‍Sergei Dorokhin tells us about his great experience with ELP and his successful journey to find work. Thanks Sergei! We so appreciate these words and wish Sergei all the best in his future life in Aotearoa.

“It was about four years since we arrived in New Zealand, but we still could not get jobs in the professions of our choice.

“Back in Russia, I owned a small, but stable business with consistent income providing IT services to my permanent clients for many years. My wife was an office admin and accountant.

“We both have great skills to offer, but a lack of English fluency was apparent.

“The more frustrating that was because we lived for five years overseas before our arrival to New Zealand and were studying and speaking English for years already.

“I was even working as IT Helpdesk Support in one international construction project in Southeast Asia, and thus when we were on the way to New Zealand, I had very little doubts that I would face difficulties getting at least an entry-level job in IT.

“Honestly, my loving wife was not that much optimistic, but she admitted that we could work at least in domestic and construction services. And we, eventually, had to do that for quite a while.

“If you are an immigrant with some special skills, you most likely have a similar experience.

“Over time, you may feel underrated and worthless. And your current work environment may strain you from improvement.

“Do not give up! Here is help!”

“As long as we could afford to work less and concentrate on studying, we continued to learn English and polish our professional skills on our own. Next, the pandemic happened. As we were not allowed to work, we used those circumstances to speed up our learning process.

“We got great courses during deep sales on the Internet. In addition to that, my wife enrolled in a local polytechnic Business Administration study program.

“As long as the lockdown was lifted, we started applying for our dream jobs, but without significant success. We did not get any reply on our applications. Something was definitely wrong with them.

“At that time, we got an offer of study from English Language Partners. We attended an interview and found that the school provides tailored courses on various topics. At that time, there was not the opportunity to join the courses for Job Seekers.

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"Fortunately, the tutors were experienced in online lessons. Thus we did not need to wait for vacant seats in the local groups. We were quickly offered suitable courses according to the areas needed for improvement and assigned into online groups regardless of their locations."

“I was enrolled in the Upper Intermediate Reading and Writing course on Nov 20, 2020. I am really appreciative of the opportunity to learn English from Janet Arthur and want to commend her computer skills separately.

“It was a game-changer for me. I could realise specific areas of my English writing where I lacked skills."

“Also, I had live conversations with my co-students, many of those already landed their dream jobs, although they had English proficiency similar to mine.

“Besides all, the course helped me fight my imposter syndrome. On the second day of the year 2021, I armed myself with new writing skills and started actively applying for an IT job.

“After the holidays, it was quiet for a while, so I read articles, watched blogs for job seekers, and worked on good CV and cover letter styles, still applying.

“To my surprise, that very first application worked out, and I got my first IT job in New Zealand, very casual, though. I did not get many hours, but I was assigned as a reliever to work as part of a prominent international IT corporation.

“I got a priceless opportunity to work at a big bank office and government department helping their people with IT inquiries, further developing my English skills and fluency."

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"And yes, it was nice to have well-known brand names on my next resumes.

“The reading and writing course helped me a lot in developing my writing skills. My resume, cover letters, and LinkedIn profile became more concise and accurate, and applications more successful with time. I was getting more replies and attended several interviews.

“And today is the first day in my full-time role as an IT Support Analyst in a decent IT company!

“I hope my wife will share my success soon.

“Thanks a lot, English Language Partners!”

Sergei Dorokhin

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