How an immigrant from Brazil found his dream job in Canada

Making a career transition from a data analyst to my dream job as a marketing professional

My name is Hugo. I’m a graphic designer from Brazil that decided to drop my career as a data analyst. I was working for the State Government but finally decided to pursue my dream job in marketing. To do this, the first step was to get my diploma in marketing after moving to Canada.

Don’t be confused, I love data analysis, but work for the government is something that is…psychologically challenging. Sometimes you do so much but see very few results, and at some point, I decided that I wanted more, I wanted to see the results of my work.

“I decided that I wanted more, I wanted to see the results of my work.”

That’s when I decided to come to Toronto and start a new journey toward finding my dream job. It wasn’t (and still isn’t) easy. I came here applying for marketing internships.

I thought that my experience as a freelance graphic designer and a formal experience as a data analyst would be enough for me to nail any internship that I applied for.

Well…it was not like that. Landing that dream job is a process. After coming to the realization that finding a job here in Canada is much harder than I initially thought I felt lost and didn’t know what to do next. 

“After coming to the realization that finding a job here in Canada is much harder than I initially thought I felt lost and didn’t know what to do next.”

So many questions came to mind. “Is it my age? Is it because I’m an immigrant? Is my resume not good enough?” I was trying to find answers by attending webinars, completing courses, and talking with my colleagues back home and in Canada.

At some point, while doing all this research something clicked. I figured out that Canadian companies would rather have someone that has…CANADIAN EXPERIENCE! 

This simple realization gave me a fresh perspective. If I can’t secure a Canadian job because of my lack of work experience at Canadian organizations, my criteria was no longer a paid marketing position, but just work experience.

I needed experience before I could find my dream job. I began searching for unpaid opportunities that were similar to the paid marketing positions I was searching for.

By utilizing my skills as a graphic designer and showing potential employers that I was hungry to learn and gain experience, I was able to land my first Canadian position.

“I needed experience before I could find my dream job.”

I was going to be a content creator for an Enactus Project, a non-profit community of students, academics, and business leaders. They work together to create projects with the intention of changing the world. The experience was great and I learned a lot about how to create, edit, and manage video production.

It was the stepping stone I needed to advance my career and get me one step closer to my dream job. 

My end goal was to work for a for-profit company and get the experience of a  “real-life” Canadian employee. That’s when my journey brought me to Acadium. I stumbled across the platform while searching for more opportunities to compliment my previous internships.

I thought that the whole concept of the platform was brilliant: Create a network with entrepreneurs that want to be mentors and students that want experience in the field that they’re interested in. After messaging some potential mentors I had set up several meetings with different potential mentors. I agreed to an apprenticeship as a video creator for a company called Growth Advisor On Demand, a consulting company. 

They needed corporate videos to spread their message across different media channels. I had 3 months of pure fun and a lot of learning! I started as one of the video creators and editors, but after one month I had enough experience and my mentor trusted me enough that they made me a mentor for the new apprentices.

“after one month I had enough experience and my mentor trusted me enough that they made me a mentor for the new apprentices.”

During the last month, I was the project manager for the video creation, video optimization, and championed all the content posts on the website. During my apprenticeship, I couldn’t believe that I was actually working for a Canadian company. Even as an unpaid apprentice it was something so gratifying that in the end, my only question was: why isn’t Acadium more popular?

It’s everything students need as a first experience to put on their resume. Not only that but if you want to improve your skills there are dozens of online courses that help you start to break into digital marketing fields. They’re a great place to get started if you are new to a certain field like I was with digital marketing.

“My enthusiasm must have really shown because Davide, co-founder of Acadium, sent me an e-mail with the invitation for me to be an ambassador for the platform.”

My enthusiasm must have really shown because Davide, co-founder of Acadium, sent me an e-mail with the invitation for me to be an ambassador for the platform. I didn’t have to think twice. Acadium connected me with mentors and provided me access to so many opportunities to bring brand awareness to this incredible platform was exciting for me.

“I was already telling everyone I knew about my experience anyway.”

I was already telling everyone I knew about my experience anyway. Through joining their Ambassador Program I’ve had the opportunity to encourage and help other apprentices, recent graduates, or people like me that want to shift careers after coming to a new country.

Acadium was my game-changer, and I’m pretty sure it can be the light for many other people that just need the first experience to kick-start their career.