In this episode of Study and Work in Canada, we talk to Guilia Guido, a Brazilian student who came to Canada to study digital marketing. Guilia shares her background in fashion design and her desire to learn more about marketing, which led her to Canada.

– This is Study and Work in Canada, Tamwoods’s podcast and all things international students want to know about co-op education programs in Canada. I’m Tamsin Plaxton, Tamwood’s Founder and President and an avid member of the Canadian private Education sector. Welcome back to Study and Work in Canada. I’m Tamsin Plaxton and I’m excited to join today on the show with Giulia Guido, welcome Giulia.

– Hello. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

– Giulia, I understand you’re from Brazil and you’re currently studying in Canada in Toronto. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What were you doing in Brazil before you came to Study and Work in Canada?

– Back in Brazil I was working in, with social media. I have a background in fashion design, so I was working for a fashion brand and I really wanna know more about marketing and everything and started getting in this world and learning more every day. So I wanted to get a better understanding of everything.

– So you wanted to study more marketing but what made you choose Canada?

– I decided to come to Canada because I always wanted to study abroad and my family always supported me and I have a friend that she came to Canada once she was in high school and she was always telling me how good it was and about the people and everything. So I think I would come with my wanting to study abroad with a place that I already had people that was telling me how nice it was to come here. So that made me choose Canada.

– And then how did you come to school? How did you find Tamwood?

– Through my agency I was deciding which school to come and which was better for me at the time, financially too. So they got me to Tamwood and I searched about you guys and I loved the co-op effort that I could study and also have my experience working here.

– You’re doing the digital marketing program and you’re doing a Study and Work. So you studied for six months and you were working part-time and now you’re on your co-op term. How did you find your experience when you first arrived in Canada?

– I was like delighted by everything and how different things were like especially houses and people, it’s very different from Brazil so I was like really enjoying and going to parks and getting to know everybody and it was really different because everybody here it’s like nice and they really welcome me to foreigns so that was really nice for me because even though I have a knowledge of English, sometimes we don’t understand everything and people were really nice and with every doubt that I had like going to buy a metro pass or something, they were really nice.

– Oh that’s great and what about accommodation? Did you arrange that through Tamwood or how did you find your place?

– I got to my agency too. They got me a student residence, I stayed there for 2 months and then I found a room to rent here in Toronto so I could change and have my own space. I, talking to people, they got me in contact with someone and I got my room.

– That’s fantastic. So when you started the program, you were taught how to find a job in Canada. How did you look for work and how quickly did you find your part-time job when you first arrived?

– First I went women that helped us with co-op and parttime. She gave us all the workshops and everything. I did my resume and we went for a walk here in Toronto to leave and give resumes. So that helped a lot with my shyness. I was really shy to give resumes and everything and that was really good. But I also applied online, I did my resume and cover letter and she reviewed everything and I applied online and got my job online.

– Oh God, good for you. Now where were you working during your study term?

– I’m working at Winners, the retail store.

– So you were on the floor talking to customers or at the till or what was your work?

– Yeah, at there we work with everything. We are always in contact with customers. We work cashier, sales, floor, fitting room. We are always talking to people from everywhere and it’s been really great to know everybody and I work with Canadians, immigrants, it’s really good to know that everybody and the mix of cultures here.

– That’s great. You studied for 24 weeks in class and have a part-time job and then you’re expected to go in the program, you’re expected to go into a job that’s related to your studies and you’re studying Digital Marketing. So how did that happen? How did you end up getting a position and where are you working now for your co-op experience?

– During one of my assignments and web design development class, we partner with a company called NuYugen. It’s a Toronto company and they really liked my groups project and everything and we got in touch with them so we could get an interview and I got the job through that, through Tamwood. And then right now I’m working with social media. We are developing content and copywriting for the company, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

– So exactly what you’ve been studying, you’ve been able to get work in your field. That’s fantastic, you talked about working with a group. Tell me about your experience being at an international school and how was it for you in terms of making friends and getting to know people.

– It was really like fast. I thought it was gonna be hard to make friends because I’m really shy, but it was really fast to know, at people and talk to them because everybody’s kind of in the same situation new to the city and wanting to know people and make friends. So it was really fast and easy. I got to make friends from everywhere. Japan, Mexico, Spain and it’s really good because I got to know more about their cultures and respect that I didn’t know a lot about them, their cultures and everything, so it was really good. Sometimes a little bit hard to to do projects because we all come from different backgrounds and how to do these groups but it was good to learn and see how everybody works.

– Yeah, I mean that’s sort of a taste of the real world in the future, isn’t it? Working with different cultures and a company, trying a school and trying to figure out how you can compromise and work together. Have you done any socializing with them outside of school? Do you go out to the nights or do you go away on the weekends?

– Yeah, I try to visit at least on the weekends. A lot of places, go to different restaurants or just go around the neighborhood because sometimes just looking online we find a few places. But if I just go walking in the neighborhoods, I found really nice spots that I never thought about like thrift stores or restaurants, nice cafe. The best ones I found with my friends were when we were just walking.

– That’s amazing, good for you, just exploring. Yeah, Toronto is a big city. You know, well, not compared to São Paulo or some of the other big cities in the world but for Canada, Toronto is the biggest city in Canada. It’s also very multicultural city. So I’m sure you’ve experienced that when your walking around the the different neighborhoods.

– [Giulia] Yes.

