Mohammad Khosravani moved to Canada to kick-start a career in AI. Now, after six months of fruitless job hunting, he’s eyeing the U.S.in Tehran in the 2010s, I was fascinated by computers from a young age. Like many kids from my generation, I spent countless hours playing video games. I was endlessly curious about the technologies shaping our world.
Instead, I gravitated toward artificial intelligence. The AI sector was evolving rapidly, offering new things to learn every day. I saw a lot of headlines about how natural language processing was going to transform the world, and I wanted to work in that space. I learned everything I could to boost my technical knowledge, studying videos on YouTube about machine learning, neural networks and natural language understanding.
That’s when I began considering Canada. Although it had a smaller AI sector than the U.S., I had several friends who’d already moved there, and they spoke highly of life there. They told me that Canada was a peaceful place, and I wouldn’t have to worry about political problems like I did in Iran. I applied to five Canadian universities, and eventually connected with the supervisor of the AI master’s program at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
After nearly six months of searching with no success, I think he was right. I’ve completed my program and defended my thesis, which would normally be a cause for celebration. But I feel demoralized and discouraged, because I’m not sure of my next step. I understand that networking is crucial, but it’s particularly challenging for me as an immigrant residing in an isolated community like Thunder Bay. I’m competing with people who have established networks in tech hubs like Toronto.