“What is networking?” “How do I network for a job?” “Where can I meet people in Ottawa?” “How can I prepare for the Ottawa job market?”
If these have been your burning questions for a while, you’ve come to the right place. As a new immigrant in Canada, I too had to figure out the where, when and how of networking. I’ve been in Ottawa for five years now and one thing is for certain: this quite little city surprises me everyday by providing opportunities for growth, networking, career goals and friendships. You just need to know where to look! I present below a consolidated list of networking events and organizations that have provided me with valuable resources in order to make my life in Ottawa better. Whether you are looking for career opportunities, friendship or business networking, Ottawa has it all.
For job seekers:
1) Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization (OCISO)
OCISO has a wealth of resources and information for immigrants and newcomers in Ottawa. It provides services in 14 global languages and caters to a wide range of needs and queries newcomers might have. OCISO specifically provides settlement and integration services, help in understanding the Canadian job market and requirements, clinical counselling services, school support for young students, language instructions and the Marion Dewar scholarship for immigrant and refugee youth. Of special importance is its youth wing, the YOCISO that offers special grants and scholarships to immigrant youth of ages 13-24, and helps them with their settlement and integration process in Canada. One of the programs of OCISO that I have personally benefited from is the OCISO Career Mentorship program wherein mentees are matched with a mentor from the professional field that the mentee is trying to build a career in. Also worth mentioning is the OCISO Connector program where new immigrants are given a chance to interact with an industry professional from their desired field to understand the Canadian job market and make valuable connections.
The Ottawa World Skills, true to its name, aims to enable the newcomers with necessary information and skills which make the job search process easier. There are two sets of workshops offered by World Skills, that provide a thorough understanding of the job market and call-to-actions for job seekers. Module 1 of the workshop walks the newcomers through the Canadian work culture, networking information, information on the labour market, expectations from job seekers, pre-requisites of entering the job search scenario and valuable resources on resume building. The second module breaks down the resume building process and delves deeper into the job application process for specific sectors of employment. The modules are consecutive and have to be attended in chronological order. After the completion of each workshop, clients are provided with a one-hour one-on-one counselling with the workshop facilitator. All these workshops are conducted in groups. If you’re looking for a more personalized service, the YMCA-YWCA provides a one-on-one career counselling.
3) YMCA-YWCA National Capital Region
The Young Men’s Christian Association – Young Women’s Christian Association, or more popularly known as The Y, is Ottawa’s community-based association dedicated to improving the quality of life for children, youth, adults and families. The Y has programs that serves to support individuals hollistically. Their services range from education and leadership for the youth, school programs, child care, employment services, job grants, language assessments, financial help, housing facilities to health, fitness and recreation services. Their employment access centres provide the opportunity for individuals to work one-on-one with a career counsellor. The Y is part of Ontario Employment services.
Volunteering is a great way to meet people and foster connections. And Ottawa is heavily driven by volunteers and non-profit community organizations. For volunteering opportunities:
Volunteer Ottawa is Ottawa’s premier organization that has been strengthening community relations in the city by collaborating with over 300 local non-profit organizations and place over 2000 volunteers per year! It has a comprehensive list of local organizations that newcomers can volunteer with and build valuable experience, in their preferred areas of expertise and languages.
The Ottawa Festivals Network (OFN) is a non-profit organization that supports all local festivals, special events and fairs in Canada’s Capital Region. Being a volunteer member of the OFN is a wonderful way to meet and learn about Ottawa’s vibrant and rich cultural tapestry. Additionally, one could also get in touch with the different festival members in the network in order to get in touch with a specific community or communities.
Launched in 1995, Charity Village is a one-stop shop for jobs, networking events and volunteering opportunties in Ottawa’s non-profit sector. Its a huge resource for employers and the job seekers alike. Charity village connects the job market to the talent pool in various ways. It also provides online learning resources for the keen mind.
For more information on volunteering, here’s a list of Ottawa’s non-profit organizations by Mark Blumberg.
For networking opportunities:
1) Eventbrite
So Eventbrite is basically a webiste and an app where in you can register and buy tickets for free and paid events. However, I have found it very useful not just for that but for sourcing upcoming events happening near me. Looking up events on Eventbrite is a great way to know about potential networking events in the neighbourhood in any category.
Meetups is a dedicated networking website/app. It works similar to Eventbrite but instead of just ticketed events, Meetups lists all social, professional, business, tech and casual networking groups in your city of choice. Morever, Meetups also allows you to create your own networking group.
This is Ottawa’s biggest tech networking event. Held on the first Tuesday of every month at the west end of the city, Tech Tuesday aims to bring together professionals, businessmen, marketers, entrepreneurs and aspirants from every field.
And finally, this list is incomplete without a mention of Women in Communication and Technology. Established in 1991, WCT is Canada’s premier non-proft organization dedicated to the advancement of women (and men) in communications and technology. WCT provides support in the form of networking events, career sponshorship, mentorship opportunities and leadership skills development.