A Golden Key Alumni, former President of the Macquarie University chapter, and currently a Senior Analyst in the Technology & Controls Team at Deloitte Australia, Rakin Hasan’s journey has been remarkable.

Rakin came from Bangladesh as an international student in 2013.

He says for international students it is difficult to tap into the employment market but with his Golden Key connections, Rakin was able to find employment.

“I went to a lot of the conferences and one of the most exciting was in 2015 at the Gold Coast. That was one of the most helpful summits, because I got my first job from it,” Rakin says.

“I met someone who was a speaker and he was working with one of the Big Four. When I graduated, I stayed in touch with all my Golden Key colleagues, and that person posted a job on LinkedIn. I messaged him, and he said he was happy to refer me.

“Through that networking at the Golden Key International Summit I got my first job. That was a testament for myself that when networking, especially if you can tap into your connections with Golden Key, you can find wonderful things for yourself.”

Staying in touch with his network, Rakin has been involved with many Golden Key initiatives. In 2020, when faced with Covid-19 lockdown and restrictions, Golden Key Asia-Pacific introduced a Webinar series. Rakin lead the initiative and presented the regions first ever GK Talk “Enacting a Beacon for Change with Rakin Hasan”.

“I’ve been a career coach for about five or six years now. I started off in University, and I wanted to help people with resumes and covers letters. I had a side gig going on,” he says.

“It was last year in the pandemic that I wanted to make it free for people.  I put up a post and started giving free career coaching sessions to people who were losing jobs, and to people who could not find jobs.”

It was during this time, Rakin became a CA speaker at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand.

“Over the past year and a half, every moment I could find free out of work, I would invest in helping people create their cover letter or resume, or prepare for interviews.”

“I would go to universities and talk in front of students and professionals, talking about things that were important, things that would help them directly in their job or their career.”

With all the remarkable things Rakin is doing, it is no surprise he was recently identified by Acuity Magazine as one of the Top 20 under 35 Future Leaders.

“I feel like this was something I was building up to for a long time. It helps me continue to do the things I do well, which is going in front of people and talking and motivating people.

For Golden Key members, Rakin offers the following advice.

“Learn to sell yourself. That is why a lot of the Golden Key events are so important, because that is what they teach you. Yes education is important, but we are all a story and you need to learn how to tell your story. “

“Getting the job is literally a sales pitch and you need to have to perfect that sales pitch.”

Want to learn more from Rakin Hasan? Check out his second GK Webinar here: https://academy.goldenkey.org/video/identifying-risks-from-emerging-technologies/

After graduating with a Master’s degree in International Development from La Trobe University in December 2020, I have been involved in the task of finding an internship opportunity and taking the first steps towards a socially driven career in the international development sector.

This has been a long and challenging process that certainly had its ups and downs. Given my background in law, it was particularly difficult to adapt my resume, cover letters, and references to an appealing format for employers within the field. Later, as the interview opportunities started to show up, I had to completely rethink how I could communicate my previous experiences and translate them into actionable skills for the role at stake.

I wish I could say I found the definitive recipe for it, but the truth is that it was a tentative process, filled with lots of trial and error. But it all paid off: I have recently received a job offer for an exciting internship role at the United Nations Global Compact, which has everything to do with what I studied and aspire to do in my professional future.

As I reflect on the lessons I have learned along the way, a few come to mind.

First, look for help! Although this has been an intimate journey to a certain degree, I definitely could not have done it alone. I had the privilege of interacting with countless experienced professionals to learn a great deal from their stories. I also took advantage of an industry mentoring program offered by my university, which allowed me to interact closely with a senior professional in the field over 12 weeks.

The more people you engage with, the more prepared you became to deal with the selection processes ahead of you.

Second, don’t stop learning! During this nine months hiatus, while I was applying for roles, I made a personal commitment to keep learning new skills to further sophisticate my employability. I believe there is a significant loss of opportunity when someone involved in the “application phase” assumes this is a period of “hopeful expectation”.

