Will work for experience!
Realising a lack of local experience is the main stumbling block to gainful employment, many skilled migrants are willing to take up unpaid employment in either government agencies or the private sector.
Nicholas Bent, Director of Complete Industrial Engineering Solutions (CIES) is currently participating in a SMPO-driven program which provides skilled migrants looking for work experience with job placement. The program covers migrants' undertaking work experience with workplace insurance, so as to lessen the burden on potential employers.
"The good thing about the program is that the insurance is covered by the government, so as an employer you are a little more comfortable about taking the risk," Bent said.
Originally from China, Richard Shengdong is working with CIES on PC-based industrial automation, in a role Bent was having trouble filling.
"The work experience program is good because you get a chance to give people a trial, people proving themselves in a job is worth ten times any bit of paper," Bent says.
Although he concedes there is a slight language barrier, Bent believes this will not present any significant problem.
"Richard's enthusiasm is awesome," Bent says. "Mainly because he just wants a job."
However successful it has proven, not all IT-skilled migrants are able to take advantage of the program.
Pavitta Kaur, emigrated from India in September 1999. Originally an IT trainer, after arriving in Australia with a degree in Science she updated her skills locally with a diploma in information management. Despite knowledge of a raft of programming languages, she has found it difficult to gain local experience, and is willing to undertake unpaid work experience.
-The main problem is work cover insurance," Kaur explains. -I am not eligible for the programs which cover employer's insurance expenses, so it is hard to convince anyone to take me on even for unpaid work experience."
Braving a raft of knock-back letters Kaur continues to scour the papers in the hope of getting her foot in the door. Like Anil Chakma, she is looking for a chance to use her skills to contribute to Australia, but finds it hard to put on a brave face in the face of what seem at times insurmountable odds.
"Migrants don't come just to sit here, they come to contribute to the nation," said Chakma. "We are not asking to take anything away, we just need a chance to show what we can give."
Nothing has changed in the last 14 years.
When i came here in '88 it took me more than a year to get a job, although i had 15 years experience in a wide area of IT. But once i had that first job, all problems were over.
Also, if there is such a large number of IT jobs available (as Bruce Lin said: "we really need to be getting a lot more people in Australia into IT careers.”) then why do nearly all ads for IT personel require a minimum of 1 year of experience? How about some companies take on people with shorter experience and train them?