SUCCESS STORIES
Perfect mentoring match..
Vanessa and mentor ChrisMentor Chris Dunwell, a HR professional with many years senior experience in household name multinationals was matched with mentee Vanessa Sanpin in July 2009, five months after Vanessa and her partner arrived from France.
Chris and Vanessa have postgraduate business qualifications, specialise in HR and are also both migrants. Chris came here 16 years ago from the UK where he had volunteered for a range of charitable organisations including teaching English to migrants. Chris and Vanessa were a perfect mentoring match. According to Vanessa,
‘It was a wonderful opportunity to have Chris as a mentor, we met regularly and he supported me in my first year in the Australian workplace, giving me information about Australia, the culture and the workplace, advising me on my resume, the expectations of the recruitment agencies and lots of things. As brand new to Sydney, enrolling this mentoring program and having Chris as a Mentor was important and helpful. Also, Chris is senior in HR and has got a very good sense of humour. The Program is finished but we are going to keep in touch. Thank you to Chris and to the Sydney Community College!’
Muhammad enters the job market..
Muhammad enjoys SydneyMuhammad was studying “Skills for Work and Training” at Bankstown TAFE and heard about the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program from his teacher, Vivienne.
Muhammad has great IT skills but had been finding it hard to convince employers to “give him a go”. Once he was enrolled in the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program, Sydney Community College found Muhammad some work experience at a large computer manufacturer, and he got a chance to make contacts within the company and find out about an upcoming project due to start.
Muhammad interviewed for work on the project and was offered a short contract. Within a few weeks of enrolling with the college, he had not only had an unpaid work experience placement but had also found some paid work with a large and respected organisation, which will help him to apply for other contract and permanent positions in the future.
“I really thank you for helping me to get this work experience opportunity. I really appreciate the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program and hope through this program more and more skilled migrants will find a job successfully and quickly in their own fields.
I am thankful especially to Ms Vivienne (Bankstown TAFE) and Ms Ursula Walker (Sydney Community College) for their efforts to provide me with this work experience opportunity and for having helped me to enter the Australian job market.”
Dilakshan’s story – in his own words.
Dilakshan Tampoe“With my professional background and work experience overseas, it was very frustrating trying to get my ‘foot in the door’, until I got to know about the Sydney Community College’s Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program.
I must say their volunteer placements are an excellent way of fighting this myth of ‘Australian work experience’. The program gives you an opportunity to display your talent and build your self confidence during this period of transition.
Today SMMP has helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and kick start my career, giving me the opportunity to work toward my ambitions.”
Dilakshan Tampoe – Manager, Marketing and Business Development
Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program Participant 2009
SMMP gives Sam some valuable local knowledge..
Sam the engineerSam has some excellent skills in civil engineering and estimating but was struggling to get interviews for jobs without local work experience on his resume.
Sydney Community College’s Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program team arranged for Sam to undertake some work experience at a large civil engineering and construction firm and Sam found that although he missed out on a contract position with them, the experience still taught him a great deal.
Sam was also very proactive and motivated in his jobseeking activities, building a professional profile online and researching the engineering sector to locate areas of skills need and organisations that required estimators. He contacted several companies directly, rather than through recruitment agencies and ads, and his approach proved to be a winning one.
Only four and a half months after arriving in Australia, Sam managed to get a great job as an estimator and is now keen to share the secrets of his success with others.
“I’m writing to express my deepest thanks for putting me in your work experience program in The Reed Group. It was a very good chance for me to prove my abilities. I got familiar with Australia’s most famous software in estimation called Build Soft-Global Estimating which is very important to be able to work with in here. I also got familiar with tendering process of Australia.”
Ruby starts a business
RubyRuby came to Australia with lots of experience in marketing, administration and customer service, but her professional qualifications were actually in Chinese/English translation and Economics.
Ruby found it difficult to work out how she could use her skills here in Australia, especially since she needed direction and some local workplace knowledge.
Sydney Community College found a mentor for Ruby who helped her work out how she could pull together all of her experience and knowledge and use it to create a new career for herself.
Through the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program, the college also arranged for Ruby to undertake some work experience in the marketing department of a large local organisation, so that she could develop a better understanding of business practices here in Australia.
In the end, Ruby decided to start her own business providing translation services in Chinese/English.
“I have finished my work experience with ACER. It was a good place to understand the local office culture and get hands-on skills for office work.
My experience with my mentor has been very enjoyable and constructive. I have started my own business now in translation. Thank you for matching me so nice a mentor!”
How SMMP helped Farhad…
Farhad at the RTA
Farhad is an engineer with a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering and sound experience as designer of building electrical services.
Despite 15 years experience in calculation, design, documentation and construction supervision of various types of projects, Farhad had been struggling to find any kind of employment here in Australia.
He was finding it very disappointing that he had applied for many jobs but was always turned down, despite having exactly the right skills and experience.
Sydney Community College found Farhad some work experience at the Roads and Traffic Authority in their Intelligent Transport Systems unit and the kind staff of fellow engineers spent time mentoring and helping Farhad as well as providing him with some real work where he could use his skills.
After spending some at the RTA working in a voluntary role, Farhad was offered a contract position in the organisation. However around the same time a permanent position with another company became available, and Farhad eventually decided to accept this permanent employment.
“I believe my work experience in RTA has a great impact on my job seeking process and it was one of the main attraction of my resume for other employers.
I wish to thank you (Ursula), Hellas, and the Community College for providing me this opportunity.
Also I wish to thank Stuart (RTA) for his great support for me during my work experience.”
Arezoo gets a job..
Arezoo and Peter Ware at NuplexArezoo came to Australia and within a few shorts months had found herself a permanent job in the company of her choice. How? Through the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program.
When Arezoo arrived from Iran as a chemical engineer, she enrolled in the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program with Sydney Community College. Arezoo had already done a lot of research on companies in Sydney who could use her skills in the manufacture of resins and paints, and had located two organisations that she wanted to work for.
Sydney Community College approached both employers and asked them to arrange unpaid work experience for Arezoo – and one agreed. Arezoo did two weeks work experience with Nuplex Industries at Botany, and impressed them with how motivated and experienced she was.
Arezoo applied for a position in the organisation during the course of her work experience and after being interviewed, was offered the position!
“Thank you vey much for your help for getting me this work experience. The first day was just great. I have already told many of my friends to get in touch with you for getting local job experiences.”
How the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program worked for Ada..
AdaAda arrived in Australia with excellent qualifications and experience as a high school IT teacher. She had also worked in technical support positions. She eventually managed to find some part time work in a supermarket, but wanted to get employment that was more appropriate to her skills.
Ada approached Sydney Community College about the Skilled Migrant Mentoring Program, funded by NSW AMES and the Dept of Education. Once she was enrolled in the program, Sydney Community College set about trying to find her some work experience that would give her some exposure to a workplace where she could use her IT skills.
The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) agreed to host Ada for some work experience in their IT technical support department, however Ada found that her current employer was not keen on allowing her to take time off to take advantage of the opportunity. Eventually however, Ada was able to start her work experience, and impressed SBS with her skills, hard work and dedication.
While she was at SBS, a position became available there and Ada applied for the role. A week after finishing work experience Ada was asked to attend an interview and a few days later was offered the job.
“I really thank you for helping me get this work experience opportunity. I really appreciate the Skilled Migrant mentoring program and hope more and more skilled migrant can find a job successfully and quickly. I really don’t know how to thank you for all you have helped for me!”