- Evan’s story – Building a career among quality people and quality clients
- Roger’s story – The opportunity to grow and explore
- Dylan’s story – Why I work at Sefiani
- Eva’s story – From intern to Account Executive
Finding your feet in the right agency environment
I arrived in Sydney on 4 February, 2010 armed only with a backpack and a CV. Despite lacking any Australian experience, I was lucky enough to be offered several jobs within a month of arriving, by some great agencies.
Sefiani stood out for a number of reasons: Firstly, I instantly liked the people I met at interview; secondly, I was really impressed by the client base, specifically the breadth of industries and how big the brands were; thirdly, I really liked Sefiani’s commitment to pro bono work.
Six months down the line, I haven’t been disappointed. Sefiani has a really supportive, friendly culture. There is no lip-service to work-life balance here: it actually matters to the leadership team, and is taken very seriously. I have never worked anywhere before where people are actively encouraged and supported to leave on time, and it does happen. The nice thing about this is that the consultants have a proper life outside of work, which I think makes them well-rounded and actually better at their jobs: for example, one writes a political blog, and another plays semi-professional water polo. Others are more able to juggle family life with a career.
We have regular internal training, which the whole company takes responsibility for, and consultants regularly go on external training courses which are matched up to their specific needs; there is no ‘one size fits all’ policy.
My case was a bit different because I joined with visa rights only allowing me to work for six months; Sefiani supported me with a 457 business-sponsored visa, which required a lot of admin and input from one of the Directors, for which I am very appreciative!
As well as this more practical support, one of the nice things about Sefiani is that Robyn is very open to new ways of working and has fostered a really entrepreneurial environment. It’s a culture where anyone can go to her office with an idea and a justification and be given the go ahead to run with it. Recent examples have included expanding our digital practice and bringing in better brainstorming techniques.
When you join a new company, especially in a new country where you don’t know the market, there’s always an element of risk that comes with it; however, after six months I can say with certainty that I feel happy in the choice I made and am very pleased to be working at Sefiani.
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