Hi. Hi, Frances. Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Really like the work you guys are doing at Prosple. My name is Kunal Sitlani.
I'm originally from western part of India. I came to Australia in 2017. I came here as an international student for my postgraduate course at Macquarie University. I was doing a Masters of Management at Macquarie Business School.
I completed my undergrad back in India in 2014. After that I worked for an event management company for one and a half years. And I also did a business with the support of my father there. I was working in telecommunication and distribution. I did that for almost two years.
Then somewhere around 2016 my father actually gave me this idea to study abroad. Because most of my family stays in the United States so it was like a cultural thing for us that, yeah, my son might think of going abroad.
So then that thought came and then I started researching the US. I had this one specific university in my mind that I wanted to go there only because my cousins and everyone studied there. I had visited the campus and everything, so I started preparing for my GMAT test.
And there I met my co-founder Devarshi whom I'm working with right now. So we have known each other for almost seven years. We started this GMAT coaching class together. We used to study and compete among ourselves for mathematics problems and everything in the GMAT. So that's how we started bonding.
But we did not score that good. We both decided to chuck US and then I researched about Australia first and then I went to him and I said that I want to apply to Australia. These are the universities.
So he gave his English examination. I gave my English examination, and then we applied for June 2017. He came for Monash University. I came to Macquarie University, and yeah that's how we started our journey as international students.
Honestly, we did not research much. We made a decision on the basis of the course and the university, we did not know much about the lifestyle here, how it works and everything. I only knew two people and two people as in like friends of friends or someone.
I just knew that they're starting here. And then I had a chat with them normally, about the university, about the course and about life and everything. And then I just made a decision because I liked Macquarie, liked the course and the university so much. I went to the consultant there and, we started the application and similar with my co-founder as well, Dev.
He was just determined to apply for the top three universities in Australia giving business courses. That's how we went about it. We did not do very extensive research about the lifestyle here, what to expect, the job market and everything.
We just went with the flow.
Yeah, that was actually a very big cultural shock. There were pros and cons after coming here because I never left home in 24 years and then suddenly shifted to another country with a completely different culture.
And then the first month itself, I only had a small amount of money, which my father gave me, to sustain myself. And then when I started doing the expenses and everything, I was like, this is not going to work. I need to start working. So then I started looking for part-time work.
When I did my under graduation, it was not so extensive. The kind of studies here in Australia that required a lot of time investment from our side, each and every subject, the assignments and everything. So that was also a very big shift from the academic point of view. So yeah, it was good and it was bad as well.
Because of survival, because of earning money and everything, I focused more on the working side of things. And then when I had school deadlines for assignments or group projects or something, I used to struggle a little bit because I did not spend much time on the campus with other students.
So yeah, it was a very big change. But I think it was necessary.
Okay. I think the highs would be meeting and making connections like meeting so many like-minded people. And I have been working with international students as well for the last six years.
So my first job was in an agency back in Sydney. And I was working as an education counsellor. And I supported the students there. I guided the students there for their study in Australia. So I've always been connected with the students since the last six years. So making that connection, working with the people from the community and understanding, the whole journey of the students.
I got to connect with so many like-minded people from India as well, and other countries as well. And they are still in connection. Like we have a group of 14 people in Sydney. We always meet like monthly so I think the highs were making these connections, meeting these people and going along with them, progressing in your life from a student to a migrant worker, to getting your residency sorted and everything.
And now almost, I think in my friend circle and in my networking group, four to five people have already applied for their citizenship. I have already applied for my citizenship. I had my test like seven days back. I cleared my test. So these are the highs.
Plus my partner is here with me. She came here in 2018 just like nine, 10 months apart from myself. So I was in my second semester when she started her education here in Sydney. Now we live in Canberra. We moved from the city to Canberra in 2021. So being with someone that you are planning the future with- that was again one of the highs.
Lows were being away from the family, not getting that comfort which you actually get when you are with your parents and all the other close family members and everyone.. And whenever I miss that, I go back home. So every year I have kept this a ritual. I go back home for a month or something because I just like to spend some time with the family. So yeah, that is something which I have been doing since I came to Australia.
Yeah. Yeah that's something which we have been focusing towards. So I'll just give you an understanding of what Internash does and what Studynash does.
So International is a media startup. My co-founder Devarshi started this YouTube channel in 2018. So just normal lifestyle videos, how to navigate as an international student in Australia, what to expect, what not to expect, how to prepare yourself when coming to Australia, how to apply for jobs. We started getting a lot of attraction in terms of the community.
I was always a consultant. Like he used to always call me like, Kunal I'm doing this video, Kunal I'm doing that video. Do you think I should include these points or not? So because there were so many questions which were coming from the students because there was not a YouTube channel targeting this niche at that time, there were some but not targeting exactly the pain points.
So today it is one of the largest communities of international students. Over 112,000 subscribers on YouTube, 25,000 followers on Instagram. Facebook group went on to be the biggest group for international students, 29,000 plus active members. So yeah we got a really good response.
Started working with state education bodies, federal department, Australia, ATO, Study Melbourne. So yeah it was coming out to be really good, the response. And then in 2021, we started actively working together. I also invested some time behind both the projects.
We got so many inquiries from the students, they were not getting transparent information. And they were not able to connect with the students here. So if you are a student, you want to connect with someone, you go to LinkedIn, you go to Facebook, you are part of certain groups, and then you're able to connect with the students, right?
But then if I am a student at Macquarie University, I give 20 minutes or 30 minutes of my day to talk to you as a student, but I'm not getting anything. And it's very difficult for the student from India or any other part of the world to try to make a connection.
So that's when we came up with the idea behind Studynash. We are connecting current international students, alumnis and graduates who are already in Australia with the prospective international students who are planning to come to Australia even before they make a decision about the university.
So that's like an EdTech platform we are currently working on. And we raised some funds last year with Antler Australia.
And if you are planning to come to Australia, you'll be able to connect and with the help of our admissions team we’ll also be able to process their application to Australian universities.
Yeah. So currently we have a team offshore in my home city back in India. So we have a team there. Our team gets in touch with students, they assess their profile and according to the assessment we help them with the suggestions that these are two options, three options, good for you as per your profile and as per your work experience.
And then once they decide to apply with us, then we make a connection with the students who are already here. So we currently have around 25 to 30 student ambassadors . I can also be a student ambassador because I've studied here and then they get to know about Masters of Business or Masters of Management at Macquarie University. Is it good for me? Should I apply for it? What to expect? What are the subjects and everything?
Then once they decide, they make a decision, we process the application and help them with the student visa as well in the future.
As an education counsellor, I help them decide which university they want to apply to. I communicate with the universities on their behalf.
And then we have a team who does the admin work, submits the application and everything through the online channels, and then basically guide them with the whole process.
And it's not that we get the student visa and then the connection is done . Students actually become a part of the Facebook community and then look for opportunities, part-time jobs, accommodation. They post a question, and other students reply to them.
And we are actually planning to include other things as well in the future. Once we are able to get good attraction from the students we are planning to include recruitment as well, like how Prosple actually helps international graduates and the people who are applying for jobs in the market.
That's really good actually. That's actually many of the questions which come from the students.
What jobs can we apply for and does the employer or the company organisation allow international students? These are some questions which come on a day-to-day basis.
So when they decide that they want to apply to Australian universities, we have a Zoom call or a Google meet chat. We explain everything to them everything, all the steps of the process, how we come into the picture, how our team can actually help you navigate through the whole process.
When we talk about international students, what is the main thing they want? They want a good university with the course they're looking for. After the course, they are looking for employment opportunities and how we can target the best employment after two years of the course or maybe three years of the course. So our team actively does research in terms of the employment and the job market, and when they are applying for that courses, we share the research with them so that they know what they're getting into, what is the next five to 10 years trends going on in the market, how, what kind of employment I can target after these courses.
And our content team pushes this information on our social media channels. So we can not only just apply for you, we are giving you other resources as well, which can help you to make an informed decision.
Coming to that, so the first ever job I got in Australia after coming in 2017 was through a referral.
My partner called someone in Australia who was already in Sydney. Her classmate from school . And I had a chat with this guy for 30, 35 minutes in my first month itself. And then he told me that Kunal, you would be looking for a job, right? I'm sure you're looking for part-time work or something. I was like, yeah, definitely. . So he asked me for my resume and then just a day before I went to Domino's to give out my resume for a casual kind of job.
But then within two days I got a call from his company and this was an education consultant back in Sydney. So after three days, they called me for an interview.