Instead, I invite those struggling with this phase to be proactive and take advantage of to learn new skills that could be useful for future applications. To me, this took the shape of learning Spanish – a language that I always admired and whose mastery would inevitably benefit me in the context of an internationally-focused sector.

Third, organization is key! Dealing with the process of applying for roles as if it was your actual job is absolutely crucial. To do so, you have to be organized. This involves setting specific (and non-negotiable) moments throughout your week to survey new openings and prepare your applications. It also entails being systematic when it comes to testing new approaches to resume writing, interview presentations, or seeking feedback regarding your performance.

Although I realize that my experiences might not be translatable to everyone else, I sincerely hope that someone struggling with job applications could find some inspiration here.

I know that this can be an exhausting process, but perhaps the best advice I could give is “don’t give up”. Only those who persist through the inevitable “no’s” will be successful at the end of the day. And the prize for those who do is a chance to tip your career in a direction that is meaningful to you. Definitely worth it if you ask me!

I joined the Golden Key National Honor Society on June 9th, 1997 after graduating from La Trobe University, Australia. It was a huge boost to my personal confidence at the time, but it wasn’t until my international travels brought me to Hawaii and Japan that I realized the true essence of its mission. Let me tell you a story.

I consider myself having a successful career. From Australia to Taiwan, to Japan and Hawaii, my travels have seen me work in some amazing roles (Leadership, Communications, Emotional Intelligence Trainer, People Strategist, HR Development, Technical Writer, Relationship Manager and Engineer) with top Fortune 500 companies (Ericsson, Nokia, Alcaltel-Lucent, Rakuten).

Along the way, I have won awards for employee of the year (2010 Hawaiian Telcom) to Leadership awards. I’ve managed small to medium-sized multicultural teams in Japan and even found time to invent a Japanese<->English SMS text message translation service found on most phones today.

Yet, there was one thing that constantly disappointed me in all my career positions: how people were being managed (or mismanaged). I repeatedly saw signs of micromanagement, employees being burned out, yelled at, mistreated and ultimately isolated. I experienced all of them to the point where I too became depressed and needed to consider turning things around, Mahatma Gandhi-style: “Be the change you wish to see”!

So, I consulted with 3 people at the time when my family and I were enjoying life on the beautiful Hawaiian islands: My Leadership mentor at the time, a Buddhist monk, and my incredible wife. To cut a long story short, my wife took me on an amazing spiritual journey (still on that path today); the Buddhist monk taught me how to live in the here and the now; my leadership mentor changed my life when he said, “Awards are a sign of a great achiever; but to be a great leader, you need to give back- what are you doing to give back?”.

Thus, in 2017, I founded the Silent Leadership Institute – a global training and coaching practice that focuses on executive coaching, coaching for unconditional self-compassion, providing essential soft skills programs in leadership, creativity, mindfulness, and well-being. The Silent Leadership Institute is based in Tsukuba, Japan, and offers online training and coaching across the globe. 

My why?

I’m here to help people unleash a life they love through the art of self-compassion and mindfulness, whether at work or in their personal missions. Everyone deserves to love, live and learn.

By Gabriele Angelo Ciminelli

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieleciminelli/

Moving abroad is difficult at any age, perhaps more so when you are older and more settled in life. Finding accommodation and making friends were also more difficult as an older student. I felt too old for student accommodation and all the university clubs and societies were full of much younger students, so I had to search outside of the university for friends. 

But there are also definite advantages to waiting until you are older to study abroad. For example, I’d learned the value of networking, taking advantage of all learning opportunities, and also project management, which I was very thankful for when I came to write my dissertation. I also think I was much more grateful to be there, having waited for so long, versus my younger classmates who perhaps took the opportunity a bit more for granted. This made me value the whole of the experience more, rather than just going to class, submitting the assignments, and getting the degree.

