Meet Dhaval!
Dhaval completed his Bachelor of Architecture in India, at M.S. University in Baroda. He is a licensed architect through the Indian Council of Architecture, a chartered architect through the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a LEED Green associate through the US Green Building Council. He arrived in Canada in April 2018.
When he approached the Career Paths Program, Dhaval was looking to work in the construction industry as an architect. He needed assistance navigating the certification process with the Canadian Architectural Certification Board (CACB) and the Architectural Institute of BC (AIBC) in order to get his licence and work as an architect in Canada. Dhaval needed help to better understand what the requirements of licensing in Canada involved. He was unemployed and needed work to support his family.
Dhaval had little understanding of the labour market in BC. His resume was formatted using different standards and was not targeted to an employer or for an employment goal. He had no cover letter and did not understand what should be addressed in the document. Dhaval also needed to learn how to interview. He had a good understanding of networking techniques but he was unsure about
Canadian customs and business etiquette.
His credentials were not entirely recognized by CACB since his entire education and certification came from outside of Canada.
Dhaval needed help understanding the labour market and to gain more clarity on his path into construction. During the assessment and planning stage, Dhaval’s counsellor reviewed his work history and identified his strongest transferrable skills, providing a few possible positions within the construction field that would be a match. Under the guidance of his counsellor, Dhaval gained competencies in networking, social media for job searching, resume writing and interview skills.
For Dhaval’s success, the most beneficial part of the Career Paths Program was learning about Canadian workplace culture and workplace communication skills as he struggled the most with new cultural values, networking rules and workplace etiquette. Dhaval was very active and engaged in all his learning and within 3 months, secured a job as Job Captain – Construction and Design for A&W. The job is in the area of project management, where he leads a team of designers and utilizes his skills as an architect to build and rebuild the company locations earning a very impressive salary.
Dhaval Quoted: