Experience

I have been living in this country with my family for the past 13 years. Allow me to share my story because I have got a lot to say.

I am a 38-year-old mother of six children, ages ranging from twenty to five. I came to Canada back in the late eighties had one child here and then sent for my other children back in Jamaica and married their father in 1992. As soon as I came to Canada, I went to do upgrading and found myself in the first year of a three-year program in Centennial College doing Accounting. I had it so hard in college that for a while, I thought I would never graduate. I battled in there for 4 years instead of the regular three and graduated. My point is that since I graduated back in 1996, I have been sending out resumes, filling out applications - some of which I got an interview. But I have been very unsuccessful in landing a job. I went back to school in 1997 after having my next child. The program I went to do this time was Office Administration for the Medical Office. My marks were excellent and I graduated in 1999 with a 3.89 GPA. This still did not make any difference where finding a job was concerned.

I have applied to all the government offices and big companies including the Ministry of Health, Revenue Canada, TTC, Toronto Police, Canada Post, only to name a few. I have done all the networking, cold calls, walk-ins and reply to advertisements. For most of these jobs, I tailored my resume to apply for basic jobs that I will be more than qualified to do. Still, no luck.

What I fear is that the cycle is repeating. My son is eighteen and has been looking for a job since he was fourteen, but cannot land a job. He worked all these places doing volunteer work and none of them would hire him. He is so frustrated and fed up with this job market. I told him not to give up. He is currently going to college doing Computer Systems and Networking Technology. What is going to happen to him when he graduates in the next two years?

I am in the repayment process of the student loan, but cannot pay because I don't have a job. They hired me back at Zellers back in 1999 with the hope that if a vacancy comes up in the office, I can apply. There were several postings I was qualified for. But as soon as I applied for the position, they cancelled the postings. I left there to work temporary in the finance department of a large company but an accident prevented me from returning.

There are a lot of black adults and youths out there who are desperate to find jobs, but cannot. They are not making it any easier for us by excluding us from the type of jobs we are qualified to do.

We cannot afford to buy ourselves food, or own our own homes. Some of us have to depend on food banks, Salvation Army at Christmas and live in Metro Toronto Housing Authority (MTHA). Then as adults, what is going to happen to our children when they grow up? It will be de ja vue all over again. No work, MTHA, and some of us left with huge student loans that we will never be able to completely repay.

In spite of my good educational background, I cannot get a job. I got several interviews in the hospitals only to get the disappointing rejection letters. I believe when these people have an opening in their firm or company and resumes come in, they go through them and see who lives in a house or an apartment preferably in the government housing schemes. I also believe the next way to sort the resume is by the names. Most often, they can tell if you are black because of your surname. If they cannot tell then they call you in for the interview then they spend no time to truly interview you. After five to ten minutes, they say thank you and tell you they will call you if you are the successful candidate.

Why is it that they are not giving us the chance to really use what we have learned? How can you have all these number of years of experience that they are asking for in their advertisements if they don't give you the chance to even get that experience? What is my son supposed to do? Turn to drugs and violence? Then they blame the parents for the children's behaviors.

We are thankful for what this country has given to us but we cannot make any contribution if they are not giving us the chance to prove ourselves. This type of discrimination is what I call economic racism. Are we supposed to remain poor or do menial jobs because we are black? This is what I am faced with every day I try to find a job. I don't want to go on social assistance. But the pressure is leading up to it. And then they are the same ones who keep telling us to find a job and get off welfare. Give us the jobs, and we will work!

We as black people need someone or an organization to help us find jobs for the betterment of our children and ourselves. One of the problems might be that there are not enough black people in top management positions capable of having any influence in the hiring process. I am not advocating preferential treatment for black people. But we should be able to pursue the types of jobs we are qualified to do without the fear that our accent or where we come from or live may eliminate us in the process. Is it fair that we should be forced to do jobs that barely pay the rent and other expenses?

Thanks for reading about my predicament. I only hope you are not going through the same situation.