Throwing myself into a new situation at age 37 was also a great personal challenge. You can become a little set in your ways as you get older. I’d lived in the same city my whole life, had worked for the same company for ten years, lived in the same apartment for seven years, and most of my friends I had known since at least my twenties. To have all of that taken away and have to navigate a new city, get out and meet new people, and be stretched intellectually was a big step outside of my comfort zone.

There were times it was difficult, times that I doubted myself or was lonely, and many times that I suffered from imposter syndrome. But as they say, the best learning happens outside of your comfort zone, and overall I feel that the experience made me a lot more confident and resilient. I also really enjoyed re-engaging with academia and the experience opened my eyes to different paths and career options. It was a very fulfilling experience and I’d say to others who have the same dream that you are never too old.

Bio: Claire Baxter

Claire became a member of Golden Key since 1999 during her Bachelor of Sports Management. She then completed a Bachelor of Arts in History and Archaeology, and has been working in the travel industry for the past 13 years as both a product manager and business analyst. During this time she took a sabbatical to study a Masters of Conflict Archaeology at the University of Glasgow.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairelbaxter/

My commitment to service in the non-profit health sector best illustrates my ability to create lasting change in the world. I am deeply involved in this work and it has become an extremely important part of my life. As a dental student, I feel incredibly privileged that many of the skills I learn in my post-baccalaureate dental degree are directly applicable to supporting others.

In June 2019, with a personal loan from the bank, I was able to launch a large paediatric dental initiative in rural Uganda, Africa.  My team provided more than 35 kilograms of toothpaste, 1,000 toothbrushes, oral hygiene workshops, and dental examinations for more than 1,000 children. We also performed more than 300 dental cleans and more than 300 emergency treatments over 2 weeks.

This year, my team has continued to demonstrate a new standard in student led collaboration in the charitable health space, through engagement with the local homeless population.

Leveraging existing relationships with our dental school, local dental clinics and homeless service provider partners coupled with our track record of treating many patients at a low cost, our next project aims to provide emergency dental care to more than 100 local homeless over three non-consecutive clinical days. Our first clinical day on April 7th was a tremendous success.

I am also leading a team, along with 2 colleagues, for 2 non-consecutive weeks, in Cherbourg where we will provide dental treatment for more than 200 Indigenous Australians. These clinics will take place on June 21-25 and for a week in November.

Ryan Kungl – Director of Clinics For Kids

I stayed at Griffith for my honours and PhD, and then built a career in Educational Technology as ‘Professor Tech’, establishing a lab called The CREATE lab. This has provided training on innovative technology to hundreds of K – 12 teachers through the award winning ‘Weaving Technology into the Fabric of the Classroom’ workshop series and thousands of students through our CSIRO supported school incursions. I am currently an Associate Professor in Information & Communication Technology at CQUniversity Australia.

My whole life changed in October 2019, when a routine colonoscopy at the age of 40 revealed stage 3 rectal cancer. A quick round of chemo radiation followed, with surgery scheduled for March 2020 along with 6 more months of chemotherapy.

I considered hiding from the world, taking all my annual and long service leave and keeping away from work, but it didn’t seem right. Instead I decided to keep on working. I understand those who do, and everyone should make their own choice, but I wanted to remain true to myself, so I just kept on going.

Apart from a month off for surgery and days off when the chemo made me feel sick, I kept up my teaching and research, and even kicked some goals during the pandemic. Taking all my classes online and starting new research, and many have since said they didn’t even know I was sick!

In the midst of it all I applied for the Universities Australia Award for Teaching Excellence. I was delighted to find out in March 2021 that I had been awarded in the category of Physical Sciences, recognising me in their words as “among Australia’s most outstanding university teachers”.

I could have disappeared from the world, but that’s not who I am, and doesn’t reflect the values of a Golden Key member in academy, leadership and service either. So instead I decided to remain true to myself, and in doing so feel I lived my best life and came out the other side in remission, ready to continue to face the world.

