Photo courtesy of ASET.
The Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) is breaking down barriers for internationally trained engineering technology professionals in Central Alberta.
There are 41 ASET members living in the Lacombe area, and 278 in the Red Deer area working in engineering technology professions including power, water, and municipal infrastructure construction.
“They're all around you. They're doing things in their community that you don't even notice,” said Barry Cavanaugh, ASET CEO.
A recent survey conducted by ASET revealed that more than 35 per cent of respondents weren’t able to find work in their professional field when they arrived in Canada. Within the subset group, more than 53 per cent said it was because employers required Canadian work experience. As a result, more than 76 per cent of the subset group had to take work outside of their field to meet living expenses.
“People would come here thinking they're qualified, having been told that their qualifications would be respected here,” Cavanaugh said. “They would come here and the next thing you know, they're working somewhere out of their field and not able to find work in their field.”
Cavanaugh believed the requirement was seen as a barrier and was interested in finding a way to remove it to benefit new Canadian workers.
To ensure engineering technology professionals' previous training and education met regional codes and standards, ASET implemented a competencies test that workers must complete.
“I've always thought that we needed to be able to assess candidates on their competencies," Cavanaugh said. “It's a level playing field for applicants.”
The competency-based assessment program was developed over several years.
"It was clear to us when we did the survey that a competency-based assessment program really made a big difference to our foreign-trained applicants,” Cavanaugh said.
While most survey respondents were from the Philippines, India and Pakistan, some hailed from Romania, Poland, Sri Lanka, Germany, Ireland, Australia, Vietnam, China, Ukraine, South Africa, Ghana, and Russia.