We spoke to Carmen Zirafi, WiseTech Academy graduate, about changing industries, finding her specialization, and what it really takes to build expertise from scratch.
"Over time I've become much more comfortable interpreting legislation, classifying goods, researching tariff concessions, dealing with biosecurity requirements, communicating with government agencies and advising clients."
It's a career Carmen built entirely from scratch, in a new country, in an industry she once knew nothing about. And in international trade, that kind of breadth matters: import and biosecurity requirements are always evolving, so knowledge and expertise makes all the difference.
A career built from curiosity
Carmen didn't come from a logistics background. In Italy, she worked in the construction industry, but after migrating and settling in Australia she wanted to challenge herself in a new field. International trade and logistics was the industry that drew her in.
With no experience in freight forwarding and no contacts in the industry, she applied for entry-level roles. A small freight forwarding company offered her a position as an Import Sea Freight Operator.
"Everything was new," she says. "I had to learn the industry from the ground up — from shipping documentation to customer service and international logistics processes. Looking back, that experience gave me a fantastic foundation and helped me understand how freight moves around the world."
The moment everything clicked
A few months into her role, Carmen realized where her interests lay. "I was particularly interested in the regulatory and technical side of importing goods," she says. "That's when I discovered customs." To upskill, Carmen started studying a range of courses through WiseTech Academy, quickly realizing that what she was learning was feeding directly into her day-to-day job.
"What I learned often appeared in my work the very next day. Gradually everything started connecting together. Concepts that initially seemed difficult suddenly made sense because I was applying them in real situations."
Finding a specialty
Today, Carmen works as a Licensed Customs Broker, and her area of interest is food imports and biosecurity. It's precisely the kind of rewarding and technically rigorous work she set out to find.
"No two days are ever the same," she says. "International trade is constantly changing, and even after obtaining my license, I still learn something new almost every day. That's one of the things I enjoy most."
"I find BICON requirements particularly interesting because every commodity can present different challenges," she says. "I really enjoy researching import conditions, working through complex biosecurity cases and helping clients understand what they need to do to comply with Australia's import requirements. There's something very satisfying about guiding a client through a difficult import and helping them successfully bring their goods into Australia."
Carmen’s advice to others is simple: don't rush the learning. Take time to understand why things work the way they do, ask questions, and apply what you learn at work whenever you can. "The combination of practical experience and study is incredibly powerful, and the effort is definitely worth it."