Global Talent Idaho

Remember how hard it was to write your first professional resume? Do you still get nervous before a job interview? What if you had to start your career all over again in a new country on the other side of the world with a different culture and language?

Global Talent Idaho (GTI) is a non-profit dedicated to helping eliminate employment barriers for skilled immigrants, refugees and asylees. Today there are more than 1.8 million college-educated immigrants in the U.S. who are unemployed or significantly underemployed. GTI connects local employers with this highly skilled talent pool so they can move beyond low-wage jobs, achieve their full economic potential and build a more diverse, vibrant and talented workforce in Idaho.

Rasha is a pharmacist who came to Boise as a refugee from Iraq. In Iraq, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, worked in a pharmacy and later owned and operated her own pharmacy in Baghdad. Unfortunately, she and her family had to flee their home and leave her successful career behind for the safety of her family because her uncle worked for the United States Army.

In 2014, Rasha and her family arrived in Boise. Among the many challenges of the move were figuring out how to reclaim her pharmacy career. Despite many years of experience in pharmacy, her credentials were not valid in the U.S. Rasha came to GTI excited and motivated, but unaware of how to navigate the cumbersome relicensing and professional-level job search process. GTI helped Rasha validate her university degree, build a U.S. professional resume, access resources to hone her English proficiency, provided training to understand interviewing in the U.S., network with professionals in the community, and secure an internship with a  local pharmacy that eventually led to a full-time permanent job. Rasha says, “I love being able to use my experience from Iraq to continue helping people in Boise, my new home.”

To learn more, visit http://globaltalentidaho.org/