#mtopstorytelling<\/a> tells the stories of our MTOP associates, who are highly skilled refugees mostly from Syria, Iran, Irak and Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\nBe inspired by our MTOP stories!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Sarmad Abdulrahi<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/19_Sarmad-9.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\nI am Sarmad, I was born in 1990 in Iraq and lived in Baghdad. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
I completed my postgraduate studies in mechanical engineering with a focus on refrigeration. In Baghdad, after my graduation, I worked for about a year at the United Nations (UN). It was my first challenging experience in the administrative sector. <\/span>Afterwards, I worked for about one and a half years in the field of air conditioning and refrigeration systems. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In 2013, I had to decide to leave my home country and my first stop was Turkey. I wanted to continue my studies, a Masters in Education.\u00a0<\/span>However, after a year my visa expired. I had to leave Turkey, but the situation in Iraq was very bad. I didn’t really know what to do and finally I came to Austria in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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Arrival in Austria<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
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It really took me some time to understand, how I could integrate myself into the Austrian society. The atmosphere and culture are very different to my home country and that sometimes raised questions I needed to find answers to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
After I had received my residence permit, I lived with my Austrian friend, who still helps me a lot in understanding the business culture, life and langue in Austria. Also I had to learn German. I did some German courses and met many people who helped me improve my pronunciation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Finding employment<\/h4>\n
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The next challenge was to understand the labour market in Austria, so that I could apply for the right job.\u00a0<\/span>In 2017, I worked as a trainee for 3 months. That was an important step for me. I got a first glimpse of daily working life in Austria.\u00a0<\/span>In March 2018, I found a job in my professional area and I am really happy. I want to continue reaching my goals and I feel that finding employment was an important step in that direction.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
My advise for my peers<\/h4>\n
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You always have to develop and not just stay at the same level.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
For example, focus on gaining more experience and improve yourself in your branch, so that more jobs and opportunities will open up in the future!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “Austria is a country that respects human rights.” #mtopstorytelling tells the stories of our MTOP associates, who are highly skilled refugees mostly from Syria, Iran, Irak and Afghanistan. Be inspired by our MTOP stories! Sarmad Abdulrahi I am Sarmad, I was born in 1990 in Iraq and lived in Baghdad. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=4846"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4955,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4846\/revisions\/4955\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4836\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=4846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=4846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtop.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=4846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}