In a lifetime, we face thousands of questions on our journey towards a destiny. Some questions are answered, and some are never answered. In all possible ways, they constitute a life’s story and mine is no different than that.

This is a story of a young marketing graduate coming out of school and joining a global advertising agency as a junior executive in the early 2000s.

In a small country with an emerging economy in south-east Asia, he worked in his profession for 18+years.  He became the Chief of the organization he started his professional career with, and worked for many other global organizations and industries in the interim. Along with his corporate success, he became a popular personality due to his media presence as a judge for a couple of top-viewed television business reality shows, somewhat like Dragon’s Den, with young professionals.

A new Life Begins

One fine morning he decided to fly 12,434 km to Canada for a second life, a second career. Of course, finding himself in the middle of nowhere, it took a bit of time for him to reorganize himself amid the experience of an entire paradigm shift. He carried a bunch of preconceptions about the labour market here, such as the ample availability of skills and resources, how easy it would be to find and launch a career,  and the specific strategic specialties employers look for.

He also did a couple of things right: keeping his self-esteem and networking. Being heavily involved with volunteering and completing a couple of certifications from the University of Toronto to complement his education were helpful. Next, he took a step back and roamed around Ontario the very first summer he arrived.  All he wanted was to learn, settle down and fit in.

The TRIEC Tale

In the process, he found his first role as consultant to a couple of startups and an organization working in the public space, giving him a balanced diet of professional exposure to both those worlds. But he was always in search of the role where he could contribute to the lives of immigrants trying to step into the Canadian labour market. And then came the opportunity to work at TRIEC. The personal journey did find the golden gate to express, contribute and translate the experience for the good of the immigrant professionals.

Now he serves as the Manager, Stakeholder Relations at TRIEC, one of the pivotal roles needed to develop, maintain and foster relationship with the organization’s stakeholders.

Not only does the role match what he believes he can deliver best as a professional but it’s also a great opportunity to contribute to the value chain of the organization.

Now that’s me!

And lastly I found the answer to the toughest question – how can someone possibly best relaunch himself in a new professional life in a new market that’s unchartered? The answer my friend is Blowing in the Wind – and it’s nothing else but a burning desire and a friend like TRIEC that help you succeed.

This post is part of TRIEC’s #LedByExperience series. To read more posts about the career journeys of the TRIEC team, visit our blog, or search #LedByExperience on Twitter or LinkedIn.