– What’s how does that compare to life in Brazil is that different than what you live where you live in Brazil?

– Yeah, I’m actually from São Paulo, so here’s like big city so I’m kind of used to it, but I’m really getting to know more about kind of South Asian culture because I seen that here there is a lot of people from this area like India and Philippines and other parts of the world that I haven’t been in touch with back in my country. So it’s been really, really great to know more. And you’ve tried their foods and talk to them, see their histories and everything

– Yeah, Canada is a country of immigrants. It’s a really new country, I mean Brazil’s also a country. Yeah, largely immigrants. But we’ve had such a big recent immigration from different parts of the world. Originally it was from Europe and then as the time went it became war from Asia and now South Asia and it’s just created such a rich and culture in our cities.

– [Giulia] Yes.

– How do you find work at a Canadian company, what’s that experience been like?

– It’s been really nice. Like I think they are really respectful with my background and everything. Like they know I have a few difficulties to understand a few things like words and how things work. So they are really respectful and comprehensive, things that I wasn’t, that use it back home like people just wanted everything done and doesn’t matter. Here I feel more like respect for your time. Canadians, they helped more like in the environment, they’re really helpful with new people and to help you get the job done. They just, they wanna, they want you to do it but they help you, it’s been really nice.

– That’s wonderful. What are your plans when you finish this program?

– I want to stay here, but I’m still kind of dealing with it because I really miss my family. It’s what makes me, decide if I wanna stay or not, but I think I’m gonna try to apply for PR to stay here a little bit longer.

– That’s great. Well then, you know, and we talked about this on other episodes, there’s lots of opportunities for international students to stay either by transferring into other colleges, staying longer at Tamwood and in some cases, and in many cases we see students are getting permanent job offers from their employers and they qualified for work permit or even in some cases they qualify immediately for permanent. So lots of options, well that’s exciting for you. What would you say to somebody who’s thinking about doing what you’re doing now?

– I would say just do it. Like don’t overthink too much because it’s an opportunity that you’re not gonna regret, we met people from so many different places and it’s amazing to make friends. I made a friend for life that I think if I stayed back home I wouldn’t have met someone like her. And it’s been really amazing to meet people and have an experience outside of my country and my comfort zone. Being out here, it’s totally out of my comfort zone. It made me see things and grow so much that I wasn’t expecting. So just come and have the experience. It’s gonna be amazing, you’re gonna have difficult days. Yes, but it’s worth it. It’s nice and you meet so many places and people, it’s, everything is good in the end.

– That’s so inspiring, thank you so much for sharing that. One thing you said there’s gonna be some difficulties. I’m curious, what kind of difficulties did you face coming here?

– Having to save a little bit of money in the beginning because when I came I stayed a month before I got my part-time so I had to use the currency back in Brazil. So it was a little bit difficult. I have to save a lot and having to deal with a few different times at work, like shifts, like I had to wake up really early and then the class, I was so tired, but then I started learning how to go through it and what times would be best. But in the beginning I couldn’t choose that much because I needed the money. But now it’s like better I got to save a little bit and I learned how to organize my hours and everything. It’s more like money wise. But then after the part-time I was like, okay, we learn how to deal with everything.

– I mean everyone gets a job and once they start working they’re paying for things. We always tell students, be prepared, have enough money to get yourself through the first, you know, two weeks, four weeks. Some people get a job their very first week but they’re out there hustling and you know and some people like yourself, it takes a month and that’s okay because you wanna spend time getting to know the city, making friends. Yeah and then of course once you start working you’re busy, you’ve got work, you’ve got school, you’ve got homework.

– Yeah, we have to learn how to do everything.

– Yeah, how to balance everything, how to manage your time. That’s great, what do you think one of the big takeaways is gonna be for you? Like when you think about all the things, you’ve mentioned some of the benefits that you’ve had, the friends you’ve made for life, the cultural experience of getting to know people from all different countries. Are there any other sort of big impacts that this experience has had on you?

– I’ve been having to deal with different people like compromising a little bit and learning how everybody kind of work. I was used to this back home, but here we staple from so many different places you have to see how they work and kind of navigate through it. So that’s been a little bit difficult, but I’ve been, I think I’ve been do doing great with it.

– Oh yeah, no, I mean all of these experiences, they help you to grow as a person. I heard a quote yesterday that said “the worst times in our life end up becoming the best times in our lives because it’s when you go through these challenges that you grow and you see how you’ve become a bigger person, a better person, a more resilient person and a more grateful person and so there’s so much benefit from going through these, you know, challenges. I think you said pushing yourself outside your comfort zone.

– [Giulia] Yes.

– The way we grow. Well thank you so much. It’s been so nice to get to know you and I enjoyed this conversation. Good luck with the rest of your say in Canada, your plans in the future.

– Thank you. Thank you very much, much for having me Tamsin.

– That’s all for this week’s episode of Work and Study in Canada. Brought to you by Tamwood Careers. Tamwood is a private education company operating career colleges in Toronto, Vancouver, and Whistler Canada. Tamwood offers popular work and study programs in fields like business, hospitality and tourism, digital marketing, web design, UX, UI and entrepreneurship. International students who study with Tamwood gained valuable work experience in Canada and start on a pathway to a successful career and immigration in Canada. You’d like more information about Tamwood and its programs, visit our website, www.tamwood.com. You can also check out our videos on YouTube and connect with us on social, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.