Bio: Associate Professor Michael A. Cowling 

Associate Professor Michael Cowling (sometimes known as ‘Professor Tech’) is an award-winning technology strategist and communicator committed to fostering thoughtfulness in technology for students, educators and the general public. He is an Associate Professor in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at CQUniversity Australia and has been a leader in educational technology (and member of the Golden Key Academy) for over 20 years. In 2020, he was the winner of the Universities Australia Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences and related fields).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macowling/

Malavika Kanoria began studying a Master of Business Administration (International) at Deakin University in 2019. As an international student, Malavika first learnt about Golden Key from her Mentor, who spoke of Golden Key’s inclination to the upliftment of society.

After receiving her invitation and joining Golden Key, she joined the Deakin chapter committee as Treasurer.

Malavika says moving away from home for the first time was a daunting experience which was eased thanks to the connections she made in Australia.

“I was just so glad that I chose Deakin, because Deakin University has been there through the journey and has supported each international student,” says Malavika.

“Given that the international student numbers at Deakin University is huge, I really felt like I did not mingle with a lot of Australians. I then joined Golden Key and I just saw that it was very diverse.”

For her degree, Malavika says it’s very important she diversifies her cultural knowledge. This is something she was able to do while acting as Treasurer of the Deakin Golden Key Committee.

“The fact that I am an international student, I don’t just want to excel in my studies, I also want to learn about different cultures,” she says.

“The whole point of my course is that I know what countries are like. You have to be a global citizen. You have to be knowledgeable about each and every culture and that is something Golden Key really helped me with.

“The people I work with, the committee members, they are very diverse. I am working with people from all over the globe, and that was something that really made me happy.”

Malavika encourages new members to take their chance and step up to give back in whatever way they can.

“The thing is, we are so used to the normal way of life, whenever a curve ball is thrown at us, we tend to just step back. The advice I would like to give,  is to take that leap of faith.

“I wouldn’t have known there was a family waiting for me, the Golden Key family as I call it, had I not taken my chances.”

Marisa Duong joined Golden Key in 2017 after discovering the society through her Bachelor of Philosophy degree coordinator. Marisa was seeking the opportunity to develop her academic career and explore fields of research that interested her. After learning more about Golden Key’s philosophy, Marissa found the three pillars – Academics,  Leadership and Service – resonated strongly with her.

The committees emphasis on academics offered her a chance to network with others who share a passion for their profession.

Marisa started as the Professional Development Officer, before stepping up as the first President of the University of Western Australia Chapter. During her time with Golden Key, Marisa has gained numerous skills. Notably, she has learnt marketing and promotion skills, and improved her ability to convey compelling ideas to others.

Marisa’s goal within the UWA Chapter was to create a ripple effect throughout the Golden Key community. She says she wanted to reach out to connect future students, current students and alumni and create a group which helps each other and gives back to the community.

“The people who I worked with are so inspiring. They are what gave me a sense of community and belonging. I wanted to give back to the community that has given me so much,” Marissa says.

Marisa says seeing others strive inspires her to develop her skills, network with others, and create a strong community vision with a sense of belonging.

“The more you put in, the more you will get out of this experience,” Marissa says.

“It is not enough to idly participate. The society is much more than just a CV item. You can attend seminars, propose ideas about events to the local committee, or join the committee yourself.

“The resources and global connections you can form will not happen on their own; you must actively seek them out.”

Marisa recently submitted her PhD thesis in Biochemistry, focusing on molecular science proteomics. She is now working as a researcher at Harry Perkins – Proteomics International.

She says the importance of networking with like-minded industry professionals helped her get to where she is in her career.

In the coming years, Marisa aims to influence the direction and vision of her field,  by growing and thriving as a researcher focusing on bio-markers, early diagnosis and drug treatment.

Kitty Wong is the Community Service Officer for the University of South Australia Golden Key committee and has become an integral, hardworking member since she first joined the group in 2018.

