Ambitious refugee forges dream career path through innovative social enterprise

SSI employment program participant Tiba Obada captured at TEC.

“The most valuable thing I gained is I feel more confident as a new employee. I developed life skills; ones you need not just at work, but in life too,” Ms Obada said.   

Ms Obada decided to participate in TEC after completing work experience at SSI, as she was seeking further professional development to increase her employment opportunities.   

Before Ms Obada left her country, she was in her final year of a Diploma of Nursing and had completed three months of work placement in a hospital.

Passionate about pathology, she set forensic science as a career goal and studied a pathology collection in Australia at the same time she was completing her HSC.   

Supported by the AMP Foundation, a simulated office learning experience, TEC allows participants to build practical experience and career skills which are transferable to real-life work environments.   

While at TEC, Ms Obada gained experience in contacting companies and scheduling pop-up stores, searching for suppliers, producing brochures and social media content, and creating effective consumer research surveys.   

“TEC was a new journey for me. I’d never experienced anything like it before,” Ms Obada said.   

“As a refugee and newcomer to Australia, the TEC experience was so valuable and interesting.”  

TEC has helped in improving Ms Obada’s communication skills and boosting her confidence. She has since found a job in her dream profession in pathology as a blood collector at St George Hospital.   

“I will always have the ambition to be in the upper and highest staircase of success.”