As a landed immigrant, there are things that one has to become accustomed to.  One of these is volunteerism.  In the Philippines, volunteerism is not a common practice.  It was Bessie Pinon, a settlement officer at the Multicultural Helping House Society, who broached the idea and encouraged me to volunteer at MHHS. She told me that volunteering at a government-funded institution would benefit me in my job search.  Shortly after, I signed up as a volunteer receptionist.  While the shift was short, I gained a lot from learning the ropes of operating a multi-line telephone system and interacting with callers, visitors and the MHHS personnel. This paved the way for me to be accepted as a temp employee of a well-known temp agency in BC. MHHS was my work reference and I thank Tessie Rodriguez for the accommodation.  Now I am employed as a temp to hire. The rest is up to me. Thank you for the support MHHS, especially Tatay Tom!