Skilled Migrant Professionals Autumn 2016 | Page 12

Career How to achieve professional excellence as a migrant ED People, u PROFESSOR MOSES TADÉ was born and raised in Nigeria. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in his home country and then did a Master’s and Ph.D at Queens University in Canada. In 1986, he moved to Australia to work as a lecturer at the University of Queensland until in 1989, he decided to move west and take a job at Curtin University, where he has been ever since. He has risen to become the Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering and in 2008, he was named as one of the top 100 most influential engineers in Australia. Professor Tadé’s academic legacy should be food for thought for all migrants in Australia and an example that they should not be concerned about just surviving here, but also committed to thriving in their chosen profession or business. As the oldest of five siblings in his family, he has intuitively developed the habit of being a good listener, team player, team leader and facilitator, and has built on these strengths throughout his academic career. Professor Tadé said he is proud of his work as a mentor to younger faculty and PhD students, and feels gratified when he sees them enjoy successful academic careers. “Ultimately, this is how I judge my success – not by my individual achievements, but by how successful people become when I work with them.” Being a migrant himself, Professor Tadé said he is aware of the challenges migrants face when trying to fit in amongst the Australian community and workplace. He encourages them not to be discouraged or dissuaded by them, but instead, continue seeking opportunities, and networking with successful migrant and non-migrant professionals until their professional goal is achieved. Regarding racism, he said its true there may be some comments here and there, but mostly it’s the result of people’s ignorance – there are certain people who don’t know how to talk around migrants or are not sensitive to the perspectives of migrants. Ultimately, Professor Tadé believes that migrants to Australia can best integrate themselves into society – and have the best success in life – by maintaining an attitude of openness, tolerance and goodwill. By Moses Oludayo Tadé, Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Science and Engineering 12 www.smpmagazine.com.au | Autumn 2016 “As migrants, we need to be open-minded and we have to be willing to