I'm like, okay, that's perfect. I'm getting like an office job and they're okay with part-time. They hire international students. So I went for an interview. I got to know about the job. And then they gave me a task. I submitted to them within 24 hours, and then within three days they gave me the offer.
It was a part-time role for 20 hours (a week). And it was really good because I had to travel to Sydney, CBD, and, like my first experience going to a CBD kind of location . I worked with them for nearly two years of my education.
They increased my pay every three to six months. It was a very good opportunity. Worked with nine people in my team. And that actually helped me. That was a stepping stone for myself.
Once I was graduating I was looking for full-time opportunities, obviously. Like a full-time package with benefits and everything. So then in my industry I don't know if you've heard about IDP education. They're one of the biggest student placement companies. They own IELTS as well they do student recruitment and admissions as well? So I went through the profile and I really liked it, and it was like a full-time kind of role. And this was like upgrading and upscaling myself in the same industry. And that was a global brand, like an ASX listed company and everything.
So I was like, okay, let's go for it. I applied from their website. I did not have any referral. And this is very crucial in Australia – cover letters and resumes have to be tailored for each and every kind of job role. That is a tedious process and sometimes international students find it very difficult to do it for each and every job.
I still remember in my LinkedIn, if I see how many jobs applied till date, it is somewhere around 400 jobs. Yeah. And tailoring a resume and cover letter is a very tedious process.
So I applied from the careers page and I got a call within a month or so. And then they had two screening calls, then two interview sessions and everything.
That was like a proper grilling kind of interview session. But I finally got the job. I started with them in August, 2019. It was a really good organisation. If someone is in the education industry, IDP education is good. I made very good connections there because they had so many networking and socialising events.
COVID came with a little bit of setback. After that I worked for some freelancing activities. And then I started working with Dave full-time on Internash and Studynash. Came to Canberra, changed cities. Again, a really big shift for me and my partner. Lifestyle changed from Sydney to Canberra. Very peaceful environment here. Not much of a busy lifestyle.
And I always wanted to work in a university culture. I started applying actively. There are only two major universities in Canberra. And I got interview calls from both ANU and University of Canberra.
ANU is in the top 30 universities in the world. So I was like, obviously I give a preference to ANU. I started working in the admissions team, central admissions. I worked with them between 2021 and 2022.
But then business requirements were getting higher and higher. And then we decided to join this incubator program last year with Antler, the venture capital firm. And then I decided that I want to go full-time on the business.
I got married this year in Feb. My co-founder and my partner both supported me that, “This is the step you had to take,” because Dev was full-time on the business.
So IDP basically was an upgrade for myself. I was still working as an education counsellor. And like I went online, did my research online through the employment platforms. Seek indeed LinkedIn and all. So I came across the position on Seek.
And then I also saw the position on their careers page. So I applied through both of the platforms. I applied through their careers page and I applied through the seek advertisement as well. So that's how I came across IDP. And IDP as an organisation I think most of the migrants and most of the students coming from subcontinent countries and even from other countries, they have a huge global network.
I applied to ANU, I met a couple of people here in Canberra when I came here in 2021. I knew they were working there but I was like, I'm not yet a permanent resident. I was a little bit reluctant because people always think about it as like a federal organisation, because their working style is very similar to some of the federal departments.
So I was really nervous that, if I apply, I don't know if I will get it or not. My residency is not yet sorted. I was in that phase. I was transitioning from a full-time working migrant to residency stage.
I had got my invitation and nomination and everything, but I was still waiting for my visa. I had a bridging visa that time. But someone told me, just apply.
Universities have a very important thing. They like the applicants that they should address the statement of criteria.
So every university has these six to seven eligibility criteria for each and every position. You have to in-detail address them, give examples from your previous work, explain how you meet the eligibility criteria. So that, again, is an additional layer from resume, cover letter and statement of eligibility criteria.
These eligibility criteria used to go for 2,500 to 3000 words. So it was a very extensive process to apply. Yeah. So I did this, I think seven to eight different positions at ANU and University of Canberra. So finally I applied for this admissions position in domestic admissions.
I got a call from the hiring manager. They set up an interview. They were really happy with the interview because I had previous experience working with the students. Working with the applications and also navigating with different stakeholders like the universities and all.
