But you don't have Canadian experience: That phrase tore me down as an immigrant but also made me resilient

This First Person column is by Hari KC, who lives in Kitchener, Ont. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ .

I sat across the desk from the hiring manager, trying to steady my knee from nervously tapping as he reviewed my resumé.

He looked at it and said, almost kindly, “You have a lot of experience but not Canadian experience.”

That phrase would follow me everywhere.

I had come from Nepal to Canada under the skilled worker program in 2011 with a master’s degree in English — the very credential that had qualified me to immigrate, but not to land a job.

When my credentials were assessed by immigration officials, my degree was deemed equivalent to a Canadian bachelor’s. But the reality was different in the hiring market, and that's when I re