About Us
From migrants to mentors - our journey to helping you settle down under
Our story
We arrived in Australia in 2008 with two suitcases, absolute determination - and 32 weeks into our first pregnancy.
We knew nobody. We had no community, no local network, and no idea how hard the next few years would actually be.
We came with strong credentials. An MBA, well over a decade of senior leadership experience, and a career built across multinational private companies. None of it seemed to matter. The Australian job market wanted one thing we didn't have - local experience. The rejection letters stacked up. The quiet panic set in. We started to wonder whether everything we had built back home counted for anything here.
We faced that challenge from two very different angles.
On the career front, we took the hits that every skilled migrant takes. Eventually we accepted a role well below the level we had been operating at - because bills don't wait for the right opportunity - and used every day of it deliberately. Building references. Growing a local network. Learning how the Australian workplace actually operates. Being persistent. Keeping looking. Until the breakthrough finally came.
On the home front, we had two young children born in Adelaide and a life to build from scratch in a city where we had no roots. We joined the school governing council. We built social connections deliberately and patiently. We created the community our family needed - drawing on every communication skill we had to connect, advocate, and belong. We learned that settlement isn't something that happens to you. It's something you build, one relationship at a time.
We spent our first eight years in Adelaide, which taught us something important - the migration journey looks very different outside of Sydney and Melbourne. Smaller networks. Fewer visible pathways. A different pace of belonging. We eventually relocated to the Sydney, NSW and we've carried that perspective with us ever since.
Between us, we lived the full spectrum of what skilled migration actually looks like. The career rebuilding and the community building. The job market and the school run. The professional struggle and the deeply personal one.
Settle Down Under exists because we couldn't find the resource we needed when we arrived. Not a generic checklist. Not advice from someone who read about migration. Honest, specific guidance from people who lived it - and then spent 15 years on the inside of Australian hiring and community building understanding exactly how it all works.
That's what we built. And it's what we're here to share with you.
Why we started SettleDown Under
After everything we went through, Kannan spent 15 years on the inside of Australian hiring - reading resumes, conducting interviews, and making the decisions that determine who gets a chance. He saw firsthand why strong, qualified migrants kept getting overlooked. Not because they lacked ability. But because nobody had shown them how this market actually works from the inside.
Mohana took her communications expertise into the heart of the communities we were building - through schools, local networks, and the everyday systems that shape family life in Australia. She saw how little practical, honest guidance existed for the partner who arrives and has to build everything around them - the home, the social life, the children's world - while their own identity and career sit on pause, till she restarted her career in Sydney as a communications leader within the private and government sectors.
Between us, we kept seeing the same gap.
The resources available to skilled migrants in Australia are either too generic, too focused on English language basics, or written by people who have never actually hired anyone - or navigated settlement themselves. What was missing was something honest and specific, built from both sides of the experience. Something that treated migrants not as people who needed to be fixed, but as capable, experienced professionals and people who simply needed the right guidance to translate what they already had.
That is what Settle Down Under is.
Not a big college. Not a government program. A resource built by migrants, for migrants - covering both the career journey and the settlement journey, because the two are inseparable.
Everything at Settle Down Under is built from that experience.
Our expertise
With experience in settlement consulting, coaching & mentoring, and community services, we bring deep, diverse expertise to guide you through every stage of your Australian journey.
We support individuals and families from across the world as they navigate the realities of settling into Australia - from securing accommodation and finding employment to understanding local culture and building genuine community connections.
Our approach is personalised, practical, and grounded in lived experience. We don't just share information; we partner with you. We listen, guide, and walk beside you so that each step feels clearer, easier, and more supported.
How we can help
At Settle Down Under, everything is designed around one goal - helping skilled migrants and international students build a career and a life in Australia.
Kannan leads our career and employment programs - drawing on 15 years of talent acquisition experience in Australia, across Randstad, the NSW Government, Service NSW, and MTC Australia. If you want to understand how Australian hiring actually works, how to translate your overseas experience for local employers, or how to navigate the job market strategically rather than hopefully, this is his domain.
Mohana leads our settlement and community content - drawing on her lived experience as a migrant partner, mother, and community builder, and her professional background in communications across private and government sectors. If you want guidance on building your life in Australia - community, family, belonging, communication, and navigating the systems that shape daily life here - this is hers.
Together, we cover the ground that matters most.
What Drives Us
Personal Experience
Having walked this journey ourselves, we bring genuine empathy and understanding to every client interaction.
Practical Solutions
Real-world guidance based on lived experience, helping you navigate challlenges with confidence.
Building Bridges
Creating meaningful connections between newcomers and the Australian community for lasting integration.
Your Success
Committed to turning your Australian dream into reality through personalised support and dedicated mentorship.
Contact us
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Disclaimer: SettleDown Under provides advisory and settlement support services only. We do not provide any assurances or guarantees of employment. Our role is to guide, inform and connect - employment outcomes depend on individual circumstances, market conditions and employer decisions.