But they took a little bit of time. The universities take three to four weeks easily to get back to you. But I heard back from both the universities, I was getting a very similar offer from both the universities, but because of the ANU brand name and their positioning as Australian National University so I decided to join.
I'll start with IDP. A normal day would be like connecting with as many students as possible. Explaining them the whole process of the universities, getting them to come and meet us face-to-face. So we used to get a lot of walk-ins, catering into the walk-ins.
Contributing basically to the universities. They used to have a lot of training and development sessions. So some universities are coming to promote their courses. Students are already there. So attending those workshops, seminars, webinars.
Working with the team very closely because there were like 11 to 12 consultants all from different backgrounds. Someone is only catering to the China market, someone is catering to the subcontinent market, someone who is only catering to the Africa market.
So that was actually a really good learning curve for myself because I got an opportunity to communicate with all the people from different countries and work with them collaboratively. So that was my working at IDP. We were given a target that you need to apply for x number of students in a month, in a quarter, and in a year. So yeah, that was something. I worked at IDP
ANU. It was a really big shift from the sales and the education counselling kind of role to a proper admissions officer role. So we had four or five different systems in ANU. We used to navigate through the systems.
Students used to submit an application. We used to get the application assessment of the application according to university guidelines. We used to have different offer rounds making sure that all the compliance checks and everything has been completed before the offer is going live.
Postgraduate applications used to come from a different platform. Undergraduate application used to come from a different platform navigating with all the schools because. We only see ANU as one organisation. But ANU has so many different schools, school of Science, school of Computing, school of IT, school of Business, Architecture and everything.
So navigating with those stakeholders was also a part of my role, understanding the requirements of each and every program. So there was a lot of reading material given to me in the training period. And we were like eight people in the team. So it was really good. There was a lot of investment from the university behind employees for learning and development, actively keeping workshops and events and helping us to be a part of that.
So that was really good. But I think there, I learned the importance of attention to detail because they had so many guidelines already. Their framework was very good, and they expected us before asking questions, have you researched about this yourself? Have you read in the manual about each and everything, how this process works? Have you gone through each and everything?
So that was really good. Attention to detail is something that they carefully monitored and there was like every fortnightly, we used to have a catchup kind of thing with my supervisor where I used to go and explain to them the last two weeks and what they're planning and everything.
And each and every task of the day had a particular time. So at 8:00 I used to start. So it was fixed that from 8:15 to 9:00 I have to do this. From 9 to 11 I have to focus on this 12 to 1 lunch. So there were six to seven different things.
There were rosters as well. So today someone is checking one platform, so the same person is not going to check the platform the second day. Someone else is going to check so that they maintain the quality and as many eyes as possible in that same work so they can check the errors as well.
So each and every task had a stipulated time and that was monitored by the supervisors. So yeah, it was a really great experience to work with ANU.
We worked collaboratively with both the teams. I used to work with international admissions as well. I used to work with domestic admissions as well, so the domestic students, like permanent residents and citizens who are already in Australia applying for the university.
I was like, I have always worked with international students, I never expected that there would be a large volume of domestic students also applying to universities. And that was amazing to get that experience and to get that knowledge as well. So yeah, I really enjoyed working with both the teams. Domestic admissions were just eight to nine people, but international admissions was more than 25 people. It was a great place . Like the location, the environment there, people there.
I started at eight o'clock in the morning and I used to finish my day at four o'clock. So it was early start, early finish. I think something very important in Australia is the way organisations believe in work-life balance.
If you see other countries, even back in India, I used to work till 7:00-7:30 and now like my own office, it is open in India, back in India till 6:30-7:00 because that is how business works there. People start late, people work till late.
But then in Australia that's not the case. People start early, they finish early, they want to go back to the family. They want to invest their time in different activities. So that's something I really like about Australia, that you can take out the time from your work and invest in different things here.
So that's really good for the students as well.
Yeah, so when you come to Australia as a student visa holder, getting a job or applying to an organisation, it's going to be very difficult. I also had that concern when I was applying to IDP education because when I was applying , I was transitioning from a student visa holder to my post study work visa.
Every student gets a post-study work Visa in Australia. When I came, that work Visa was for two years. Now that work Visa has gone from three to five years.
People are getting different kinds of work visas. So that's an amazing opportunity actually for international students. For IDP, I already knew they entertained international graduates and migrant students when they're graduating and applying for full-time opportunities because I knew a couple of people who were already working in their different branches. So that was not the problem. My work visa was for two years. And they gave me a one year contract, so that was completely fine.
