Over a third of skilled immigrants who have found relevant work through OMEGA's mentoring programme this year, have done so within one month of being matched with a mentor. Feedback from mentors and mentees suggests that this is no co-incidence, especially when considering that over 95% of the skilled immigrants accepted for mentoring have already received at least ten rejection letters. Justin Treagus explains. 

At OMEGA, we are obviously great fans of workplace mentoring.  And while mentoring helps skilled immigrants to develop professional networks, improve the look of their CV’s and receive guidance on job search techniques, it also offers the subtle yet powerful benefit of increased self-confidence and motivation. 

OMEGA call this increased self-confidence the ‘glucose shot effect’; when a skilled immigrant hears that they are matched with a mentor and realises that there is a dedicated support structure in place, it is a morale boost for them; a shot of self-confidence enabling them to put their best foot forward at the interview and head toward job success.  

There are several cases where the mentee was successful in a job interview, within days of being matched with a mentor.  One mentee wrote to OMEGA, explaining how the confidence that he took from that first mentoring meeting – just knowing that he had a supportive mentor – was significant in him getting the job later in the day.  And it's not all just word-of-mouth good stories; programme feedback statistics back up these anecdotal accounts.  Over 92% of skilled immigrants say that their self-confidence increased through the mentoring relationship and all of them were confident that they would find jobs soon. One immigrant summed it up well, saying “It’s so heartening to know there are people like you who will help me take the first few difficult steps in a new country and be with me till I find my feet.” 

Supportive interventions that build self confidence in job seekers – especially skilled immigrants - do matter, even though these interventions may seem intangible and their impact may not be immediately or obviously evident to some.  As workplace professionals we can only benefit in the long run by intentionally building work seeker self confidence.  Taking the Mentoring Programme as an example:  If a small commitment from an individual professional can make such a difference to a skilled immigrant’s pathway to meaningful employment, then the potential for businesses to more broadly develop a culture of confidence-boosting for new Kiwis is huge. 

This approach can only benefit us in the long run, as immigrants bring rich knowledge and experience that are invaluable for our workplaces' and it’s estimated that they contribute over $1.9 billion annually to the New Zealand economy.  

So as businesses we have a choice – either we can bring in changes, both in attitude and practice, to help develop the 'glucose shot effect' for skilled immigrants, or we can be barriers to international talent.