Humans of Skills for Change: Ruth Mengistu
1. Tell us a bit about yourself
My name is Abubakar, currently pursuing my MBA at McMaster University and working at Skills for Change in the marketing team. I moved to Canada mid-2020, during peak COVID time with my wife and three-year-old son. I did not know how to get started so I began my journey in the Operations and Strategy Manager team at a growing Toronto-based company. In July 2021, I heard about Skills for Change and the amazing things we do here – help families get settled in Canada – something I wish I had access to when I arrived in Canada. I finally applied and got accepted to be part of this organization, a company who truly values its employees and is devoted to help families coming to Canada. Other than this I am tech savvy and an extrovert who loves socializing and connecting with different people.
2. Can you share a bit about your journey to Canada?
I am originally from Pakistan, and I migrated to Canada when I was about 10 years old. I went back home due to family reasons and then after getting married and having a baby, we decided to move back to Canada as a family to pursue better prospects for our son.
I am originally from Pakistan, and I migrated to Canada when I was about 10 years old. I went back home due to family reasons and then after getting married and having a baby, we decided to move back to Canada as a family to pursue better prospects for our son.
3. What was life like in your home country?
As everything has pros and cons, the life I lived in Pakistan was fulfilling being around immediate family but as I entered the job market, the possibilities were quite grim. Pakistan is not fully developed in the health and education sector, so those factors made life a bit difficult.
As everything has pros and cons, the life I lived in Pakistan was fulfilling being around immediate family but as I entered the job market, the possibilities were quite grim. Pakistan is not fully developed in the health and education sector, so those factors made life a bit difficult.
4. How did you get involved with Skills for Change?
Skills for Change was an amazing opportunity that I landed after looking for some time for marketing roles. As a newbie in the Canadian job market, it’s fairly difficult to land a job that you’re best fit for but luckily through networking I was able to connect to some people who pointed me towards this opportunity.
5. What inspires you?
I’m an inquisitive person by nature and something that really inspires me is to learn new tools and skills to enhance myself. Anything that inspires me is hard work and smart work and that is my future strategy.
6. What’s the best advice you’ve received in life?
“This too shall pass”- nothing good or bad ever stays so you make the most out of what you have because you never know if you’ll have it later or not.
7. Can you tell us something interesting about yourself that not many people know of?
Not many people know but I love space and I’m fascinated by the analogy of time and space. I read and watch content that’s related to the history of universe and time.
8. Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
It’s never too late to pursue your passion and dreams. Never be let down by people telling you what you can and cannot do. I decided to pursue my MBA after working professionally for seven years – being away from academics for such a long time made GMAT (entrance test required to get into an MBA program) preparation quite challenging, but with support from my family and determination, I was able to beat the test. Now that I am learning the tried and tested methods of doing a business, I look forward to applying my skill-set and learning at Skills for Change and take the organization to the next level with support of my peers and amazing manager, Sampada Kukade. I would especially like to thank her for making it possible to pursue my MBA and my job at Skills for Change. Juggling full time studies, a job and family is definitely not easy – but as they say, good things in life don’t come easy.
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