In Nigeria, Chioma Ogbonna was an accomplished construction industry professional.
She had a Bachelor of Science in quantity surveying and Master of Science in construction management.
Her immense knowledge amounted to little when she made the giant leap to start a new life in Australia, despite having moved up the ladder into a quality insurance role where she managed all aspects of compliance for engineers, tradespeople and contractors onsite.
“It’s been very difficult to get a job so far because I don’t have the Australian industry experience,” Ms Ogbonna said.
So the mother of two has been studying a Certificate IV in Building and Construction at TAFE to again make her way up the career chain.
She hopes one day to help other women break into the heavily male-dominated industry.
“My long term goal is to be able to one day help other minorities into a construction career and to be able to pass on my knowledge and experience,” she said.
“I believe that attracting and retaining minorities such as females into the construction sector is extremely important. This will ensure there is a sustainable workforce supply into to the construction sector which will be vital for the continued growth of the industry and the Australian economy.”
On top of her TAFE Queensland studies Ms Ogbonna is learning estimating software, costX, having noted that this skill set will also increase her chances of finding employment.
“My ideal job would be to work in a construction administration role and I noticed that knowledge of costX is a requirement for many of the construction administration roles here,” Chioma said.
“In the construction industry things are always changing through new technologies and I believe that you have to keep updating your knowledge or otherwise you will be left behind.”
“When I go for interviews and I am asked what I’ve been doing with my career since coming to Australia; I want to show potential employers that I am adding knowledge to what I already know and upskilling to be job ready,” she said.
