel Claxton, for mentoring me
Margaret Osborne, who gladly wrote the foreword
Jodie Glean, for editing and proofreading early editions
Eden Burton and Ransford Kissi, for their support
Michael Manirakiza and Roger Vandomme, my business partners
About this Book
Well, let me start by thanking you for getting my book. My hope is that this book can be the key to unlocking a prosperous future for you. I deliberately used the word can, because your success in landing a job will come as a result of taking action. Massive action, to be precise.
The motivation for this book came about because I taught an Advanced Information Technology Project Management course at one of the premier colleges in Ontario, Canada.
Over the course of my teaching experience, time and time again I was approached by my students (especially newcomers to the city of Toronto) about various topics all linked to getting meaningful work post-graduation. It was very clear that my students had all invested in further education, and most of them expected to get a “return” on their investment by way of a salary from working.
Landing a job takes work, and in most cases, the process of getting an offer letter can feel like a never-ending pursuit. It does not have to be if you follow the steps outlined in this book.
I wrote this book because upon investigating further, I realized that many of my students—although bright, smart, and enthusiastic—were doing all the wrong things and hindering their ability to find work.
You will realize that this book Come and Thrive is also targeted at new graduates and young people. This is because I also quickly observed that in some cases, they had unrealistic expectations, which resulted in disappointment, along with feelings of failure and desperation.
It is my desire that if you find this book helpful, you send a copy to a friend, family member, or that acquaintance who you know is struggling to get a job.
If you follow the processes and steps I have outlined in the book, it is only a matter of time before you find yourself in gainful and meaningful employment from where you can start stepping on the building blocks to create for yourself an exciting career you can reflect on with pride.
To your success,
I’m cheering you on!
Beau P. Sackey
Foreword
It is simply heartbreaking to dedicated college faculty when committed and excellent students do not get workplace traction upon graduation. Newcomers to Canada who have pursued post-secondary education at great personal and financial cost face very real and unique challenges.
That is why I was delighted to hear about this new book for young people, recent graduates, and newcomers to Canada authored by my colleague, Professor Beau Sackey.
“Massive action,” as Professor Sackey states, is indeed required to land a job—but recent graduates often struggle with planning and executing a career search. It cannot be understated how daunting the career search process may be, especially in a new culture and with significant pressures to succeed and to do so quickly.
Come and Thrive offers a practical action plan to help all job seekers achieve their goals. The book provides streamlined and straightforward tips on the essentials of resume writing, networking, and interviewing, among others.
More importantly, this book stresses the importance of adopting a winning attitude, in a manner that is clear and compelling. The section addressing the workplace culture in Canada will also enable newcomers to adapt effectively in their new environment with useful “watercooler” topics, for example. A generous list of resources is also provided for further learning and research.
Readers will appreciate this intensely focused and supportive approach to launching careers. Professor Sackey’s ability to distill the process down to its key elements and explain them in an actionable format results in an efficient and do-able plan for recent graduates and newcomers.
Beau’s clear dedication to motivating his audience toward success on this journey will surely inspire confidence with his readers.
One of the most rewarding aspects of a faculty position is the numerous “Thank You” emails we receive from former students as their careers unfold. This book is filled with gems, and Professor Sackey had better be prepared for a bulging in-box upon release of this widely sought-after edition.
Margaret D. Osborne MBA RO
Professor, School of International Business and Management Seneca College, Toronto, Ontario
Co-Founder, Presentria Advanced Class Response System
How to Market Yourself
“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” Elinor Smith
In the age of social media, where selfless promotion is an art form and science, especially with the younger demographic, it is quite intriguing that the marketing skills used on these ubiquitous platforms are not transferred when it comes to the job-hunting arena.
Why the disconnect? I will assume that it is because job seekers have not quite looked at the job-hunting process the same way.
According to the American Marketing Association, “marketing” is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
What does marketing have to do with landing a job, you might ask? Well, everything!
Think of it this way: why do you go to the store and buy a certain brand of ice cream, when there are hundreds of brands and different flavours of ice cream? It is simply because you were attracted to that particular brand when a trusted friend recommended it. Or, you came across an advertisement which highlighted the non-fat but great-tasting qualities that led you to give it a try. Bottom line, you were sold on the value that was provided to you.
Marketing
