Photo credit: Agata Atmore

Ashok Kolla self portrait

After Ashok Kolla completed his MBA in 2007 with a specialization in Human Resources, Ashok Kolla took a position in Talent Acquisition. In 2014, he relocated from India to Toronto and worked as an HR Manager with generalist functions and in 2017, he landed in Montreal to begin another chapter in his career.

Seeing the long-term potential in Human Resources technology, Ashok Kolla decided to switch careers. However, during these challenging times of COVID19, he was faced with obstacles in not only breaking into the job market, but with his goal of shifting his career path.

After hearing about YES through a colleague in August 2020, Ashok began his journey with the help of one of our employment counsellors. They provided Ashok with valuable assistance in reviewing his CV, Linkedin profile and helped him to improve his presentation skills with respect to phone and online interviews. Ashok’s employment counsellor held virtual meetings with him on a regular basis to check in with his progress which proved to be particularly useful for him to maintain his focus. Along with his career counselling, Ashok attended several workshops to improve his chances of getting hired. As a result of all his hard work, he has been offered a job as Implementation Specialist with one of the largest companies in consulting services in HR and Payroll.

In his own words, “YES offered a great platform so that I could connect with others and improve my career prospects,” Ashok says. “My strong recommendation to those who would like to change careers or enter the job market after a gap in careers is this: attend the workshops given by YES and speak to one of their employment counsellors about your career plans. They can and will help you in your journey to a new career!”