By Julia Braga
After moving to Australia as a Systems Analist under the Skilled Migration scheme, Julia has had a successful career as a Senior Project Manager for IBM in Sydney. She has an MBA, Masters in Computer Science and she is also PMI (Project Management Institute) and ITIL (information Technology Infrastructure Library) Certified.The cultural and language differences were the main barriers she encountered in her new country Australia but years of experience helped her overcome them: “ A good PM must have several different skills to execute projects with excellence, including being an excellent communicator”.
According to her, another barrier to overcome is related to the contacts and network. Julia believes the Australian PMs have a stronger network since they were born and grew up here, so she has to work harder on her network skills.
As far as advice goes for those Brazilians who are interested in following a career in PM, creativity and enjoyment in problem solving are fundamental qualities to do well. There are several Project Management courses available around Australia, including the ones offered by the Project Management Institute which is recognized worldwide.
