Saba given the chance to shine in new career

When Saba arrived in Australia as an Eritrean refugee 11 years ago, she never dreamed she would one day be working on some of the heaviest engineering equipment in the country. After completing her medical engineering degree in Brisbane at the Queensland University of Technology, Saba attended a Given the Chance job skills training workshop in Melbourne.

The Given the Chance project links people with a refugee background with mentors from the business, community and government sectors, providing work experience opportunities and job search training. The program was developed by the Ecumenical Migration Centre in Melbourne.

Jed McCartney, commercial director of a locomotive engineering and maintenance business in Melbourne, completed the Given the Chance mentor training in January 2006. He was matched with Saba and quickly converted her to mechanical engineering. Saba made the transition from designing small, delicate medical instruments to big, heavy rail equipment.

Saba, who initially had little work experience in railway engineering and was looking for her first full-time job, is now in charge of the company's locomotive test program, including gaining certification from the regulators.

Recently, Saba completed postgraduate studies in rolling stock engineering at the University of Wollongong.

Jed says of Saba: 'We were so impressed with her enthusiasm and dedication that we offered her a full-time position and she became our third full-time employee.'

Given the Chance is one of the projects showcased in the Empowering Refugees: A Good Practice Guide to Humanitarian Settlement publication. The guide was developed by the department's Humanitarian Branch in collaboration with the Refugee Council of Australia with seed funding from a joint Commonwealth and state and territory committee.

The guide can be downloaded from www.immi.gov.au.