Throughout her journey at Golden Key, she has successfully led multiple community engagement projects such as Daffodil Day for Cancer Council, Christmas Books and Toy Appeals with the Smith Family and has been a critical reason for the success of TEDxUniSA 2019, an event run entirely by students to share ideas and innovations with the world.

Kitty says since joining as the UniSA Golden Key Community Service Officer she has helped make Daffodil Day, Christmas appeals and TEDxUniSA annual projects the UniSA committee takes part in.

“These are basically the three events that I am mainly involved in, but of course, as a committee member, I help out with other events that are run by our group,” Kitty says.

Kitty was first interested in becoming the Community Service officer because she is motivated by the feeling of doing something meaningful and contributing back to the community.

“I want to help run these community service projects because I think volunteering is a core part of my values. I like to volunteer for the community and Golden Key is a great platform to help me explore these amazing opportunities.”

As well as her work on the GK Committee, Kitty is also a passionate community leader, who is a first aider of St. John Ambulance. This as well, as all her hard work in multiple community service events led to her being ‘highly commended’ for the South Australia International Student Award – Community Engagement in 2018, and the winner of said award in 2019.

Kitty says she is honoured to receive this award and was surprised to have been recognised in such a way.

“Receiving this award to me, feels like my hard work for 2018 and 2019 has been recognised. By receiving this award, I have the opportunity to share my story and share my values with other people, other international students, other local students in Adelaide,” she says.

“I think the most I get out of having this award, is I am able to share my stories and values and experiences with other students and be a motivation for them to step up.”

“If I can give the advice to any students, if you start at University, if you have the opportunity to be involved with Golden Key, just do it. What is important is you need to be involved. There is so many opportunities for you.

“If you have the opportunity, just step out and catch it. Step out of your comfort zone and just put up your hands for everything that is in front of you.”

Throughout her degree, Caitlin has expanded her knowledge by taking part in three overseas trips, which she says gave her the confidence to become an executive committee member for the Flinders University Golden Key committee.

As a member of Flinders Golden Key committee, Caitlin has been involved in many wonderful initiatives, including competing in the first ever competitive Shark Tank which took place at the Asia Pacific International Leadership summit in Brisbane.

“That was just amazing, I learnt so much and met so many amazing people in Brisbane, it made me wonder why I hadn’t gone to a leadership summit before that,” Caitlin says.

It was after attending the Brisbane conference, Caitlin decided to use the skills she had learnt on the Flinders committee and became an ambassador for Engineers Australia, an organisation that aims to help its members connect, learn and grow.

“It was a part of the confidence I built as a Golden Key member and the time I spent overseas, in Singapore and France. I built up this realization that I wanted to do more and to give back,” she says

“We (ambassadors) send out emails, we talk with lecturers, and we contribute to a Facebook page. It is a lot of the same skills I learnt as an executive committee member that I am applying to this new role as an ambassador.”

Throughout all of this, Caitlin has spent her final year at University working at a start-up company called Inovor, helping with the artificial intelligence and machine learning side of things.

“Space was something that I thought, that is really exciting, and I want to see what I can do there which is how I got my current employment.”

To add to all exceptional things she has done, Caitlin was recently accepted into a graduate program for next year. The program offered by SAAB Australia will allow Caitlin to work with experienced engineers in an array of areas across the company.

“I think all of that (experience) piled up, and when I came across this graduate program… I got quite excited,” she says.

“I still don’t know how I am going to apply myself and I still want to expand my skill set and become a more rounded engineer. I want to get that experience across all difference areas so I can find out where I am best suited and what I want to do.

“I was really worried, that I didn’t know where I was going, or what kind of engineer I would be, or even what I would do as an engineer.

“I’ve come to learn that it doesn’t really matter that I don’t know what I want to do in ten years’ time. While I am sure there is plenty of people who would find that useful…, it is not the end of the world if you can’t visualize where you are going. Just do what you can at the time and keep working on the next step.”