Ninan Kurian is a Certified Engineering Technologist with over 50 years of international experience in instrumentation, automation, and environmental health and safety. He currently works with the City of Toronto’s Water Division on major infrastructure projects and previously held senior roles at WSP Canada and leading petroleum companies across India, Bahrain, and Dubai. Ninan was recently recognized at the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership Impact Award 20205 co-hosted by CIBC for mentoring more than 10 newcomers through the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership (TMP) program.
What inspired you to become a mentor with the TRIEC Mentoring Partnership (TMP) Program?
My passion and mission have always been to assist qualified and experienced professionals in their career journey in Canada and internationally. I came across a lot of highly qualified and experienced professionals, who were finding it difficult to get a position in their own field. I saw doctors working as security guards, Uber and Taxi drivers; engineers working in assembly lines at minimum wages; IT professionals working in Tim Hortons and McDonalds, etc. This is what inspired me to assist these human beings to reach their goals. I was seeing a massive brain drain for Canada, wherein many of these wonderful immigrants, who were permanent residents in Canada, were being disillusioned by the bureaucracy and governmental red tape and leaving the country.
Is there a story or moment from your mentoring experience that has stayed with you — something that reminded you why this work matters?
One mentoring experience that has stayed with me for life and which I have made into my case study is when I successfully assisted a new immigrant obtain a job with a reputable construction and contracting company in North America as a Project Administrator, a job in his field of work! I was able to meet the hiring manager and educate him regarding the mentee’s educational qualifications, the multinational company he had worked for, and his 8 years of international experience. I was able to get him his first interview in Canada, where he was eventually hired after 3 interviews. The icing on the cake was when the Human Resources Manager sent me an email, informing me that the mentee had relieved 75% of the workload off the Project Manager within 10 days of working with the company. Finally, the HR Manager asked me if I had more mentees like him for them to hire!!
How has mentoring impacted you in your own professional journey?
I have learned a lot from my mentees and applied them in my professional journey. Being from all walks of life, I have gained a lot from their experiences and skills. I have summed up some of these below:
- Skill Development and Confidence: By offering practical advice and feedback, my mentees were able to refine their technical, transferable, and soft skills. By guiding them through complex projects, I was able to boost their competence and confidence. This in turn helped me gain even more skills in mentoring people of all disciplines. Thus, as a mentor I was able to bring out their hidden talents and give them the ability to report higher skill development and self-efficacy.
- Career Advancement: My personally sending reference letters and emails to my contacts in the industry, have opened opportunities for my mentees to navigate corporate landscapes. This has helped me become a guiding force for many of my peers, who are also trying to mentor other individuals. Even my position in the City of Toronto has become more visible to my directors and peers. My timely advice has led to pivotal job transitions or even obtaining gainful employment for many of my mentees. Having so much varied experience, I could open doors to give them better opportunities, by introducing them to impactful networking, and even pointed them towards Toastmasters International to help enhance their communication, presentation, leadership, and networking skills.
- Perspective and Decision-Making: Working with mentees and helping them face different challenges, has helped me gain better guidance and mentorship skills. My perception and decision-making skills have been honed to near perfection and so, I am able to help them avoid unnecessary pitfalls and to make informed choices. For instance, my experience can help them confidently decide whether to pursue a risky career move or not.
- Emotional Support and Resilience: My personal resilience and emotions have been strengthened by working with all my mentees. For me, mentoring fosters a sense of belonging and motivation for the individual, crucial for overcoming their setbacks. In this regard, one of my successful ventures was constantly encouraging and guiding a mentee to give up their secured job with a construction company and start a company on their own, which eventually led to a complete success. Now this mentee has completed many lucrative projects and is a recognised general contractor, managing personnel with multi-trades.
- Long-Term Success: My vision and mission have always been to assist qualified and experienced professionals in their search for productive positions in Canada and other parts of the world. Facilitating my mentees achieve success through difficult and hopeless situations has helped me accomplish my long-term goals.
What would you say to other individuals to encourage them to become mentors in the program?
Becoming a mentor is an opportunity and chance for one to make a real impact in anyone’s life. Not only do you get to share their personal experience and journey, guide them through challenges and ordeals, and help them grow and build a life for themselves and their family, but you also sharpen your own leadership and communication skills. It is rewarding to see your mentee succeed, knowing that you also played an important part in their growth. Additionally, one gains fresh perspectives by working along with them as they face unending challenges. I would therefore encourage my peers and associates to join any mentoring program, especially TRIEC! And that’s how we can build a stronger community together, and a stronger Canada!
What have you learned from the newcomers you’ve mentored?
Mentors often learn from their mentees as much as they impart, especially when they are new immigrants. Working closely with them has given me a few insights that I would like to share here:
- Fresh Perspectives: Newcomers bring unfiltered views and their individual deep-rooted ways of thinking. As a mentor, I was forced to rethink assumptions — after hearing their questions which exposed a blind spot in a commonly believed process or strategy. Once, a young professional asked me why a company continued using outdated software, which prompted me to reconsider this accepted scenario.
- Adaptability and Communication: Explaining complex ideas to beginners forced me to simplify them without losing accuracy. This honed my ability to communicate clearly across different skill levels.
- Reinvigorated Passion: A newcomer’s enthusiasm can reignite a mentor’s excitement in their mentorship skills. Seeing my mentees “aha” moments — felt like I was mastering a new skill. This made up for all burnout or cynicism I faced at different low points of my mentoring.
- Reverse Mentoring: Younger or less experienced mentees often introduce mentors to new tools, trends, or cultural shifts. In my case, my Gen Z mentees helped me by becoming co-mentors to help my other mentees in successfully using social media platforms and ATS software.
- Leadership Growth: Mentoring newcomers has sharpened my leadership skills. Handling diverse learning styles, giving constructive feedback, and fostering confidence in others has helped in building my patience and empathy levels. I now have learned to listen attentively and tailor my approach to suit their individual needs.
In one sentence, how would you describe the impact of mentorship?
Mentorship profoundly shapes both mentor and mentee, fostering growth, lifelong partnership, sparking innovation, and building confidence through shared knowledge and fresh perspectives.
Inspired by Ninan’s journey? You can make a difference in the lives of immigrant professionals by helping them thrive in their careers. Become a mentor with TRIEC: Learn more here: https://www.mentoringpartnership.ca/join-us/become-a-mentor/