From Cuba to Canada: How iQmetrix’s Overseas Recruitment Drive Gave Me and My Family a New Life

Finding top talent is a challenge, and iQmetrix has always been dedicated to bringing in nothing but the best when a skills gap arises. Even if that means searching the globe and jumping through hoops to get the right person for the job.

Over the past couple of years, iQmetrix has been working with a Vancouver-based international technology recruitment program, VanHack, to source some of its candidates from overseas. This involves much more than just the usual hiring process, as these are not remote-working positions. Which means that successful candidates — and often their family — also need to go through the immigration process and settle in Canada before starting work. That’s quite the major life change.

To find out what that feels like, iQmetrix spoke to one of its newer VanHack recruits — Nils Telleria, who came with his family from Havana, Cuba to Regina, Saskatchewan in November 2022 to join iQmetrix as a Senior Software Engineer. Here’s his story.

iQmetrix: Nils, you’ve been through a huge change to come to Canada and join iQmetrix — and you brought your wife and children with you. We’d love to hear your story. Where were you working previously, and why did you decide to look for a tech role in Canada?

Nils: I was living in Havana, Cuba, working as a software development consultant. In the last few months before leaving to join iQmetrix, I was working remotely for a company called ONSITE.LIVE in Spain. I decided to make Canada my target for a new technology role because I already had a lot of friends in Canada, and I have family in Toronto. I knew that Canada had a lot of great tech companies offering good positions. So, in order to improve my family’s personal finances and income, we decided we would move to Canada.

How did you get involved with the VanHack technology recruitment program?

I had previously done some remote work for a company in Toronto, so when I started to think about getting a job in Canada, I spoke to them, and they referred me to VanHack. I also have family in Toronto who went through the VanHack program to get work in Canada. So this helped me with my final decision to use VanHack to find a Canadian job.

And then, in that process, what made you choose iQmetrix as a potential Canadian employer?

When I started the application process with VanHack, I couldn’t see the names of the employers — instead, the system matches you with compatible positions. After I had started the process, a position that looked very compatible with me was listed, and it was at iQmetrix. Looking at the iQmetrix company profile, I saw that it also looked like a great fit for me. This feeling was validated by the first one or two rounds of interviews. I felt very comfortable with the recruitment process, and everyone I spoke to was very welcoming and humble.

Once you’d accepted the iQmetrix job, how was the immigration process for you and your family?

That was much tougher. Immigration is very challenging, but it was what we wanted, we’d made the decision to do it a long time ago, and we embraced it as a family. 

And how is it now, living in Regina and working at iQmetrix?

Now that we’re living in Regina and I’m working at iQmetrix, I’d say our plans and decisions have been totally validated. That’s in terms of my compatibility with iQmetrix, the company’s values, the way people work here, and how welcoming everybody is. The weather has been very cold! But that’s something we will learn to deal with.