Now transitioning from work visa to residency, that was a little difficult thing to do because you have to collect certain points. You have to see where you are at, how many points you have in different states or different cities, how you can maximise your points, English examinations, skill assessment, everything. There are n number of steps. I applied for my residency on the basis of my partner because she is a civil engineer. So she had her demand in the occupation list was way higher than my skills and my occupation.
So I was like, let her do the hard work. I'll do the easy work to navigate how I need to apply because I used to work with education and migration companies, so I knew a lot about the process, how I need to apply, which visa I should target and everything.
So when we came to Canberra, we were lucky enough to get the invitation from the state migration department. And then we applied for subclass 190, which is like a permanent residency visa for five years. And our profile was selected on the points which we had.
They gave us 14 days to reply to the nomination. We replied to the nomination. Our nomination was also approved, and then we applied for permanent residency. So when I applied for permanent residency, that was back in June, 2021.
Now, when a student or a migrant applies for permanent residency, They have to wait for the department to make a decision. So in that waiting period, I came across ANU and I was on a bridging visa, so I was a little bit nervous about that. Will they accept that bridging visa? My bridging visa had full-time working rights. It allowed me to work full-time. So that was not a problem. They saw it but the HR team did not have many questions about it, so I was like, that's wonderful. They're okay with it. And they did not give me a contract of one year or something. They gave me a permanent role.
And when I started working in November, 2021, January, 2022 our official grant letter came from immigration. And that was an amazing feeling. I remember, I think me and my partner went to Hyatt in Canberra to have dinner. Because we wanted to celebrate. It was like an achievement for us.
If I want to give an advice to students and to migrants right now, organization their viewpoint towards international students and migrants has changed a lot. They are entertaining students and migrants for full-time opportunities. I've seen the students who are already here, who are working with us on different things like maybe migration related services or something. So what feedback I've got from the students, companies like Deloitte, KPMG, or other consulting firms, banking, as well, they are entertaining students for jobs.
It depends. It's always good. Like the sector it's one of the top three sectors in Australia, international education. I always encourage people if they're interested in this sector, because there are so many, there are so many profiles. If you look at the universities, only universities have so many departments.
Admissions, obviously it's one of the departments. They have finance, they have cybersecurity, they have IT. Universities have a lot of opportunities available. So yes, I would encourage students to look for opportunities in the international education sector.
I really like the sector. Always been working and I think I'm not going anywhere. I've been working in the same sector for a very long time.
But what I would suggest is to always be open to network and socialise as much as possible. That will actually fetch you good roles, make connections with employers and your hiring managers.
When someone is applying for a job, don't just submit online through Seek and then just leave it. Try to connect with the people at the company. Send them a connection note or a LinkedIn message if possible. Personalised emails also help. Whenever you're looking for a job, you have to sell yourself in whichever industry you are looking for.
So that would be something I would try to tell students. And I always tell my students that this is something you should always do and keep this as a habit during your two year study or three year study.
Because part-time jobs, casual jobs like Woolworths or working with Dominoes or Pizza Hut or something. Yes, it is always important. It'll teach you different things in your life. Yes, but also try to create your own network in the city. And try to connect with as many like-minded people. They will always give you suggestions and tell you are you going in the right direction or what?
Okay. I think there is some not one thing, but initially it was really difficult to navigate with the working timings here because Australian employers, they generally start very early. So that was something which was a major shift in terms of my work dynamics.
Then I was always accustomed to using my own transport. When I came to Sydney, I had to 100% rely on public transport. So that was also a very big shift for myself.
And I come from India, very busy. Each and every city is so busy. Everything is open till late night.
But in Australia, everything closes at 5-6:00 PM, So if I'm getting out of my office, if I'm completing my shift at 5:30-6:00, and I wanna go out shopping or something, everything is closed. So that was a really big cultural shift for myself.
But yeah as I said, there are pros and cons. Once you get adjusted to life here you make those adjustments. So if I want to go shopping somewhere for shopping, I will take my time off. I will arrange my work accordingly and all of that. I'll keep Saturday, Sunday for that. So yeah, these were I would say these were three things which were a very big change when I came to Australia in terms of work and normal lifestyle.
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