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Magodi Sakala’s Story
I came to Australia in 2005 to study for my masters degree. I had previoulsy been working in EastTimor for the United Nations.
I first came to know about Australia through my work mates and had the opportunity to visit Australia for the first time in 2001.
My Australian experience has had its highs and lows. Highs in the sense that I have reinvented myself and grown a career in Lecturing and Training.
In Africa I worked in the Banking and Financial industry, but I found it difficult to enter this industry in Australia.
Many companies and recruiters wanted previous experience and I had no Australian work experience, despite having a postgraduate qualification. This was quite frustrating, because it felt as though I was starting all over again.
Starting from the bottom is especially hard for migrants, who have extensive experience that isn’t recognised in Australia.
I built up a good network of postgraduates who helped ease my introduction to the Australian workplace. To achieve my networking objectives I joined various groups such as Alumni. I found it very useful, because Perth is a small place and most jobs can be sourced via networking. I quickly learned that if you are not known and without any Australian work experience it is difficult to get a job.
I’ve had mainly positive experiences in the Perth work environment. I currently work as a Lecturer and I’m surrounded by very educated and knowledgeable colleagues. For people contemplating migration from Africa, my advice would be to do their homework on their given profession and the opportunities available. Building a network with locals is extremely important for assimilation in the Australian job market.
I see SMP as a good source of financial planning information, because it is important for migrants to obtain reliable financial advice from an immigrant perspective.