George Kelk 
Corporation (KELK) president Peter Kelk has a history of helping internationally trained engineers. For years he partnered with ACCES Employment to offer tours of the company to clients and now he’s offering the same opportunity to members of engineering professional immigrant networks.
“Navigating a regulated profession such as engineering can be challenging. We offer insight into the industry, talk about what our company looks for when hiring and to show internationally trained engineers how our business operates.”Peter Kelk, president, George Kelk Corporation (KELK) |
Peter also sees the potential for business growth in hiring and retaining global talent. The company depends on a highly skilled workforce and benefits from the large immigrant talent pool in the Toronto Region. Peter says that the immigrant engineers he has hired have opened up international markets, which account for 99 per cent of sales. KELK will hire internationally trained engineers and support them as they work towards their designation. Not surprisingly, 80 per cent of the company’s workforce is comprised of skilled immigrants. Offering facility tours is a way for the company to help the many internationally trained engineers trying to find jobs in line with their education and experience.
In November KELK partnered with TRIEC’s Professional Immigrant Network (PINs) initiative to offer an information session and company tour for nine internationally trained engineers from three networks: the Canadian Colombian Professional Association (CCPA), the Canadian Network of Iraqi Engineers and Architects (CNIEA) and the Association of Romanian Engineers in Canada (AREC). AREC holds all their member meetings at KELK and has done so for years.
Peter discussed job search tools and strategies with the participants. He talked about how to get an interview, how to be sure you get the right job and shared KELK’s hiring process. Peter emphasized three career tips for internationally trained engineers:
1) Know what job elements are important to you, such as safety, social environment and corporate culture
2) Obtain your professional engineering designation (P.Eng)
3) Take courses to fill the gaps you might have in your professional experience
In addition to learning firsthand from the company president, participants had a chance to hear from a peer, Predrag Canak, an internationally trained engineer from Serbia, who shared his experience finding a job in Canada, working for KELK, and now recruiting other engineers.
The internationally trained engineers in attendance spoke highly of the experience. They appreciated hearing a fellow immigrant’s share their success story and valued the direct feedback from the company’s president.
George Kelk Corporation was named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies and to TRIEC’s Immigrant Success Awards shortlist. If you are interested in organizing an information session or company tour for skilled immigrants and looking for the ways of exploring global talent pool, contact us to plan and customize the session for your company.
