Juan Sarmiento immigrated to Canada in 2007 and settled in Ottawa. He brought with him seven years of international professional work experience in the information technology and finance sectors. His experience includes positions as an Information Officer with Whirlpool Corporation in Colombia and an Information Technology Consultant in the Office of the U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in Costa Rica. A native of Colombia, Juan holds an MBA in Finance from the Universidad Interamericana de Costa Rica.
Despite his university education and work experience, Juan had a hard time finding a job in Ottawa. Faced with no Canadian work experience or employer references, he had difficulty finding work in his field of expertise. During the first 18 months, he applied for approximately 100 local positions.
With an unyielding determination to enter the workforce, Juan attended World Skills Inc. workshops on job search and resumé writing, where he heard about a job fair at Algonquin College. He met a University of Ottawa HR representative at the job fair and learned about the Access uOttawa program, which provides employment opportunities for skilled immigrants like Juan to enter the Ottawa workforce. He enthusiastically applied for a position in his field and was hired through the program as a Research Office Financial Analyst at the Faculty of Medicine of the University. In his work, Juan is involved in policy development, an opportunity that utilizes his past work experience and education.