Sulaf Al-Shaikhly has a unique immigration story of how her transferable skills got her career success. She was born in New York, then moved with her family to Iraq at age six.
Sulaf obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the field of computer science. She continued by giving lectures and training to students. But Sulaf’s career was abruptly halted with the outbreak of the Iraq War.
As her story goes, she and her family had to flee to Jordan. So she had to find creative ways to apply her transferable skills so as to progress with her career in a new country.
She is now an advocate for “transferable skills” the kind of flexible career skills that you can demonstrate from job to job, or country to country. Read Sulaf’s story below.
Adapting in the Face of Adversity
“Initially, when you leave, you really don’t know what to do, you just have to find out the next step,” Sulaf says. Most Iraqis had left for neighboring countries only to wait for situations to cool down.
“Our situation was intended to be temporary. But then it overstretched into much longer years until the host country got crowded. So Work permits renewal were denied. You realize you shouldn’t stay aloof, but try to find what best move to take next.”
In Jordan, where the congestion of war refugees made jobs greatly competitive, Sulaf said in her story that she had to find a creative way to use her transferable skills and experience in information technology.
She began teaching in a computer center and rose to become the manager in six months. But Sulaf wanted something more challenging and interesting.
“I’m the type of person, she gestured, “who loves taking different classes and discover new things, so I took courses at different places to satisfy my learning passion.
It probably may have been better if I had planned the sure way forward, but I did not always do that. It’s just the idea of always being open-minded about accepting new possibilities, rather than sticking to one plan.”
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Personal Networking
Sulaf was able to explore other employment options, all thanks to a network of acquaintances who had also migrated to Jordan. A friend had told her about a free course on stock market consulting which could earn one a job opportunity.
Sulaf’s excellent performance and previous teaching background made her a great candidate. She was given a chance to train people about how to manage stocks on an online platform.
But part of this role involved the regretting experience of witnessing how her clients traded and lost their savings, including refugees and immigrants who were seeking a source of income, so she had to move on.
A friend from college introduced Sulaf with a former professor who offered her employment in project management at a multinational company.
As at then, Sulaf had commenced a second master’s degree, this time in business administration with the motive of gaining from courses that would teach her the required skills for pursuing a wider range of careers in the United States.
“In this case, my story is not that of a typical immigrant because I moved with a large chunk of the society I recognized. But renewing visas and residency permits became increasingly complicated in Jordan. I, therefore, made sense to try and move to the U.S. since my brother and I were born there.”
Sulaf and her family then decided to establish themselves in the U.S., and Sulaf got ready to progress her professional career in New York. Computer science programs in Iraq schools were taught in English, that was a language she knew, so she had the advantage of moving to an English-speaking country.
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Relocating To Move Forward
When Sulaf began her MBA studies in Jordan, she was careful to select classes that would be more useful abroad in case she didn’t complete the degree. Indeed, her studies had not finished when she left for New York.
For her initial six months in the U.S., she worked on completing her unfinished projects which she had started in Jordan. Her job for a multinational firm with sister companies in the U.S. gave her a chance of changing countries without changing jobs.
However, her relocation to a new country made Sulaf lost most of her network and connections. Then she decided to do volunteer work by translating online publications as a way of enhancing her language proficiency and remain active in her new environment while strategizing her next steps. She suggests, “you need to seek an organization that helps you reconnect”.
Nine months later, a cousin informed her about a job readiness program at Upwardly Global. “Upwardly Global counselors usually assist mentees with their network. They helped with résumés and mock interviews.” Through Upwardly Global, Sulaf got employment at WES, where she has been working for nine years and twice promoted, to a manager and advanced evaluation specialist.
Understanding The Story of Marketing Transferable Skills
Transferable skills involve the story of how skills go with you from one job to another or one country to the other.
There may be lots of professional integration stonewalls beyond your control, like not having your degree from abroad recognized, or having to meet requirements for licensing and re-credentialing from regulatory bodies. But identifying, enhancing, and expanding transferable skills and the story of competencies will equip you in adapting to changing circumstances.
Sulaf notes in her story of transferable skills that the term is not very well known in some countries. You instinctively believe your skills are transferable, but you unconsciously use that term.
She also wasn’t really strategizing on how to use her transferable skills. Instead, her attitude was more on the desire of seeing what’s out there that fits her before she applies when the job requirements involve what she knew she could do.
Every new experience brought Sulaf more chances of developing and have different skills. She became a good fit for WES because of her Arabic proficiency and professional experience in Middle Eastern countries, but she understood she would have to learn new topics, such as international education systems and credential evaluations.
As she did in Jordan, Sulaf determined to acquire knowledge based on her abilities and interests, including the professional requirements of the job.
In Sulaf story about expanding her transferable skill set, she was successful at emphasizing the skills she believed would be useful in various professional settings, making it easy for her to explore different pathways.
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How To Strategize Using Your Transferable Skill For Career Options
We described below, how Sulaf used informational interviews with other essential job search tips immigrants can learn about career options:
An informational interview is a conversation with a person in a role or organization you want to learn more about. You ask common travel visa questions to precisely find out more about what the position is like including specific responsibilities along with other aspects of working in the field.
Sulaf noted that informational interviews can be very helpful “because you find out if a job is exactly what you thought it was supposed to be, from a person in that same position.”
Networking is another important way Sulaf learned to ease her transition into a new career. She notes, “Networking events were very helpful because you could build local connections. I have always tried adding local people to my LinkedIn contacts, so I could expand my network and find needed people in the field to connect with under targeted themes.”
Volunteering has also helped Sulaf manage through many transitions in her life. Most experts will recommend volunteering as a tool to develop new skills and create a network. Sulaf not only volunteered to be a translator in her initial years in New York but she also consistently sought volunteer opportunities within her current organization.
She stated that “I get more active with various teams at work and participate when possible. Stay curious, because there will always be a chance to get involved. If you had met people who helped you along the way, you’ll be glad to help those who come after you.”
The Power of Change
For Sulaf, making many professional changes have ultimately been a positive experience for her in spite of the many twists and turns in her career.
“The end result is that I am more confident. I know if I ever have to change again, I will be able to recreate myself. You become more sure of yourself once you’ve done it a few times,” she says.
There’s always that part of growing up somewhere else and there is a different path in your life than you expected and missing aspects of what you left. At the same time, after many passing years, you would have re-established your life and your connections, your view expands and you embrace your new life.
In the beginning, It’s always difficult to accept leaving your life behind and start over. Life keeps changing, so I try not to get stuck in one way or pursuing only one goal. I continue to grow and learn new things that are of interest in various fields.
The more experience and skills you have, the wider the range of pathways you can harness. It is interesting to learn further about Why It Is Still Valuable To Go To College In The United States.
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