“My motto: Think, but also pay attention.”
#mtopstorytelling tells the stories of our MTOP associates, who are highly skilled refugees mostly from Syria, Iran, Irak and Afghanistan.Be inspired by our MTOP stories!
Daniel Eduardo Marante Mendoza
I’m Daniel (33), born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, where I also studied production engineering at the university. After 4 years in purchasing and supply chain management, I quit my job and decided to move to Europe. I came to Vienna to study German in 2013, but after a short time I fell in love with the city, its culture, its lifestyle and its very central location in Europe. However, as a third-country national, I could not just stay in Austria for more than 6 months.
So after 4 months at a German language school I decided to apply and got into a master’s degree program at the University of Vienna. I studied Social Sciences, which gave me the opportunity to live as a student in my favorite city. Of course that was not an easy task in the beginning. It was a long-term project, with all my efforts focused on it. And as is the case with many others, I did not have the financial resources. To sustain myself during this time, I worked a little bit as a chef and salesman in a food company and was co-founder of two small audiovisual companies.
Frustration becomes part of the journey and determination is a key factor to succeed.
After recently getting married and completing my Masters degree, I was able to actually enter the Austrian job market and rebuild my career as a production engineer. But without a good network in the industry and no significant experience in finding and applying for a job in the manufacturing industry, I felt a bit disoriented.
I needed advice and somebody with know-how about the Austrian job market to apply correctly for job opportunities in Vienna. Finding a job indeed needs persistence, motivation and time.
I found MTOP, which is an invaluable help in perfecting my application documents, such as my Curriculum Vitae and Letter of Motivation. MTOP supported me in getting oriented in my search for the right job opportunities and I am now applying more directed to companies that fit my experiences and values. I am currently following-up on three different recruiting procedures and am confident that I will soon fulfill my dream of living in Vienna, contributing to society and expanding my professional career as an expat.
