[3] On his return to Fiji in 1968, he was employed as a consultant surgeon at Labasa hospital, before becoming a lecturer at his alma mater in 1970, a position he held for three years.
[3] From 1981 to 1983, Senilagakali served as a counsellor for the Fijian Embassy to Tokyo before becoming Consul General to Los Angeles, a position he held until 1985.
[3] After a brief stint as a roving ambassador to Pacific Islands Forum countries, he became Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office in 1986.
[6] On his first full day as prime minister, Senilagakali received a hostile reception at the graduation ceremony of the Fiji School of Medicine.
The Fiji Times reported that an unnamed faculty member, who was also a chief, had told him that his agreeing to head a military puppet government was disgraceful and unworthy of the school.