From reworking CVs to arranging travel documents: How this organisation helps skilled refugees find jobs

When Syrian refugee Naema arrived in Lebanon as a teenager, she threw herself into studies and topped all her classes. Graduating as a nurse, she thought all her troubles were behind her when she made a crushing discovery — Lebanon only employed its nationals as nurses.

“I started crying, realising that I had wasted four years of my life,” said Naema. However, today, Naema has landed a job as a nurse in the UK and is in the process of getting her visa and paperwork done.

Naema is one of the hundreds of refugees that Talent Beyond Border has helped to land jobs across the world. It is this work of theirs that has made TBB a recipient of the 7th edition of the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support (SIARA).

In an award ceremony held at the Sharjah Police Science Academy, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah honoured members of TBB, in the presence of his wife Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF) and Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children at UNHCR.

Sheikha Jawaher has been a generous supporter of refugees, contributing over 100 million dirhams since 2013 to help improve the living conditions of more than one million refugees around the world.

Life changing work

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Global CEO of TBB Stephany Cousins said the award was a huge recognition of the work the group does. “A couple of year ago, we were obscure, and no one knew what we were doing,” she said. “But staying here in Sharjah where there is so much attention to the work we do and how people can achieve life-changing outcomes by having their skills recognised, it gives us great hope for the future.”

TBB is the world's first and only organisation that works on connecting refugees and individuals in need with international job opportunities, enabling them to resume their professional lives, rebuild their future, and achieve self-sufficiency by opening skilled migration pathways. They help candidates refine their CVs, brush up their skills, arrange travel documents and more, in an effort to help them build a good future.

According to Cousins, one of the most impactful works TBB did was for the very first candidate they placed. “He was stateless, had no passport and no hope for a better future,” she said. “Working with our partners, we managed to get him travel documents and placed him with Accenture in Australia who were one of our first partners. He was an extremely hard worker and rose through the ranks. Today, he is working for the Australian government in a senior management position. He is married and is on his way to becoming an Australian citizen. It is like his life completely turned around.”

TBB currently has 65,000 applicants in its database and has successfully placed over 1200 people.

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