Consultant finds his voice

Christophe Descamps says even working from home, improving his English skills was crucial to having a successful business as an IT consultant.

The fact that he was offered a lucrative contract three weeks before completing the English for Foreign Trained Professionals course at Douglas speaks volumes, says Christophe Descamps.

“Before taking the course, speaking and writing in English was complicated. After I started the course, I could see the results in less than one month,” says Descamps, an IT consultant with a home-based business.

“Learning a language is a long-term commitment, but to see results in a few weeks gives you confidence to keep going,” he adds.

Fifteen years ago, Descamps moved to Quebec from France, where it was easy to work in his mother tongue. With a chemical engineering degree already under his belt, he studied software engineering while in la belle province. He moved to Port Coquitlam two years ago with the goal of working from home as an IT consultant. However, he quickly found that even working from home, his English skills needed improvement.

“I felt it would help for me to know the language better. Working from home, I only had day-to-day dealings using English, such as when I went to the supermarket.”

Finding a course that would give him results, and fast, was important. Descamps started researching university programs, but found they tended to focus on grammar and required a long-term commitment. Searching the internet, he found the 14-week English for Foreign Trained Professionals course.

The six-credit course covers written communications including resume writing, email, professional letters, report writing and minute taking, as well as verbal communications such as job interview skills, conflict resolution, workplace relationships, networking and even the importance of small talk.

English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor Kathy Bell was motivated to create the course by many of the highly-skilled students in her regular ESL classes. "I saw these students who had so much to offer. They've been high-functioning professionals in their countries of birth. I knew that if they could learn how to show what they know to prospective employers, they would stand a better chance of getting good jobs relevant to their training."

This approach has worked well for Descamps.

“Before taking the course, if someone had asked me to do a presentation in English, I would have said, ‘No way.’ But I have discovered that I can do it."

To learn more about the English for Foreign Trained Professionals program, please contact Kathy Bell at 604-777-6312 or at eslpro@douglascollege.ca .

Links:

English for Foreign Trained Professionals
Working Solutions for Skilled Immigrants