On this week’s podcast I interviewed Mercia Pretorius, Client Success Manager at Industry Connect Australia, a specialist IT Training organisation with offices in Australia and New Zealand, offering a job ready program which involves 6 weeks of technical training and a guaranteed internship with a global software company and soft skills training, which includes resume, LinkedIn profile - and interview preparation to help you apply for IT related jobs with confidence.

If you’re interested, you can contact Mercia via LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercia-pretorius-464b0652/

or visit the website for more information.

https://www.industryconnect.org/

Junaid arrived in Australia in 2015, and is now a well-established Business Reporting Analyst. This podcast is slightly different to most of the interviews I’ve conducted, as the focus is not so much on how to get work and what settlement issues face skilled migrants. We talked more about the opportunities Australia has presented to Junaid and his family, reflecting on culture, community and life in general.

Shihab is an Insights & Data Specialist with extensive experience in the public sector, at both state and federal levels, government agencies and private sector. We first met 7 years ago, back in 2016. Shihab has always been highly motivated with an eye on his career trajectory. He joins me to share his journey.

Faisal is a highly accomplished Civil Engineer with a successful career in Structural Engineering. Before moving to Australia, he had established and managed his own business in Bangladesh. With a wealth of experience in the construction industry, Faisal has honed this expertise in the design and analysis of structures, ensuring their stability and safety.

In Australia, Faisal has transitioned into a new role as an Estimating Manager in a residential building company. In this position, he oversees several critical departments including Sales estimating, Bill of Quantities, Procurement and Production estimating.

We first met 8 years ago in 2015 when Faisal was looking for his first break in Australia, and I introduced him to a contact on mine in the building & construction industry.

Arriving in Australia with a young family, feeling stressed and miserable, confronted with not being able to find professional work and unable to find accommodation because of real estate agents’ requirement to provide a pay slip, employer reference and proof of renting in Australia, Sally realised that their assumptions about immigration were not accurate for the Australian context.

Fast-forward 7 years… the family is well-established, and Sally holds a senior position in People & Culture with an MNC. Sally shares her story of initial hardship and the importance of community and support & guidance in the early days. You can hear our conversation wherever you get your podcasts or from the OBP Australia YouTube channel.

Sally is an impressive human, to say the least, and one of the best communicators I’ve met - a must listen if you want to avoid the pitfalls of immigration and settlement in a new country & culture.

Sally has 15 years’ experience in organisational transformation and change management, across multiple sectors, driving complex changes such as operating model change, technology adoption, organisational design, behavioural change and cultural change. Sally is also a deeply passionate Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (ID&E) advocate aspiring to drive meaningful change in organisations and communities to create a more inclusive culture where everyone feels they belong.

Interestingly, Sally started her professional life as a computer software engineer working in automation.

I first met Rishab several years ago… when I introduced him to an industry contact of mine to help him get his foot in the door of his profession. Rishabh is a Process Improvement Specialist… and has always had a passion for learning new things and a knack for fixing problems. Nothing excites him more than when individuals approach him to share their challenges and problems, as it gives him the opportunity to provide solutions. Over the years, he has successfully tackled challenges faced by the company in which he works… enhancing processes and systems while delivering accurate data to drive effective decision-making. The accuracy of data received from his tools… and the efficiency with which they have been operating without much input… has given him the confidence that he can achieve similar success at other companies as well.

That’s the prime reason he founded Clay Consulting. They’re a small team of individuals dedicated to helping other companies accomplish their goals and achieve success. Their primary goal is to ensure people use their time efficiently… and achieve their desired outcomes… by providing them with good data to increase their productivity. Rishabh loves helping people… and gets satisfaction from making their life easier in any way.

https://www.clayconsulting.com.au/

Abhishek is a Civil Site Engineer with over 10 years' experience in India, working mainly in underground works, and is about to start work in Australia on a major infrastructure project. He most recently worked on an expressway tunnel project in India, looking after the project management consultancy work on matters relating to the tunnel face conditions.

We first met a couple of months back when Abhishek engaged OBP Australia for interview coaching. In our conversation, he talks about the critical aspects that led to success in finding work.

Omid is a Registered Architect [RAIA] and Registered Landscape Architect [AILA] with over 15 years of experience in Australia, the UK and the Middle East, contributing to architectural, urban, and environmental projects, with responsibilities including design and documentation, research and report writing, and project management.

I first met Omid in 2015. He struck me as passionate, creative and open-minded about his options in Australia. After 7 years working for architectural firms in Australia, he has decided to start his own business – Omid Architects – which will no doubt bring him independent and the associated challenges of ‘going it alone’.

In our conversation, Omid talks about:

• Immigration expectations & reality
• Difference between Perth & Melbourne/Sydney
• Geographical isolation
• Australian workplace culture
• Job seeking revelations
• Working as an architect in Australia
• Local experience
• Career progression
• Working as an independent consultant as opposed to being an employee