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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Cait Kelly

Sam was an engineer in Baghdad but couldn’t land a callback for similar roles in Australia. Many face the same issue

Sam Matti
Engineer Sam Matti applied for ‘every possible and available position on Seek’ that matched his qualifications but resorted to working as a cleaner and in catering to help pay the bills Photograph: Sam Matti

When Sam Matti came to Australia, he had a bachelor degree in automation engineering and five years of experience working as an engineer at an electric power plant in Baghdad. After fleeing religious persecution in Iraq, where Islamic State was targeting minority Christians, Matti arrived in Australia in 2015. Here, Matti, who speaks five languages, applied for every suitable engineering job – but couldn’t even land an interview.

“I applied for every possible and available position on Seek,” says Matti, now 37.

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