It is never too late to be what you might have been. – George Eliot. 

Originally from Vietnam and a healthcare professional, Lily Truong found herself looking for a career change. She registered for a Postgraduate degree in Analytics for Business Decision Making at George Brown College. She went back to school in 2019 and graduated in April 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Her job search did not go as expected and after over 4 months of applying with no responses, she began to lose hope in ever finding her dream job.

During those days of self-doubt and struggle, a friend told her about CultureLink’s Interview Squad. This program is run by volunteer HR professionals that help prepare newcomers for their job search by providing them learning, mentorship and networking opportunities.

“I signed up along with other newcomers. I had an amazing chance to have a number of training sessions with HR professionals on how to master resume writing and interview skills”, remembers Lily.

After the training, each newcomer is matched with a mentor that best suits their background and interests. Every mentor offers their recruiting experience to participants and helps them continue working on their resume in one-on-one sessions.

“I had an opportunity to work with Sonya, who is a retired HR professional with a wealth of experience in the hiring and recruiting process. Sonya was an astounding and resourceful mentor that helped me throughout my job search journey. She was quick to jump on the phone with me whenever I needed her and regularly checked in with me. Her advice and positive energy boosted my job search skills; plus, it significantly helped me regain my confidence in my analytics skills. I started to receive more interviews while working with her.” says Lily.

After 2 months in the program, she got an offer at BMW Financial Service as a Risk Controlling Analyst. Her day-to-day job is to work with financial data and validate models. She wrote in an email, “I am extremely happy with my new job and grateful to Sonya, the Interview Squad and all the mentors at CultureLink.”.

Congratulations Lily, we hope your story will inspire others to work hard for their dreams, believe in themselves and ask for help when needed.