Migrants prove their worth

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

When Dr Nabin Pradhan came to New Zealand three years ago, he was told that he was over-qualified for jobs here - and that his accent was too foreign.

The 38-year-old Nepalese roading engineer, who holds a doctorate from the Ukraine and speaks four languages, spent eight months looking for work before being offered a fulltime position in Auckland by a fellow immigrant.

"There were lots of excuses. Sometimes I was told I was over-qualified and at other times that I didn't have a New Zealand accent."

Now, he manages the company that gave him his start, and has trained more than 300 New Zealand engineers to operate computer-modelling software that it supplies to local bodies and consultants throughout the country.

Some of those engineers are selling their new skills overseas, installing computerised management systems throughout the Pacific, while 35 countries have bought road measurement equipment manufactured by the firm's multinational staff.

Justino Heriera was a chef for most of his 17 years in the Chilean Navy, before being jailed and then exiled for questioning an order to cast a vote for military dictator General Augusto Pinochet.

His chef's ticket assured him of work when he arrived in New Zealand in 1988, but he now teaches others who are not so job-ready at a training restaurant which the Latin American community will officially open in Onehunga on Monday.

Both of his initial trainees are qualified engineers who hope that by working in the Tango Bar restaurant they will raise their English to a standard that will enable them to rejoin their professions.

The experiences of Dr Pradhan and Mr Heriera were brought to the attention of the Weekend Herald's Jobs Challenge team after its report last week that more than 11,000 immigrants were registered as unemployed in Auckland.

Dr Pradhan's employer, Dr Chris Bennett, is himself an immigrant from Canada.

He came backpacking through New Zealand 18 years ago before deciding to complete his civil engineering studies here.

When Dr Bennett set up his firm, HTC Infrastructure Management, in Waimauku in 1998, Dr Pradhan became a key figure in its success.

"We gave him [Dr Pradhan] a chance and within three years he is leading the development of New Zealand's road management system," says Dr Bennett.

His nine-member team now resembles a mini-United Nations, including another Nepalese, a Chinese, an Indian, two South Africans and three Kiwis.

"The message I want to get across to other employers is that if they give people a chance they will be rewarded."