Melbourne German Week GABWA event: Female intercultural competence in the Australian job market
As part of the first Melbourne German Week the “German Australian Business Women Association” (GABWA) invites interested female and male guests to join them for the “GABWA Business Morning Event” on Friday, March 16.
The event - in line with the “International Women’s Day” in March - will amongst other topics address the contributions of German-Australian business women to local, national and global companies in Australia. It takes place from 7 am to 9 am in the beautiful Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre, 251 Faraday Street, in Carlton.
The event’s main focus will be on female intercultural competence and its numerous positive effects on companies that recognise the benefits of cultural and gender diverse teams, as well as exploring challenges that German speaking expats may face in an Australian work environment.
Focusing on female intercultural competence - Keynote by Ulrike Ernst
German born Ulrike Ernst will address the topic in her keynote speech. Ulrike is an inspirational MBA qualified Senior Leader with broad industry experience across different cultures. She has been holding Senior Leadership roles across Business Development, Marketing and Service in the construction and consumer durables industry for companies such as Bosch, Metabo & Hilti.
Having worked and resided in Ireland, the US and the Middle East, as well as many European and Asian countries, Ulrike is used to successfully drive organisational restructures and manage complex technical and operational issues, including intercultural ones.
Katrin Reichert, Founder of GABWA: Challenge to find work despite excellent qualitfications
After joining the German Armed Forces, she worked as a paramedic on a search and rescue helicopter as well as a military police officer, has a university degree in Psychology, Social Work and Education and an MBA under her belt.
Despite her qualification and experience, it was however challenging for Katrin to find employment in Australia after her arrival in 2013. Katrin and the panel members will discuss these challenges, which many migrants are confronted with, which led her to found GABWA three years ago.
Panel discussion: Turning cultural differences into advantages
The aim is to point out strategies to conquer these unfamiliar challenges of an unfamiliar job market, with often unknown and even hidden rules. The audience will learn how cultural differences might be turned into advantages for both employment seeker and employer.
The panel consists of GABWA members Astrid Hofmann, Claudia Loeber-Raab and Sabrina Scherm.
Astrid Hofmann - Cross Cultural Consultant
Astrid Hofmann is a highly experienced HR professional specialising in facilitating cross-cultural team strategies to effectively achieve their business objectives. She has extensive experience with c-suite executives, and teams developing global leadership skills to work effectively across cultures. A clear understanding of diverse thinking is for the director of “Cultural Transition Consulting” the defining asset of successful organisations, both public and private.
Astrid’s work experience while abroad includes eight years with three successive British Generals heading up a Joint Services Liaison Office coordinating operations between the NATO forces in Germany. Australian born she is fluent in German having lived in Germany for 15 years.
Claudia Loeber-Raab - Journalist and Social Media Expert
Claudia Loeber-Raab has extensive international experience working in the media industry as a successful journalist. She holds an M.A. in Journalism and Communication Studies, has taught Journalism at university level and worked as general news reporter, skilled feature and opinion piece writer as well as senior editor for major newspapers, international magazines and Associated Press in London before moving to Australia.
As the Editor-in-Chief of the popular online lifestyle and news magazine “Deutsche in Melbourne”, she is building bridges between Germans and Australians and frequently writes about joys and “not so much joys” of being an expat. Claudia is also a social media expert and trainer, with a focus on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is becoming more and more influential for businesses, employment seekers and employers. She is currently promoting the importance of LinkedIn in the German speaking community who has not yet embraced it as a useful career tool.
Sabrina Scherm - Global Mobility and Recruitment Specialist
Originally from Oktoberfest's hometown, Munich, Sabrina Scherm has lived and worked all over the world including Germany, Australia, the UK and US. With a Master’s Degree in Business and Organisational Psychology (with focus on HR Management), she has extensive experience in recruitment, HR, global mobility and general management. Her roles have included assistance for global brands to improve internal processes, to lead restructuring projects and to develop cross-cultural relationships.
Sabrina came to Australia in 2015 and joined the HR consultancy "The Polyglot Group" as a recruitment specialist. She is a specialist in building client relationships, ensuring a satisfying hiring process and leading the Melbourne internship program.
The event will conclude with a short Q & A session with the panellist and time for networking. The event is sponsored by the online news and life style magazine Deutsche in Melbourne www.deutscheinmelbourne.net Booking:
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/interculturalcompetence-and-womens-advancement-tickets-43183916256?aff=es2
For GABWA members, who would like to stay for the following LinkedIn-Workshop about how to use the professional social media platform effectively including updating your profile as well as how and what content to post on LinkedIn to become seen by recruiter, businesses and clients, Claudia LoeberRaab who facilitates the workshop, offers a discount of 10 % of the original fee.
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/linkedin-how-to-get-spotted-by-recruiters-clients-by-postingengaging-content-optimising-your-tickets-43184343534
Text: Claudia Loeber-Raab und Katrin Reichert,
